Questions about finding a contractor for BRRRR

[David Lee]

Long time BP member, first time post. I am looking to getting into investment properties in South Florida (Broward County) using the BRRRR method. I'm currently in the stage of building a team. So far, I have found a hard money lender, which feels like a win. Now, I'm looking for an investment friendly contractor. Was hoping someone could give me some advice whether it's specific to my region or in general. A few things that I'm not so clear on:

1) Should I be finding a contractor to work with long before i make my first offer on a property? And if so, any specific questions I should be asking them? Should I be transparent that I'm new to investing? 

2) Typically, how does the process work once I find a property? i.e. when do I have the contractor take a look at it and give me a bid or estimated rehab cost without wasting their time (before i offer or after its under contract)? Is it recommended to offer them incentive to look at the property (cash etc)? It's a little daunting never having estimated a rehab and trying to run the numbers when I'm not confident in my accuracy. Sure I can watch videos and read how to estimate the costs, but until I actually see a professional estimate I'm not going to be too confident in my analysis. Especially in the South Florida market.

I guess I'm just a little unclear on the process of how these things work. I want to make sure I have reasonable expectations of the contractor prior to giving them a rehab job. 

Thanks for the help!

[Jon Reed]

Hey! So... just my thoughts below...

1. You should find a contractor before you purchase your first property. In fact... I would say find yourself 2 or 3 contractors before you buy your first deal. Because it will be no surprise if 2 out of the 3 of them turn out to be duds and you have to fire them. You should always ask them for references and then contact those references (not their friends and family... but actual customers from recent work). And yes, you should be transparent with them because if you try to fake like you know everything they will quickly see right through that when they start asking you pointed questions or about your past projects.

2. You should take your contractors through the property before you put in your offer or during your inspection period after you get it under contract.