All Forum Posts by: Trenton Miller
Trenton Miller has started 5 posts and replied 238 times.
Post: Rehab and Construction Halted?

- Contractor
- Coachella Valley, CA
- Posts 252
- Votes 175
What could be done other than breaking the policy and continuing construction? Not much. Will people do it? Who knows..
Post: Can it still be a wholesale lead if it's listed on Zillow?

- Contractor
- Coachella Valley, CA
- Posts 252
- Votes 175
A FSBO would your only likely shot. Anything listed by a firm has entered a contract with a broker/agent of that firm.
Is it impossible to enter a wholesale deal with a listing agent? Not is not... However it is extremely rare.
Post: Insulation in Attic of Investment property

- Contractor
- Coachella Valley, CA
- Posts 252
- Votes 175
Is the interior of the property flat roof at 8-ft height with ample room in attic space? Or our ceilings voltage requiring blown in insulation?
Post: How do you save money on your house flips?

- Contractor
- Coachella Valley, CA
- Posts 252
- Votes 175
My biggest advice would be to streamline the finishes you choose and purchase yourself. By doing this you know what materials will cost you and you will not be paying for markups with GC's and or Subs. This goes back to the analyzing phase as well. If the numbers don't work when analyzing the property based off the finishes you want then it won't work. Labor is the differentiating factor here. Another tip I have is intended use. For example, is the roof functioning as intended, or is it just old. just because something is old but still functioning as intended does not necessarily mean you are required to improve it. I'm a firm believer that all cost savings will be found during the analyzing. If you know what type of product you are trying to flip and provide consumers with.
Post: Recommendations for property inspection in LA

- Contractor
- Coachella Valley, CA
- Posts 252
- Votes 175
Are you looking for a good property to inspect? Or have you found a property you need inspected? Typically sellers will not allow inspections until after a property is under contract. When we do home inspections, depending on the size of the property we charge an average of $650.
Post: Contractor Referrals In Orange County

- Contractor
- Coachella Valley, CA
- Posts 252
- Votes 175
Originally posted by @Jacob Anderson:
Hello I’m looking for any good contractors in Orange County! If anybody had any good referrals please send them my way!
Private Message sent!
Post: How many grace period days do you give tenants after the first?

- Contractor
- Coachella Valley, CA
- Posts 252
- Votes 175
I give my tenants 5 calendar days.
Post: What are contractors using for bidding software?

- Contractor
- Coachella Valley, CA
- Posts 252
- Votes 175
Originally posted by @Aaron McGinnis:
Will -
This is a topic near and dear to my heart.
For years I used Excel, with spreadsheets of ever-increasing size and complexity. About 5 years ago I bought into a program called Planswift and spent about 2 years modifying and customizing it until it did what I wanted. Unfortunately, it's not really in any condition that i could hand it off to someone and let them run it. More like the custom car that you have to pump the gas 3 times, hit the brake, pump the gas again, then turn the key to get it to turn over. Also, it's a 12 year old program that will likely not be updated ever again.
I'm evaluating moving over to a program called Square, which is being run by expats from Planswift. It has a lot more potential for scalability, but I'll have to start over on building assemblies, inputting parts, and generating useful reports for ordering and quotation presentation. I found them a few years ago at the build show and met with them again this year; the program has really come a long way and is looking like it could finally be a viable alternative. To wit - 84 Lumber recently switched from Planswift to Square.
Other programs that are commonly used are Timberline, RS Means, and Xactimate. These programs are extremely expensive to implement are commonly aren't see outside of insurance claims and industrial/commercial applications (Think skyscrapers for Timberline)
The problem with all forms of on-screen estimating is -
1: Setting up the program so that it is accurate to your business and the way you do things (Assemblies, parts, labor)
2: Getting reports that are useful (For ordering and quotation)
3: Getting pricing information inputted
4: Actually having a system easy enough to use that someone doesn't have to spend 4 years learning it
It's so very easy to underestimate the difficulty in setting up a system. When you really think about how many parts are used in a typical house, it's mind-boggling. Depending on what you control, it can really be a challenge to get things set up for accuracy. Out of the box, most on-screen estimating programs are basically just measuring tools. You have to customize them in order to make them do something useful.
For project management we run Buildertrend. Been using it for about 10 years now and am so thoroughly tied in at the hip that I couldn't imagine not using it.
I couldn't agree with you more! I as well have used ever so complex spreadsheets for bidding projects. However, I would like to applaud your comment regarding your software being like a custom car. Out of the box estimating/bidding software is basically useless until you have tailored it to fit YOUR business. I could not agree with you more.
As far as other software goes I prefer to use Google products for pretty much everything else. I use calendar for not only scheduling timelines with customers, but also scheduling my employees with job sites and punch lists daily that automatically syncs to each of their phones. I use forms to track employee hours. Each employee selects his or her name and the hours populate in a weekly report. I also use drive for keeping all job documents in one place. Managers, customers, and employees have access to these documents. This eliminated information being stuck in 'someones' inbox.
Again, I have put a great deal of time and effort into setting up these 'systems' within a 'system' you could say.
Post: Separate utilities or not with ADU unit in Santa Monica

- Contractor
- Coachella Valley, CA
- Posts 252
- Votes 175
If it were me and you are occupying the primary residence on the lot I would not spend the extra money to separate utilities. Instead I would calculate what the average utility costs will be, build that price into the lease agreement and include a separate clause stating that if the tenant goes over the allowable cost built into the lease for utilities then they would be responsible for the additional cost.
Post: First brrrr and hopefully not my last

- Contractor
- Coachella Valley, CA
- Posts 252
- Votes 175
If you are considering this type of investment, the quickest way to analyze cash flowing properties would be through the four square method. You can find this spreadsheet on the BiggerPockets files page.