All Forum Posts by: Suzanne Griffiths

@Colton Cook  As far as the Trello board or Pinterest type application, google calendar and other apps.  I am not super fond of being required to use different platforms for different contractors.  I understand you have tools that work for you, however I don't want to have to download and learn different programs to be able to find the information you are providing.  Keep it as simple as possible.

@Colton Cook  Hi Colton - We have been in the construction industry for over 22 years as subcontractors, contractors, project managers and general managers.  Over the years, unless I was working on a large Commercial project I found MS Project to be cumbersome and not super useful.  It takes a bit of time to set up and for short duration projects takes more time to update than it's worth.  I like seeing an overall schedule at the beginning of the project and then possibly midway.  Ultimately the most useful tool is a 3 week look ahead schedule.  A simple Excel document works great.  Tell me what happened last week, what is happening next week and what we can expect for the two weeks after.  This gives a great snapshot of durations and who's going to be onsite.  Will show me if things are sliding one way or another and as a customer I can take it to the site and compare with what I see.

As an investor, moving from being the technician or the manager to the entrepreneur and being able to scale our business for multiple projects I don't want to have to visit the site daily, make daily decisions and be involved in the day to day management.  We like to visit the site 1-2 times per week.  We generally go in the evenings after people have left so that we can take the time to wander through the property, take notes, compile questions, take our own progress photos and do a quality check.  One of the other two meetings is a site visit with our contractor or PM.  We want them to walk us through give an update and ask any questions needing clarification prior to the next weeks work happening.  We understand that things come up that need quick responses and we are always open to those phone calls, but we don't want 10-20 calls a day answering minutia questions.  This is where we start becoming the PM for our contractor who we've hired to be the expert.  If we are this involved in the day to day we aren't able to scale and do multiple projects. 

Jennifer Manning I read an article recently that listed Boise as one of the highest ranking cities for investors. Good quality of life, attractive to families and stable market.

Keith Fjelsted welcome to BP! We are in MN as well and actively rehabbing. Feel free to PM us anytime.

Provide a schedule. If something happens and the schedule needs to change talk to is about it right away. If you don't know how to do something don't fake it. Either ask or find someone skilled. Communication, always and often. Weekly photographic progress updates. When you run into an issue have multiple solutions along with any cost impacts at time of discussion.

Welcome @Jessy Ogle, this is a great place to expand your knowledge.  It sounds like you have a great opportunity with the investors that your are working with as well as your real estate background.  I encourage you to be a sponge, take your investors our for coffee and learn what they are looking for, why , what is the niche, what have they found to work in your areas.  This will be a great resource for you, make you more valuable to them as well as increase our knowledge so you can invest yourself.

Feel free to PM anytime if you have specific questions as well.

Hi @Johnathan Norman the Seattle area is a tough one as the areas fluctuate rapidly within blocks. I would suggest that you connect with some local commercial bankers that specialize in multifamily properties, there may even be some here on BP. Offer to take them to lunch or coffee and pick their brain about the area that the property is that you are interested in as well as what they would use for the CAP rate if they were going to review the property for lending purposes.

Just popping in for a few updates on our Hugo remodel.  We are looking at being on the market at the end of the month.  WAHOOO!  It's a little longer than we had hoped, but some contractor struggles had us take a breath, get going in the right direction and back on track. 

We've got pallet walls going up, tile on the main floor is complete, radiant heat is working, last of the wall patch and paint is being completed, cabinets are en-route with quartz countertops to follow.  Tile in all the bathrooms is getting completed, siding is done, deck pickets going in and landscaping is getting finished up this weekend!

@John Woodrich just a few more pics to tickle your fancy.

@Tyson Hosey sure...all they can say is no right?

Are you working directly with the seller or do you have agents in between?  If not, have you built rapor with the seller and asked what their motivation is to sell?  You might try giving them a call and finding out so that you can put together an offer that's a win-win for both of you. 

Tyson Hosey looks like you've considered on the buy side. On the seller's side that's hard for us to speculate. What's their motivation for selling? If your offer meets their needs than it could be a good deal. If the seller needs to liquidate the asset then it wouldn't be a good deal to do a 90% carry back. If they just don't want to be landlords and don't need the cash then it could be a good arrangement for them.