Originally posted by @Emily T.:
I'm sorry, why do you point out that you are a woman? Is it supposed to be harder for us? Because we are stupid?
Emily, I think you need to rethink your suppositions. My mother did her Master's Thesis on "Why men enter the Nursing Field." This was back in the 1970's when few men entered the Nursing Field. Was she being a "sexist" for researching this subject? Not at all, it was just a field with 95%+ females (3.9% males in 1970) and males were rare in the field. Today, males nurses make up almost 10% of the Nurse population.
When a woman plays in the NFL or MLS or NBA or NHL for the first time, it will be HUGE news! When a woman becomes the President of the United States, it will be HUGE news.
Women can do ANYTHING a man can do, but societal morals and mores have prevented woman from some fields. And women are breaking down those barriers, DAILY. MORE power to them!
@Alex Applebee, a huge CONGRATULATIONS on your First Flip. And also, HUGE respect for your composure to those "negative posters" on this thread.
Another huge congratulations for having the courage to DEMO bad work and replace it with quality work. Most flippers would just cover it up and move on. We had a custom home built and didn't catch the builder putting plain drywall in the shower, behind the tile, and a short five years later, we had to tear out the entire shower and install the proper backer board. Luckily, we threatened the builder and his insurance company paid for the repair, which came to almost $15,000.00. We HATED using the original builder, but unfortunately, the developer had sold the lot we wanted to this idiot builder because the developer needed the funds. But that is another story.
A couple of hints that might help in the future. And maybe you did this, but I always get several referrals BEFORE contracting with any construction work. I have contacts for everything from a clogged toilet up to installing a new roof and rewiring an entire house. All of my contacts come from active Realtors, active General Contractors, active Flippers and active Property Managers. You stated you have your RE License so I was wondering if you are working for a Broker? If so, be sure to find out which Realtors are busy in the Flipping and Building arena, they can be great resources.
The two main PILLARS to successful Flipping is to BUY RIGHT and to CONTRACT RIGHT. And Contracting Right doesn't always mean the CHEAPEST price. If you pay a little too much, you only lose a little, but if you pay a little too little, you lose EVERYTHING, because then you have to tear it out and redo it. For example, if a job should cost $18,000.00 and you get two bids, one for $15,000 and one for $20,000, many times, the $20,000 bid will be cheaper because it will be done right and on time, where the $15,000 job could cost another $10,000 just to fix it and be much longer in finishing.
Finally, did you ever consider filing a Small Claims action against the poor sub? Were they state licensed? If so, you can file with the state against them. Did you put an online review of their work? I am just curious if you pursued any recourse against them?
So, GREAT Job Alex! And have fun in Santa Barbara, it is a little more expensive there than Phoenix. But, with the higher price can come higher profits!
