How to work with a GC on a MAJOR rehab

[Ben Dunlap]

Hi BP. I am attempting a BRRRR on a property that needs an extensive rehab. A '30's carpenter house with a ton of character. The house needs the works, updated plumbing, electrical, new roof, floors, the kitchen needs to be opened up and a new bathroom will be added to the other two that also need to be totally overhauled. To complicate things, I live on a different continent from the house. At the moment I have taken bids for the FULL project to get a sense of whether I can find a GC who can handle the whole project. I am at the stage where I am breaking down the project into phases with the GC i think I am confident in going with, a person I have used on other smaller jobs on a past property. Now, I have never taken on something this big before and have not attempted a BRRRR. I would love some advice on how to proceed from this point, especially on how to structure a contract with this GC. Specifically: 1) How many contracts should I break this project into?; 2) How should I structure terms with the GC, meaning, should I allow them to work their margin into each contract without transparency (I think common sense is obviously no) or should the arrangement be on a flat fee basis for each contract or the whole project or should I pay a percentage of the value of the contract or whole project? 3) What basis should I use to calculate a flat fee or % for the GC, meaning, is there a rule of thumb i can use to calculate a number or % on which to start the negotiation? 4) Does anyone have advice on how to incentivize the GC to bring the contracts in under budget?...... Thanks in advance for the help! I feel like this one may be interesting to most.