A burning pile of rubble Europe and Asia, and being the only modernized supplier of everything, is what made USA. 

I recommend always purchasing the materials yourself, or paying for them separately / if the sub has materials included be sure to cut joint checks to suppliers + subs, prevent liens from suppliers if the subs don’t pay them.

It also posses another problem which is when you need to return product or material that is defective or damaged you are working with suppliers who have insanely high volumes and little relationship with the purchaser.

The more work we require out of suppliers, the less likely they are to discount.

Develop a solid and diverse network of contractors and suppliers and learn to project manage your renovations, or hire somebody who can do that for you rather than hiring one “General” Contractor.

@Daniel Sanniti between the feasibility study (will give you an idea of what’s renting in your local market), the metal/door supplier (a company like trachte building system) and your vision of what the building should look like (might need an architect for that) you can get a estimate of what your unit mix should look like for best profitability on your investment.

I was doing my little nosy  visit during construction and thankfully so because I discovered the day before the contractor was to start setting tile, the supplier gave them the WRONG TILE, and it was ugly tile too. 

Unless you just really like gambling or have money to burn, in which case, by all means - roll the dice if that's your thing.Further - contractors and suppliers are SO damn busy these days with all of the construction going on around here that getting a renovation of any real scale completed correctly or a new construction job done is a very serious challenge in and of itself and takes a great degree of skill, care, TIME, connections, and probably some luck.

(naturally I will pass my supplier discounts through).

Your suppliers can get you samples Never send them to the store they will inevitably pick something back ordered that will delay your job or not be able to decide with the endless selection.