All Forum Posts by: Matt A.

Why is it that so many General Contractors in the California Bay Area drive vehicles that don't display their contractor license number or business name? Aren't they required by law to display these items on their vehicles? I think "California Business and Professions code 7029.6" is the name of the law that requires them to display this?

I ask because I've interviewed a number of general contractors over the years for my various real estate projects and am shocked at how the vast majority showed up to the job site to give an estimate in a vehicle that did not display their contractor license number or business name.

Aside from this one issue, they'd often have great portfolios, long list of successful permits I could verify they pulled, great references, no complaints on their license, and had been licensed for over a decade. It made me wonder why they would not follow code 7029.6. Perhaps there is a reason I'm not aware of?

I'm deciding between a couple different licensed General Contractors to hire to remodel an investment property in Oakland, CA.

Some of their buildzoom.com profiles show no record of them having ever filed permits.

Other General Contractor's buildzoom.com profiles show records of them filing/pulling a bunch of permits, but not in all the categories my project entails (especially HVAC and Electric).

Is it typical for General Contractors to have their subcontractors file/pull permits instead of pulling/filling the permits themselves? Perhaps this is why I'm seeing these results on buildzoom.com?

I have a some relatively small remodeling jobs to do on multiple different properties in Oakland, CA. I’m not sure if they even count as a “remodeling” since they are each relatively small. Any recs toward an architect who does small projects like this?

The only ones I’ve found seem to only focus on large scale remodels and/or creating new homes/buildings from scratch.

Thanks Osazee. Do you have any recommendations toward specific construction consultants I can hire to cross check the construction work on my single unit Oakland condo at various stages of the project? I tried doing an online search for one before I started this thread, but could not find one that works on small projects such as a single unit oakland condo. Please feel free to post the websites or contact info of any you recommend here, or private message them to me.

I’m about to spend around $20k-$50k hiring a general contractor to do some remodeling work on a condo in Oakland.

How do you recommend I cross check their work? I ask because even if it looks good to me visually, I don’t have the experience to fully check it for things like quality, completeness, or code compliance; nor do I know how to verify they successfully filed the correct permits.

For instance, do I hire some sort of Construction Consultant to cross check it? Any suggestions toward ones if so?

I spoke with a General Contractor I hope to hire who is licensed in California. Is there some sort of website I can use to look up exactly how many permits they have filed in California? The website buildzoom.com shows around 15 permits they filed. However, this amount seems inaccurately low because they have been licensed for over 20 years. I figure they must have filed more than 15 permits in their 20+ year career?

What is the Zillow of Multi-Family homes?
I'm interested in buying a 2-4 unit Multi-Family home in Atlanta, Georgia (and other parts of the country). Which websites show the most Multi-Family homes for sale?
I find Zillow and Redfin show pretty much all single family homes that are publicly listed for sale. Are there similar websites that show pretty much all Multi-Family homes that are publicly listed for sale?

I want to buy some residential investment properties in Atlanta, GA (probably single-family homes and/or 2-4 unit multifamily buildings).

For various privacy reasons, I'd highly prefer my personal name not to be on any public records showing I own the properties. Is this possible? For instance, if I buy them through an LLC, would my personal name not be on any public records showing I own the properties?

Furthermore, I would be buying the properties through mortgages. I’m not sure if buying them through mortgages (instead of through cash) would make it more difficult for public records to not show my personal name as the owner.

The two main privacy reasons I’d like to keep my personal name private are as follows:

1. I’m a relatively humble/modest person and therefore prefer friends, family, and the world in general not to be able to know exactly how much property I own.

2. I'd prefer my tenants don't know my personal name in case some sort of dispute comes up. I'd hate for them to be able to show up on my doorstep or write slanderous things about me on the internet if a dispute comes up. I figure it is fine if the tenants know the name of the management company I hire to manage the properties or the name of the LLC I own the properties through, but prefer them not knowing my personal name if possible.

Also, is the answer the same for virtually every state and city in the USA? Or does each city and state in the USA have a different policy regarding this?

I own a one single unit condo in Oakland, CA and am having trouble finding an attorney to hire to assist me with the following three things. The ones I reached out to only seem to work on large multi-unit buildings, not single unit condos. Any recommendations toward an attorney I can hire for a small single unit condo project like this?

1. Review contractor's contract (before I sign it) for the renovation I plan to have done on my condo. The review is mainly to verify the contractor can't charge me more than the amount I believe I agreed upon with them.

2. Verify that once the above renovation is done (and I've installed various appliances I have in mind), the condo will be up to code enough to be able to rent out to a tenant. If  the attorney can not verify this themself, I'd probably have them verify whichever property management company I hire is certified to verify this.

3. Verify I'm using the correct lease paperwork to rent out the unit. If the attorney can not verify this themself, I'd probably have them verify whichever property management company I hire is certified to verify this.

Thank you!

Hey Bruce, I guess "cheap" and "cost effective" were the wrong phrases for the type of general contractor I'm looking for. I should have used different wording.
What I'm looking for is one that deeply understands how to maximize renovation/remodeling "return on investment" and can build things in a way that make it hard for renters to inadvertently damage. These skills don't matter when working on units owners intend to live in indefinitely, but mean everything when working on investment units.

Any recomendations toward a general contractor (or how to find one) with these skills that can do work on a condo in zip Oakland, CA zip 94612?