All Forum Posts by: Nick Tebo

There's no such thing as an "FHA approved" general contractor requirement for 203ks.

This is a common misconception that for some reason keeps getting perpetuated. 

The HUD 4000.1 states that the lender just needs to verify the contractors experience, credentials, references, licensing and bonding required by the local building depts.

Virtually any licensed and insured contractor will qualify to do the work. 

Now, it’s nice if the contractor has experience doing renovation loans. Or, if they’ve done any kind of commercial work or insurance work it’s very similar. 

But, I’ve helped several hundred people do these loans successfully over the years and the majority of them used contractors that had never done a 203k before. 

The true success metric is hiring reputable contractors from references from your personal and professional network. 

Find general contractors that have a legitimate outfit. A back office to handle paperwork. Not a handyman that works out of their truck. 

It also depends highly on the scale of the renovation. 

I bought a duplex in 2016 and sold in 2021, I used most of the profit to pay off some credit card debt which drastically helped my credit score-but now I really regret selling. I still have some of the profit (60k) and have been trying to purchase another investment property with no luck. Ideally I’d like to be an active investor,I’m in Massachusetts for reference and have been looking for a vacation type home to buy and rent out to offset some of the cost. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!