Flipping houses and general contractors.
It’s looking more and more like I will need to bring in a general contractor on this Hopkins Project. I normally act as the general contractor for my flips but this one is taking too much time from other projects. Also, it is a larger job than I originally thought which is not unusual when doing complete rehabs. The rear wall of the house is being held up by a single header approximately 6×12 inches and 10 feet long. I have several options, none of which will be cheap. I can take the whole rear wall down and rebuild it or I can try and replace that header with steel. Both are risky and will require someone with previous experience. Also the rear addition on the house needs to be rebuilt. I can either re-brick it or tear it down and build it back up with wood. Flipping houses is somewhat easier when you are not rehabbing them. The margins are usually larger with rehabs but you need to have the stomach for this kind of work.
I’ve met with about five general contractors and I haven’t been overly impressed with any of them. You can however, get some good ideas about how they would tackle the particular problem. It’s always a good idea to get as many contractors as possible to see the job. It slows progress but it’s worth the time and effort. On a side note my plumber was supposed to start today but the business manager never sent me the contract. The plumber is now calling me to start work. Imagine that I’m going to give him a check to begin work without a contract! Even if you have worked with someone before, do not get so comfortable that you leave yourself vulnerable. This market is very bad for contractors right now. A lot of them are hungry, so to speak. House flippers need to make sure that you use common sense at all times. Anyhow, I have a meeting with an architect and another contractor this morning. My wife has a “honey do” list just to top it off so on with the day I go.
