All Forum Posts by: Christopher Keivit

Jackie - although I never met Herb, he sounds like a wonderful man. I am sorry for the loss.

No calls yet, but I'm still hopeful. I've gotten several back as undeliverable, so I am going to look at my list again this weekend.

Ok, so we're just over a week into the mailing and no responses yet. I'm trying not to get discouraged, but...

And ideas on what I can do now? A second mailing perhaps to the same list as the first?

Chelsy - it all goes back to lien waivers. Get your contractor to sign a lien waiver. All of his employees should be covered under that l.w. If you are paying workers directly, then get l.w.'s for each of those that you pay. But realistically, your contractor is supposed to pay the subs.

As for suppliers - did you get things from them or is your contractor? The way our contractors work in IL is that the general contractor gets all of the supplies, and when he pays them, their lien options go away. Your contractor should be able to provide copies of all orders that he submitted to the suppliers.

I use Redfin and HotPads for the Chicago market. It's a little tricky if you "hire" a real estate agent to run comps. In Illinois agents can only legally be paid by their Sponsoring Broker.

But as Richard, Michael and Tim suggest - there are many great (and free!!) websites.

Thanks Brad - you should have told me about the $2 option a week ago!!!!!!

I have teamed up with a short sale specialist, basically handing off any interested sellers to them for completion of the s.s. (wholesaling short sales, I guess would best describe the function...). The letters are written focusing on the short sale option and the handing off to someone else. I know that isn't the true meaning of "yellow letters" but I only use that term here for BP'ers to be able to provide feedback to me. I certainly hope to do true yellow letters in the near future. Since I work full time, I figure that this is the easiest way to ease into my investing activities.

My plan is to use this business function to establish some credibility for myself (early in my investing career) and develop relationships with BP members. Then gradually branch out into wholesaling and fix & flips.

Chelsy - now you need to check to see if permits were pulled for any work that he did. You need to probably contact the Attorney General's office, and get the ball rolling with them. What about his insurance? If he is unlicensed, he may not be carrying the proper insurance.

Follow all of J Scott's suggestions above, with one additional regarding point 3 - get lien waivers for whatever amount of payment you make!!

Then if you pay him directly, there should be no need to get signatures from the workers. Have you paid him anything yet? Partial payments or construction draws? If so, then you should try to get a lien waiver for those payments. If not, then you can wait until the end of the job.

Google search for a lien waiver template for your state. You should be able to get one for free or very little money.

Again, only if you are paying his workers directly and separately. The contractor will need to list all of his sub-contractors on the lien waiver. At least that's how we do it in Illinois. You may want to double check with your attorney, but I have never had individual workers sign l.w.'s

All of his workers don't need to sign a lien waiver, unless you are paying them individually. If you are paying just him, then he is the only one that needs to sign the l.w. The contract that you have should also detail how additional work is to be covered. It sounds like the theft is going to be a "he said / she said" situation. Again, ask him for a breakdown of the additional work and the cost that he incurred.