What construction trade or skill can help me flipping homes?

Question

Hello All,

I am a new Realtor located in Seattle, WA and my goal is to become a a landlord while I flip homes. I am putting in a lot of time into learning the real estate industry but I would also like to building my education for me being able to renovate homes myself. I'm curios as to what specific trade would I get most of a return back so to speak when flipping homes. Also, if I need to just learn the basics I would be open to that but I wanted to see if any of you knew where to start.

Any and all information would be extremely helpful and is much appreciated. Stay safe!

Evan Polaski · Answer

@Salvador Diaz, I am going to "sort of" answer your question: networking and financial analysis.

I understand you asked about trades.  Plumbing and electrical in my area require a license, and to get one you need to apprentice, so those are both full time jobs.  General carpentry and landscaping do not require licenses in my area, so are much more achievable.

However, as a flipper or landlord, you are an investor, not a contractor.  Understanding the trades, particularly starting out, is important to make sure you are not getting taken advantage of.  That's where networking and getting multiple bids helps.  Meet each contractor to outline scope, and ask how they are going to achieve the job, what issues they foresee, etc.  The more you do this, the more you will understand about each trade.

Luke Marsh · Answer

Hi @Salvador Diaz as John and Patrick mentioned, there are certain trades that are more difficult to learn than others, or require some sort of license. I would try to do the more simple tasks that save money like landscaping, and painting. After that I would proceed to flooring, carpeting, etc. Finally I would get into more of the specialized trade with electrical or plumbing (most likely plumbing).

Patrick Snyder · Answer

John is spot on.  Anything labor intensive will save you big...painting being near the top of the list that one person can do, especially since you'll be painting a LOT in every flip.  Flooring, trim, and minor electrical/ plumbing will also help you long term.  Youtube can be very valuable when learning many of the tasks , so id say to check that out as well

David Martin · Answer

@Salvador Diaz in general, there is specialized training for Construction Management, which, in a professional sense, is the person that runs the execution of operations for the construction project. This would be the person above the General Contractor and heads of other departments for a build. This tends to be a blend of skills in contracts, negotiations, managing a GC to perform, supply chain management, etc... You won't be in a trade in this sense, but it's a great top down learn on how construction operates beyond hammers and nails.As a pure trade skill, any sort of surfacing work, flooring, tile, drywall, paint, hanging cabinetry, etc... are all easy thing you can strike off the final bill.

Tyler Caglia · Answer

@Salvador Diaz Take it slow on the first flip and try every basic trade you can. Rent the larger tools (paint gun, tile saw, etc.) and buy the smaller ones. It’s amazing what you can learn from YouTube or ask some friends for help. The finish likely won’t be equivalent to that of a professional, but assuming this isn’t an A or B class rental that won’t matter as much. This will allow you to understand what trades you may want to self-perform on future flips, but more importantly it’ll tell you which trades you don’t want to take on yourself. You’ll get an appreciation for what goes into the work so you understand why certain items are so expensive, and you’ll also be able to better recognize when a quote is more than it should be. Keep track of your materials cost, and in the future request contractors to provide line item quotes with materials separate from labor. At that point you’ll know approx. what the materials should be, and you should be able to gauge whether their labor and markup is reasonable. A typical 2-man professional crew will perform the work at least 5x faster than you can by yourself. You’ll find the easier trades like painting are also the cheaper ones to contract out, and not always worth your time to do it yourself depending on the situation. And lastly, by trying a trade at least once you’ll also know what to look for when overseeing a contractor’s work.

Salvador Diaz · Answer

@Max T.

Hello Max, I should have clarified. I don’t want to flip them I just want to renovate them as much as possible by myself to save on the bottom line. I am going to keep them and rent them out.

So technically, it’s realtor and landlord.

Max T. · Answer

@Salvador Diaz

Instead of being a realtor, flipper, and landlord I would recommend focusing on one (or 2) of those strategies. Doesn’t mean you can’t dabble but you should have a primary business strategy that beat fits your goals.

For me it’s the landlord business, although I keep an active license to save on commissions, schedule my own showings, and wrote my own offers.

For your DIY question my votes are for tiling and cabinets.

John D. · Answer

Plumbing is the easiest, most expensive skill you can easily learn. Painting and flooring (carpet, tile, vinyl planks) would be second. Electrical work without a license is risky - your insurance may not cover a fire if its known that unlicensed work was performed; and YES, they do investigate that because its a way to reject your claim.

Salvador Diaz · Answer

@Joe Cassandra

I should clarify and change my initial request. I meant rehab rental homes. I want to know how to do the cosmetics of it myself.

Joe Cassandra · Answer

It only makes sense to learn these trades if you actually enjoy doing the work.

If you don't enjoy changing out rusty pipes and unclogging who knows what...you'll really come to despise it really quick.

If you really love changing out countertops and tiling showers...great. Just know it'll take you a lot longer to flip a house.

Just learning to do plumbing in the grand scheme of things...does not save you that much money depending on how big the job is. Sure you could learn how to install a new toilet and install the bathroom vanity. In the end, you save say $500- $1,000 per house?Sounds like a lot over 30 houses...or if you found another deal during those 40-50 hours of work that generates 30k in profit...what's better?

Not pushing you one way or the other, just thoughts.

What construction trade or skill can help me flipping homes?

Most Popular Reply