Sure it took 4 years to accomplish this, but it's a huge milestone for us.

Get a GC to run the project for you it will save you in time.Make sure the have a lic I would start off by asking the relator for a recommendation of two GC and maybe check with the local REIA groups to find out who does alot of the work in your area.Please be there to check out all work or hire a project manager who can get all the subs and act as a agent for you most of the time they will charge 10 to 15 % of the project to do that.Can not stress enough please make sure the mile stone are done before you cut a check for the next phase wish you luck

Here, a neutral party holds the rehab money and distributes it out to you as you reach milestones in the rehab, upon approval by your lender.

We didn't set milestones or goals, we paid them based on the work they said they had completed, and now we can't pay them anymore because they are 2-3 weeks behind...How should we go about getting the contractor to do $8k in work which was already paid for?

IF/WHEN they lien your property: you will send them a letter demanding them to sue you. at that point the clock starts ticking, they have 30 days to sue you or you can have the lien removed AND they are responsible for any costs associated with you taking the time to write the letter, find a different contractor, waste your gas, etc... make sure you withheld enough :)if they do sue you, as long as you sent them that letter before they file the lien then it will simply be a matter of the court agreeing that you were reasonable with the amount you withheld. by the way, if possible, make sure to hold enough that it goes above $10k. this means it cannot go to small claims court in IL, much more difficult to sue someone above that amount without having to lawyer up at which point they will likely just try to agree to an amount with you in my experience.Simple way to avoid all of this: have your expectations clear and in writing, like you mentioned AND add in Inspections/milestones. this protects both of you from having to deal with this crap. example: scrape garage: inspection, paint coat #1: inspection, paint coat #2:inspection. agree to a basic schedule of values for each item prior to start of work, scraping is worth XXX, etc.. this allows you to pay based off of milestones/work completed.Some items you should be around to inspect during install to catch problems while they are occuring, its good project management, like tile being installed poorly, although that does not change the responsibility for the subcontractor to install the tile per your written expectations.

Wanting cash payment is no problem, on agreed upon terms at certain milestones.

That's a good milestone !!

I'm excited to announce something very special and another fantastic milestone for BiggerPockets.Today, the first article in a new BiggerPockets Real Estate Investing Column on AOL Real Estate has gone live!

It's a great milestone!

:)J Scott - Thanks to you for all you do as well, it will not be long before you hit this milestone as well.Chris Weiler Hey bud, thought I would toss out your name and get some activity out of you!