Area specific Contractor Recommendations

[Christopher Boutte]

Currently doing a deal in Pasadena that needs a full rehab.  Are there benefits to having a contractor local to the area of the property? And any contractor recommendations in the area or Houston in general that would be good for the job?

[Mark Brown]

Whoever you use for a contractor, try to include a default provision in their contract, where if they stop work for more than a week barring acts of nature, then you can cancel the contract and keep the unpaid amounts as liquidated damages.  Too often, I've seen investors get screwed by contractors who promise the world, but then take forever to complete the work because they have 10 different projects going at once and then the investor is stuck paying all the holding costs because the contractor can't get their act together.