I spent this morning searching for new contractors. One of my mentors says that you should always be looking for and prescreening new contractors just like you do motivated sellers. We have two good crews right now working on a couple jobs… but I don’t want to overload them, and with the prospect of two big fire damage jobs coming up… I want to make sure we have some back ups in place.
What I did was search the skill’d trade section of Craigslist for Licensed and Insured contractors. I found seven who have advertised over the past two weeks and sent them an introductory email. Heres how the email went;
” My company is looking to expand our network of professional contractors and I saw your ad on Craigslist. We buy, renovate and resell 1-2 properties per month in the greater Springfield area, and need additional reliable and affordable contractors. Job size varies from light cosmetics to full gut rehabs. Our larger projects will require permitting so you must be licenced and insured. We buy these properties for investment purposes and will not be the end user, therefore affordable pricing and timeliness of job completion are of utmost importance. Also, the ability to work with other tradesmen (plumbers,electricians, HVAC) and orchestrate a job site are key.
If this sounds like something you may be interested in please call me or email back as I may have 1-2 projects for you to look at.
Thanks,
Matt Kearney
Hampden Homebuyers ”
As I get responses I will further prescreen them and have them come out and bid a job or two. I also ask for references and a portfolio/photos of previous jobs. I have been burnt by a few contractors in the past because I was too lenient in my prescreening process. (Just a side note, If your contractor needs you to provide the work truck and/or tools, they are probably not your right guy).
If any of you readers have good tips for finding contractors feel free to share them in the comments section!
We should have a closing coming up over the next couple days. It will be a nice rehab.
Heres the house:
Fire Damage Cape
Good day! I know this is kinda off topic however I’d figured I’d ask.
Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest authoring a blog
post or vice-versa? My website goes over a lot of the same subjects as
yours and I believe we could greatly benefit from each other.
If you’re interested feel free to shoot me an email.
I look forward to hearing from you! Fantastic blog by
the way!
Matt,
I was curious if you could give some tips on rehabbing a fire damaged property. I am making an offer on one today and would like to hear from you about any ‘gotchas’ or unique requirements from buyers, lenders, fire departments, municipalities, etc.
Thanks!
Hi John,
Alot of it depends on the extent of the fire damage. Was it contained to one small room, or did the fire spread throughout the house?
We generally budget for a full gut rehab with all new mechanicals when doing a fire job. Once you have the house gutted out it becomes pretty easy.
Make sure you pay close attention to any burn damage to structural beams and joists. These usually will have to be sistered or replaced depending on the extent of the burn damage.
You can walk the building inspector through before you start the project and he will point out what he wants fixed and corrected.
Also be sure to work with a very good contractor that has experience with full gut rehabs and knows alot about framing and correcting any structural/support issues.
Good luck with your offer!!!