All Forum Posts by: Michael Volek

Hello BP!

It has been increasingly difficult to find quality, cost-efficient help these days. I've tried so many different ways only to be disappointed by no-shows, hacks, and insanely high job quotes that make your eyes pop out of your head in disbelief.

They say when you find a good quality contractor, to keep him a secret. Well, f*** what they say, I'm giving anyone in the Dallas Fort Worth area his info.

**BP won't let me share his info--PM me instead**

His price was half the average of everyone else, he's licensed, on time, courteous, professional, and intelligent. He even had all the materials ready for pick up at HD, so all I had to do was show up and swipe my card. He finished under the deadline and under budget with no headaches or hiccups whatsoever.

Unbelievable.

Sure, you might think, "Well, that sounds like a regular contractor to me."

You prolly ain't from round here.

Like I said, it's been increasingly difficult in this market.

Btw, I don't get paid anything to refer him. I just want to see him succeed. As a military veteran, I feel like I can spot professional talent when I see it, and I know other investors are looking for people just like him. PM me for his info, and happy investing.

Cheers,

Michael Volek

We used Window World for our flips in Indianapolis. They charged a flat fee per window so the size of it didn't factor into the price, which I thought was noteworthy as it made it very easy to calculate the total cost. They also took care of any additional carpentry that needed to happen. People's opinions vary of the quality of said windows but I have not had any issues with them. In fact, it was a rather pleasant experience. I can't give a direct quote but it was about 3600-3800 for 13 double hung windows, and they made a big difference once the rehab was completed, so hope this helps.

@Kyu Kim

Hello and welcome to BiggerPockets!

I own and manage a triplex in Arlington so if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

@Daniel Mears

"Most of them can pass for the third guy back on the evolution chart" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

@Colleen Cupp

Hi Colleen, I used PenFed recently and it was a pretty easy process. They even paid all the fees. Hope this helps, good luck!

@Roland Nelet

Hi Roland, I understand how that can feel. You are right to want to learn more about building so as not to seem ignorant when talking to a GC. I don't know if there is such a way to quickly educate yourself on all the things a GC must know. It's truly is a ton of stuff. I know this because I took the course to get my professional home inspectors license and we learned how everything is built to code. That's what a GC will/should be doing, building to code.

However, not all hope is lost. You can go on YouTube and learn about building codes. I've heard that there are inspectors that record what it's like in a typical day's work.

Other than that, it's really about digging into the research. For me it was worth getting my license because I renovate homes and I also didn't want to remain in the dark.

Lastly, if you can't find yourself to trust a GC, which I get it, there's just some bad GCs, you can always try to restructure the deal so that they are incentivized to save you time and money. You can do that by paying them a certain fixed percentage of your profits. As long as they complete the job on time and under budget, there will/should be a higher profit, and they earn more because of it.

@Marleen Monge

Why sell when you can tap into the equity and keep it as a rental?

@Roberto Cervantes

Options are limited if you don't have any savings, however, if you are able to save, you could try for a FHA loan, which is 3.5% down. You could get the loan for the rehab along with it, called a 203k. What it looks like is this: You find a crappy house for 100k and it needs 50k to renovate. That's 150k, so with the FHA 203k, you put 3.5% down on 150k, which is $5250. Ask your lender about it.

@Chinda Eleonu

House hacking is a fantastic way to dip your toes into not only owning some real estate but also being a property manager. You'll have to treat it like a business from day one. I guess you could practice with the apartment you and your buddies rent. Like if you rent a 3 bed for 1500/mo, you could rent each bedroom to your buddies for 700 a piece making your living expenses $100/mo. The moment buddy #1 flakes on the rent, you'll know if a real house hack is for you. I would honestly suggest renting with your buddies and saving up as much as you'll need to purchase your first home. You can spend that year or whatever reading up as much as you can on the subject.

As far as your order, obviously you'll need to save as much money as you can and definitely educate yourself. BP has a good selection of you haven't already checked them out. You can talk to a realtor to find out about the areas and what you'll need to have in order to qualify for a loan (should you go the loan route) but other than that you should let them know upfront that you won't be purchasing anything for the moment.

@Daniel Smith

Realtors are free my friend.