Getting bid for rehab work

[Jason Sung]

I am under contract for my first fixer-upper property. Regarding getting bid for rehab work, I found from Google that I need to make a detailed Scope of Work document and prepare pictures/videos of the property to share with contractors. Contractors then can bid on the project. Is this how usually investors get bid for rehab work? When I talked to a contractor, he wanted to visit the property for his rehab estimate. I would appreciate any advice. Thanks. 

[Andrew Postell]

@Jason Sung thanks for posting.  Always great to hear from a fellow Texan.  Also, congratulations on your first property under contract.  That's always a big deal. Now, I might suggest some things here:

1. Make sure your contractors are visiting the property.  They have to see it in order to give you a proper bid.  It is a must. 

2. Make sure you are leaning on other real estate investors in our market on who to use for your contracting work.  There are many real estate investing groups that meet here locally and taking a recommendation from a fellow investor is ALWAYS the preferred method.   If you want a recommendation here I would suggest Finishing Touches - http://www.finishingtouchesremodeling.com/  Blake Johnson, the owner, does 200+ renovation jobs per year, he was featured on the TV show "Flip or Flop Fort Worth", and if he does the job you know it will be done right.  They even have a great platform that you can login and see their picture and video updates of the job.  They are good.  However, if another investor recommended another company - that's fine too. But take a recommendation first.

3. Ensure that your contractors have insurance.  If someone gets injured on your job site, you don't want that coming back to you.  Any contractor that is REASONABLE at their job should carry this...it's not hard to get it...just make sure to verify it.

Hope this helps in some way but feel free to post anything else.  Thanks!