All Forum Posts by: Ty Burns

Finding a motivated seller is always a bonus, but the numbers still have to work. My two most recent flips have been brought to me by a wholesaler who picked them up off the MLS. I would encourage you to try and find private sellers being that the MLS is really competitive right now and everything in my market is going for 5k-10k over list price.

Marc Cesar- Getting your license will definitely put you a step ahead of other investors. Having access to the MLS alone is worth it. My brother got his license and it has made everything much easier for us. We can submit our own offers, run our own comps, physically look at properties. It's nice not having to rely on someone else to do all these things.

Hey Jennifer. I lived in Portland for a couple of years. I have been investing in Salt lake for a little bit but it is getting extremely competitive. My brother and I are looking to expand out of state and possibly back into the Portland area. How is the market out there?

John Moore- We used a very sloppy contract for this project due to time restrictions and I did not have a detailed contract written up at the time. It is my own fault for being so careless. He never presented us with any change orders until after all the work was completed. The guy is a joke and does not know how to manage a project. He actually had them install the carpet before they painted!We will never be working with him again.

I have not received any sort of notice from anyone. All contractors are required to "file a Preliminary Notice within 20 days after starting work to maintain their lien rights." This is a direct quote from the Utah State Construction Registry. https://secure.utah.gov/scr/guide/contractors.html

From my understanding, the contractor has essentially waived his right from filing a lien.

We spoke with the contractor and basically paid him for the remaining balance of the rest of the bid plus the cost of the approved extras. He is not happy and has said he is going to file a lien against the house. I am pretty sure that he is not going to be able to do so being that they passed a new law a few years ago that a GC must file a pre-lien no later than 30 days after work commences. That date has long passed, so he should not be able to place a lien on the property(fingers crossed). His subs are now calling us wanting to get paid. We had to tell them that we have fulfilled our contract with the GC and they need to contact him for payment. The contract clearly states that the subs will be paid by check from the remaining balance of the original bid. I have learned my lesson and should not have used such a sloppy contract on this project.

Emily Dixon- He is definitely trying to double charge me. The tile work, refinishing the hardwood floors, and the electrical work were all included in the original scope of work. We have already paid him for this, and now he is trying to invoice us again for it. Even if it was not in the original bid, he should have consulted with me about any additional costs instead of just doing the work and billing me for it afterwards.

All of the approved changes were not put in writing. Verbal commitments.

Wayne Brooks- We had a written contract that included a bid of around 32k. We still owe him around 7k(includes remaining balance of the bid and the extra work that we agreed upon). He is about 6 weeks behind the estimated completion date that was in the contract( costing me about $2000 in holding costs). He is trying to bill me an additional $5500 for work that I never approved or agreed to. He is also saying that I need to pay for the tile work, refinishing the hard wood floors, and the electrician( this was in the contract on the agreed upon bid of 32k). Essentially, he is trying to double charge me for these services.

My General Contractor that I am using on one of my rehabs has just sent me a change order for $5500 over our initial budget. In addition to that, he is telling me that I have to pay the tile guy, the electrician, and the wood floor guy as well(all this work was included in the initial budget). He sent me the change order after the project was completed and the work was already done. In my experience, you are suppose to consult with the owner BEFORE any additional work is completed that is not on the initial scope of work. A few things came up along the way that we talked about and agreed upon that were going to be over budget. I am going to pay him for the remaining balance of what we agreed upon in our contract and for the extra repairs that popped up along the way that we discussed and agreed to pay for. Anyone have any ideas as to what else I can do? I dont want to get into a legal battle with this guy.