All Forum Posts by: Chris Merchant

Depending on what you're doing with the lawn as a landscaper, I will say it is much easier if "we" come in at the very end (last) if at all possible just so that we are not in the way of other contractors and they and their vehicles are not in our way things go much smoother.  As for the roofer and landscapers at the same time, unless you have landscaping tasks that need to be completed away from the house as well it is an issue we are always in each others way, as roofers generally take and just throw their stuff (trash & debris) on the ground ALL around the house. 

Also any contractors performing "major" jobs that require bulk materials to be on the job site will be in the landscapers way, again depending on what other tasks you have for the landscapers.  Many contractors also like to or need to in some cases drive onto the lawn for ease of install of appliances, use of equipment such as lifts and fork trucks.  In all honesty if at all possible try and always schedule your landscaper for last.  You don't want them to come do your lawn and have it looking beautiful to have a contractor come right behind them and drive on it ruining it.  You also don't want the landscaper to have to leave your project because another contractor is in the way or blocking access to an area they need to get too for the their next task, so they go to another job and than your project gets "set aside".

Best advice is communication is key, if you don't have a GC or Project Manager running the show tell each contractor what other tasks you need done and ask them if those other contractors will be impeding their ability to perform the tasks you want them to complete.

Being a crew leader if a crew calls me and says they are stuck and can't go any further due to another contractor being in the way I am sending them to the next job location, I will not pay them to sit around until the roofer is done.  That down time is not figured into the quote.

There is a reason why many times you drive by new built houses that are finished besides maybe some interior finish work and the yard/lawn has still not been touched.  

That is also the benefit to hiring a GC and why you pay them what they do because they are responsible to deal with all those headaches and problems, we pay people to make problems go away.

@Jonathan Kim one strategy I read in a book on testing a market was this: Post and ad in the area you plan to invest in and see what kind of volume of response you get.  Now some may say it is unethical to advertise a property that really doesn't exist which I am not saying it is or isn't but it is a strategy to A) see how much excitement or interest there is in the area. B) see if the amount you are asking for rent is too high (not receiving many calls or people complaining about the price) or too low (tons of contacts anxious and ready to move in ASAP mean you're price is probably lower than average for the area).  The author than goes on to say that, you do a quick prescreen on the people that inquire which gives you practice and also helps you see what types of clients are looking to live in the area you select and how qualified the clients actually are.

Again I have never used this strategy but it did work for this author and he recommended it for testing new areas.

The author was Zalman Velvel and it was in Creating Mobile Home Wealth

The good thing I have seen doing work for active military families is if for some reason they don't pay (which they usually do) if you have your office/billing department send the invoice and copy of the job authorization form (contract for the work to be done) to their commanding officer once the invoice is I believe 30 days delinquent (for landscaping anyways) as long as the work has been completed the military will cut you a check and then somehow I guess they get payment from the soldier however they do that (I'd assume they just garnish their wages).  But either way you're pretty much guaranteed payment.  This is the reason main reason my boss will only do residential snow/ice removal for active military.

I am so glad to see so many young people that are motivated to take their future and grab it by the horns and get into real estate.  I would say try to link up with a local realtor and or investor and see if you can "shadow" them.  Even if it's a realtors office and you're doing secretarial duties it gets you in the industry and soon as they see how motivated you are I am sure they will let you do more and more, as much as they can legally.

@Richard F. Thank you so much for the advice, going to shoot my agent and attorney emails now and already sent a text to the lady who handles most of my PM duties. 

@Richard F. So I don't require my tenants to obtain renters insurance however it is in the lease that it is strongly recommended that they obtain their own renters insurance policy to cover their personal belongings in the event of an emergency, are you saying I should start requiring them to obtain renters insurance?

 I believe he does touch on it, because after reading it I wanted to buy or build a park myself.  I can't remember exactly how much detail he goes into on parks, I know he talks about how he likes to buy lots within parks.  Again different stroke for different folks, but it got me thinking an entire park sounded interesting.  It's been a while since I read it and a friend currently has it.

 Another town I kind of think would be a good place to invest in is Colchester, much of the same benefits as Glastonbury.

@Account Closed Okay that is good than, so if your ultimate plan is to live there for a period before turning it into strictly a rental check and see what is renting in the area, crunch the numbers.  5 Bedrooms seems like it'd be better used turned into a multifamily (JMO).  But the amount of development it sounds like around the 5br could make it an awesome investment and the demand may be high at the time you're ready to turn it into solely a rental.

You could be at ahead of the curve on a great opportunity. 

There is no special conditions on the abatement?  I've seen some cities only grant abatements for non-investment properties and others grant them only for investors and some do it for anyone.  Some cities I guess feel that if you are renting out the property r a portion of it than they want their share of the pie too.