@Chris Seveney
1. I hired a contractor without getting any real references. I met him on BP and assumed that meant he was a good guy despite my better judgement. He ended up running off with money, and he did shoddy work. He also had delays that were inexplicable. I also took his word for a lot of things instead of verifying, so when he said he needed money i just sent it over (this is the part that makes me feel idiotic)
This entire point boils down to impatience. I did not take the time to find the right contractor. There are plenty on BP and in the area where my duplex is located, but I wanted to get the place rented ASAP. This impatience has cost me so much more time and money in the long run. Just get it right by making diligent decisions.
2. I had the contractor from point 1 over renovate the first unit for the area. I did not need to do all of the crazy extra work and could have saved money on a renovation. My PM was able to get his contractor to fix up unit 2 in a way that did not require nearly as much work.
3. I did not follow good advice and double check my PM’s work when it comes to filling a vacancy. I should have insisted on finding an actual qualified tenant as opposed to this gentleman who was just a recommendation with no rent history.
This is the tenant I am now fighting to evict as he moved in and immediately stopped paying any rent.
Those are the three big issues that I am working to dig myself out of currently. I think my problems could have all been avoided if I just took the time to do things the right way and stop just trusting the “experts”.
Hopefully this is enough detail to help someone avoid a mistake like this in the future. But frankly, i knew all of this before i started investing and still acted foolishly.
