All Forum Posts by: Alex Applebee

 Lots and lots and lots of paperwork. I deduct for a messy jobsite, I deduct for late work, I do not pay for inferior work, and I make them sign this all before hand saying they understand everything and agree to it. And if they don't like it they go work elsewhere. Very rarely I will make an exception and pay a small amount for their materials. Rarely. and with myself protected. I would rather I owe them money VS they owe me work if that makes sense, because if they have been paid and not finished the work, it probably isn't going to be finished ever. 

I am on site to see the materials, and inferior materials would results in inferior work/product, which results in no paycheck, which again, is all singed.

 Had all the tile pulled up. Used Aberdeen Birch engineered hardwood from lumber liquidators (paid $1.56/sqft), installed on top of those standard underlayment mats, name is escaping be right now, big red roll for $.50/square ft.

Thanks for posting your experience. Contractors are just the worst, even when you've used them a few times some of them take advantage. Which is counterintuitive to me, if they know you are an investor, they should bend over backwards to keep you happy, because you can keep them in business. 

I would loooove to get my hands on old houses like you guys are talking about! I am a history nerd anyways and combining real estate and history? YES. My first flip was built in 1948. Old for Phoenix! Lol. 

I never ever pay per hour. I make them give me a flat price (to be changed w/the appropriate change of work order if there are any surprises). I also penalize for extended delays that are caused by them (not me if there is a schedule issue.) I don't really think it matters what market you are in, they should be able to bid a job this way. 

I flipped in AZ and that is how I learned to run things, and now back here in CA I am helping a family member with some work on their house (sourcing subs, etc) and he insisted that everyone in this part of CA only does jobs per hour. I told everyone who came to bid the project that I wont pay per hour, I need a complete estimate on the job. Not an issue at all they all seem just fine with that. The one person that wasn't quoted me $55 an hour, said that's the only way he works and that's his price. I said that wasn't going to work. Two days later he called me saying he could do it for $35 an hour. I said no thanks and went with the best priced guy out of the multiple others that were fine with bidding the job the way I wanted. Your money, your project, you dictate the terms. :)

Get your RE license and then put your lock box access to good use. Start walking through houses. Also, I used to go on realtor.com and practice running the numbers for a deal. It helped me learn to see which could be a good deal and which was not. I did this for years, so it was fun to occasionally see something I though was a deal be bought, renovated, and then for sale months later.

J.Scott's book on flipping houses and estimating rehab costs were invaluable. His numbers were right on for my projects. Such a good source when you just don't know the real costs yet. I have not used a GC. I think you put just as much work managing a GC as you do managing the subs yourself, so why pay someone else? That is just my opinion.

 family member was the private lender

Thanks, Jeri! It was really only the one Troll, and he mainly made me laugh. Thanks for the encouraging words! I'll definitely keep on posting. My second one is in escrow and not as much as a success (I am still going to eek out a bit of money I think, we'll see after closing). I'll post on that, because there is just as much to learn from failures as success, and I'll own both sides of the coin, lol.

 Seriously, it is shocking to me that people have NO VISION! The laundry hookups for the place were outside (well, I put them outside) and it just needed a little enclosure built. I was cheap about that and didn't get it done figuring it wasn't a big deal. People just freaked out about it, thinking it would cost 5-10k to build something, etc. So I had my guys come out, showed them a picture of what I wanted, they whipped it out in 2 days for less than a grand, and that day I got my offer. Sort of funny. 

I listed it on the MLS and sold it to a guy buying for himself/family using FHA financing.