All Forum Posts by: Barrett Lund

Quote from @Bob Stevens:

Quote from @Barrett Lund:

Quote from @Bob Stevens:

Quote from @Barrett Lund:

Quote from @Bob Stevens:

Quote from @Barrett Lund:

Apologies in advance if this is the wrong area to post. 

I am pretty fed up with my contractor and would like some advice on what my available options are. I started the renovation/remodel of my four unit complex in April of this year. This was quite the extensive project, and I was comfortable with the initial budget, and timeline of 90 to 120 days. We are now in November and the project is nowhere close to being completed as initially devised. Throughout the months of working on this project, there have been things that have come up that were not able to be seen in the initial inspection (wood rot, termite damage, etc). This has obviously made the initial budget more expensive. However the contractor never told me how much these things were going to cost, just that they were getting done. I asked for numbers, and never got answers. We are now at the point where he is telling me he has spent a lot more than what I have given him. I never gave permission for any overages. I have also asked on several occasions to get an updated completion timeframe and final (hard) budget number and the contractor is failing to do so. I am at the point now where, I want to (reasonably) pay for what has been done, nothing more and part ways. What is the best course of action to do so? Or general advice for my situation. I can provide more detail as needed. 

 This is ANOTHER reason I tell everyone "Never do a deal without a team that does not have a mutually rewarding outcome " Well you do not have a choice but to fire him and then keep your fingers crossed you do not get into this same situation again. NEVER pay for labor until you know its 100% completed, then pay another draw. Then and verify again and keep moving forward 

All the best 

For what I have paid him so far he has definitely spent more than that, and if no more work was completed and I didn't give him anymore money I would be happy to just let it be. However he is saying he has spent significantly over what I have given him. 

Again, you have no oversight. You do not have a team. Now you are in a terrible situation. You do not have any choice but to verify what " more " he has done. If legit, pay him and move on. Next time, PLEASE have a team in place, RE does not have the be so stressful 
Good luck 

 BTW where is this ? 

 How can I "verify" what he has done - who would be the mediator if I don't agree with what he invoices?

Texas

 Why would you do deal in an area that you do not have a team? Ok so hire an inspector, or hop on a plan, Lesson learned 

Good luck 

I'm in the area, and I'm a first time investor.

At this point, I am afraid of him "over" invoicing me because I am firing him. How can I be certain that the costs he is charging me for are legitimate. Keeping in mind, he believes I owe him for work he has already completed, more than I have already paid him. Is it basically, the price is his price and if I disagree its lawsuit/lien battle?

Quote from @Bob Stevens:

Quote from @Barrett Lund:

Quote from @Bob Stevens:

Quote from @Barrett Lund:

Apologies in advance if this is the wrong area to post. 

I am pretty fed up with my contractor and would like some advice on what my available options are. I started the renovation/remodel of my four unit complex in April of this year. This was quite the extensive project, and I was comfortable with the initial budget, and timeline of 90 to 120 days. We are now in November and the project is nowhere close to being completed as initially devised. Throughout the months of working on this project, there have been things that have come up that were not able to be seen in the initial inspection (wood rot, termite damage, etc). This has obviously made the initial budget more expensive. However the contractor never told me how much these things were going to cost, just that they were getting done. I asked for numbers, and never got answers. We are now at the point where he is telling me he has spent a lot more than what I have given him. I never gave permission for any overages. I have also asked on several occasions to get an updated completion timeframe and final (hard) budget number and the contractor is failing to do so. I am at the point now where, I want to (reasonably) pay for what has been done, nothing more and part ways. What is the best course of action to do so? Or general advice for my situation. I can provide more detail as needed. 

 This is ANOTHER reason I tell everyone "Never do a deal without a team that does not have a mutually rewarding outcome " Well you do not have a choice but to fire him and then keep your fingers crossed you do not get into this same situation again. NEVER pay for labor until you know its 100% completed, then pay another draw. Then and verify again and keep moving forward 

All the best 

For what I have paid him so far he has definitely spent more than that, and if no more work was completed and I didn't give him anymore money I would be happy to just let it be. However he is saying he has spent significantly over what I have given him. 

Again, you have no oversight. You do not have a team. Now you are in a terrible situation. You do not have any choice but to verify what " more " he has done. If legit, pay him and move on. Next time, PLEASE have a team in place, RE does not have the be so stressful 
Good luck 

 BTW where is this ? 

 How can I "verify" what he has done - who would be the mediator if I don't agree with what he invoices?

Texas

Quote from @Bob Stevens:

Quote from @Barrett Lund:

Apologies in advance if this is the wrong area to post. 

I am pretty fed up with my contractor and would like some advice on what my available options are. I started the renovation/remodel of my four unit complex in April of this year. This was quite the extensive project, and I was comfortable with the initial budget, and timeline of 90 to 120 days. We are now in November and the project is nowhere close to being completed as initially devised. Throughout the months of working on this project, there have been things that have come up that were not able to be seen in the initial inspection (wood rot, termite damage, etc). This has obviously made the initial budget more expensive. However the contractor never told me how much these things were going to cost, just that they were getting done. I asked for numbers, and never got answers. We are now at the point where he is telling me he has spent a lot more than what I have given him. I never gave permission for any overages. I have also asked on several occasions to get an updated completion timeframe and final (hard) budget number and the contractor is failing to do so. I am at the point now where, I want to (reasonably) pay for what has been done, nothing more and part ways. What is the best course of action to do so? Or general advice for my situation. I can provide more detail as needed. 

