Managing Contractors
Your job doesn’t stop with just hiring the right contractor. You also need to manage them properly.
What’s your payment schedule? Are you going to set-up a payment schedule? Are you going to be inspecting their work before each payment?
Will you be providing them a documented Scope-of-Work? There’s a lot to it.
Surprise Visits
I don’t care “how” much you like them or trust them, stopping by unexpectedly is a must.
If it’s not going to be you, you need to have someone else that can do it for you.
Contractors will try to “get you” if you’re not careful. Even the good ones.
They may not do it maliciously, but if they know you won’t be checking on them, contractors are known to sneak-off and try to knock-out other side jobs when they’re supposed to be working on your project.
Even if we have multiple projects going at one time, we make it a habit to stop by all of them at least once-a-day, unannounced, and at different times of the day, so they can’t “learn our schedules.”
Find a Niche for Finding Properties from Motivated Sellers
You can just get foreclosures off the MLS, but I’d suggest that you find another way to find properties.
You won’t find the best deals on the MLS. A lot of the best deals get bought-up quickly by the listing agents themselves, or by investors that have bought several properties from the listing agents in the past.
I won’t say every broker or agent does this, but I know that a lot of them do, for sure.
Here are some other avenues you can investigate to find houses below market rate:
- People that were given houses via probate court.
- People that own the property that don’t live in it (aka absentee owners); especially those that live in another state.
- “Driving for dollars” to find homes that look like they’re vacant, then calling the owners to see if they want to sell.
- Putting up bandit signs in target areas to have motivated sellers calling YOU.
- Real estate wholesalers.