All Forum Posts by: Donna Welschmeyer

@Account Closed, I am curious about the contingencies you noted. I've heard a few people talk about the "third party" contingency or something similar that says the deal is contingent on "partner approval." In our market here (Denver), I fear that those contingencies would automatically disqualify the offer. Can you explain a little more what these contingencies mean and if you've had sellers who turned down an offer because of them? Thank you! I appreciate all the info in your post, by the way. Very helpful!

I attended this round table event last night and was completely impressed. The turnout was great, and I came away with some great contacts and information. I am sad, however, that I forgot to mention BP so Travis could buy me a beer.

This was my first Pine event, and I plan to attend whenever I am able. Thanks, Travis, to you and your colleagues!

Looking forward to attending my FIRST event!

Daria, maybe backwards isn't the term I was really looking for. Based on M Marie's question, I just meant that instead of asking my contractor to invoice me, I just paid for the checked-off items on the scope of work and both the contractor and I signed off on it each time. :)

I went with the detailed scope of work because I hadn't worked with this (or any other) general-type contractor before. It was helpful for me to be very detailed in what I wanted him to accomplish because I wasn't familiar with his work nor he with my expectations. It didn't necessarily introduce problems, but it did introduce a lot of paperwork and change orders!

I would imagine that after I become comfortable with a given contractor, I would be less inclined to provide a highly detailed SOW.

M Marie (sorry, the @mention function isn't working for me), I did not check references beyond those from the individuals who referred these contractors to me. Lesson learned! Perhaps I am pickier than some of my colleagues!

I probably did this backwards, but instead of asking my contractor(s) for invoices, I actually developed a detailed scope of work for them and had them price it for me. Then we checked off the tasks completed and paid on that basis. It worked pretty well, and will probably work better as I get better at detailing for someone else the work I want done. This venture was different for us because we have, until now, performed most of the work ourselves, so didn't need to provide info for contractors.

Thanks, everyone, for all your great tips. I appreciate it!

 I've seen that idea as an option, but I've never tried it. Sounds like it would be a pain in the neck. In addition, the closet doors are sliders, so I don't think we could apply moldings to those. . .so the doors would be mismatched. I may this at some point, though, to see how well it works. Thanks!

 The house is definitely a traditional style rather than mid century modern (darn!) and the doors are not currently painted (I hate painting over old lacquer finishes, too). Thanks, Jean.

 Oh, that IS too bad! In most neighborhoods here that house MCM properties, that would be a total disaster. This particular property is a traditional architectural style, so we'll stick with that. Thanks!

We are under contract on our latest project, so I wanted to share some lessons learned from our 8th flip and our first attempt to hire contractors to do more of the work on our flips. And yes, many of the "lessons" I learned could have been avoided, I'm sure, had I paid more attention to all the information posted here on Bigger Pockets!

1. Do your research! No matter who recommends a contractor, get multiple references and look at other work completed. Apparently I am a slow learner, because we tried three (yes, three) contractors recommended by our realtor or one of his colleagues. None of the three contractors will be invited back, for various reasons.

2. Details, details. Be very specific about both the quality and quantity of work you expect and do not just assume that those expectations are being met. Check up on it often! 

3. Don't overthink it! On each flip, I have hand-selected paint colors and finishes, tile, lights, vanities, carpet, etc. This makes it interesting, but it is time consuming! As recommended at a recent seminar, I am going to pre-select a set of supplies (or maybe two--one beige and one gray) and stick to that (with exceptions, of course, as necessary). No more HOURS spent at Floor and Decor!

4. Recordkeeping. I have an accounting and business background, among other things, and each time I start a project, I convince myself that I will keep better track of everything. Well, that hasn't happened yet, so I plan to give serious thought to also hiring someone to do my recordkeeping. Boy, it's hard to let go of thinking I can do it all!

Thanks to all of you who answered my questions along the way. It's great to have a resource like Bigger Pockets!