 This is ANOTHER reason I tell everyone "Never do a deal without a team that does not have a mutually rewarding outcome " Well you do not have a choice but to fire him and then keep your fingers crossed you do not get into this same situation again. NEVER pay for labor until you know its 100% completed, then pay another draw. Then and verify again and keep moving forward 

All the best 

For what I have paid him so far he has definitely spent more than that, and if no more work was completed and I didn't give him anymore money I would be happy to just let it be. However he is saying he has spent significantly over what I have given him. 

There are texts with me repeatedly asking for numbers, and updates. There was an initial contract back in April with outlines. Are you saying he has more leverage than me when it comes to filing a lien vs lawsuit?

Quote from @Mike Dymski:

Do exactly what you have laid out...let him know that you are serious, have him stop work, and invoice for work completed to date.  And to provide a firm written quote with line items for the remainder of the work.  Discuss with him that the current path has not worked for either of you and that it's time to deal with it, no exceptions.  The likely outcome is that you will end up with a high bill and then have to get another contractor to finish the work.  Ask me how I know that...

 Sound advice, what I am afraid of is this "high bill" - how can I contest this invoice if I don't agree with some of the charges, prices in general, and is there any recourse for the fact that he has not outlined these additional costs before continuing to work?

Also, would you both agree this is the correct forum to post this thread in for the highest visibility?

Apologies in advance if this is the wrong area to post. 

I am pretty fed up with my contractor and would like some advice on what my available options are. I started the renovation/remodel of my four unit complex in April of this year. This was quite the extensive project, and I was comfortable with the initial budget, and timeline of 90 to 120 days. We are now in November and the project is nowhere close to being completed as initially devised. Throughout the months of working on this project, there have been things that have come up that were not able to be seen in the initial inspection (wood rot, termite damage, etc). This has obviously made the initial budget more expensive. However the contractor never told me how much these things were going to cost, just that they were getting done. I asked for numbers, and never got answers. We are now at the point where he is telling me he has spent a lot more than what I have given him. I never gave permission for any overages. I have also asked on several occasions to get an updated completion timeframe and final (hard) budget number and the contractor is failing to do so. I am at the point now where, I want to (reasonably) pay for what has been done, nothing more and part ways. What is the best course of action to do so? Or general advice for my situation. I can provide more detail as needed. 

I have about $30k in equity of my $560k FHA mortgage. If we believe zestimate in any capacity they have my property valued at 670k without the recent improvements I've made. I am about to spend over 100k to completely renovate the fourplex. Once this renovation is complete, what would be the best way to tap into the equity? My loan terms do include PMI but I do have a 2.5% interest rate.

Quote from @Ozzy Sirimsi:

It looks okay to me

5 kitchens

5 bathroom

2 new hardwood - others refinish, all new plumbing, probably a lot of eletric work etc etc... it is a lot of work

I think quote is reasonable, probably you can save money here an there but it is absurd number.

Thank you for response!

Still learning my way around BP, if this is not the right area to post I can move it. 

I've decided to completely update and renovate my fourplex + detached unit (5 total units) and I am working with a referred contractor and have a quote for the full project. I have nothing to go off of to know if this is a reasonable price.

My fourplex was built in the 1940s, the detached unit was built in the 1980s. The fourplex is roughly 2400 sq ft, each unit is 600 sq ft with 1br/1bth all identical. 
The detached unit is about 800 sq ft and sits above a carport. This carport can't fit any regular sized cars in it because of where the beams that support the structure above sit. 


This is everything I am having done:
New kitchen (cabinets and tile flooring) and new bathrooms in all 5 units
3 of the units will have their hardwood floors refinished, 2 will have new hardwood floors.
- New doors, new windows everywhere
- all new plumbing everywhere
- Foundation repair for main fourplex 
-Brick repair for fourplex
-Brick and complete exterior painting of all structures
-Awning repair
-Communal entryway to fourplex remodel 
-Replace beams for detached unit and replace with one larger beam that allows for 2 full size vehicles to be parked there, then refinish the space with paved concrete and add commercial rollup garage doors to be able to fully secure the spaces.
-Remodel my 200 sq ft shed that is used as the washer/dryer area. 

I was quoted 155k - 170k for everything above. 

Quote from @Andrew Moore:

@Barrett Lund It is unlikely, but it is possible depending on how ownership was transferred that it was not permitted. 

Going back to your initial question regarding getting the property out of FHA into a better loan; It sounds like you're not going to find a loan program with as competitive of terms as you have right now. If you do refinance, it will likely get much more expensive, and it doesn't sound like the cost of PMI is worth refinancing and dealing with the headaches associated with that.

I don't see a scenario where you can refinance that property without having to bring a whole bunch of money to the table. And if that is going to be the case, I would just focus on using those funds to acquire another property. 

Appreciate the response and insight!