We closed on the purchase of The WI-1 House earlier in the week, and I’m currently up in Milwaukee putting together a Scope of Work and starting to interview and line up contractors…
First, here are some pictures of the house: THE WI-1 HOUSE: BEFORE PICTURES
I must admit, the challenge of putting together a remote team is tougher than I expected — I was hoping that I could get enough contractor recommendations from other investors that I wouldn’t need to find any on my own, but as it turns out, some of the recommendations aren’t coming through as I had expected. So, I’m spending a good bit of time on the phone trying to find more contractors to speak with, and trying to find contractors who can do quality work at the prices we’re accustomed to.
It may take another trip up here with my partner to iron out all the details of the rehab and to get all the contractors lined up. While I would normally stress over any wasted time on the project, it turns out that the foundation company that we’ll be using to fix a bad foundation wall isn’t available to start for a couple more weeks; because much of the rehab will be held up until the foundation work is completed, we actually have some extra time in the schedule where we can’t do much.
Anyway, this will no-doubt be an interesting project, and I have a feeling there will be a lot of new lessons learned on this one…I’ll write more next week after I’m back home…
You said over on BP you are learning or relearning more on this than you have on any project since you started… would love for you to go back into those details 🙂
hey j. kind of an off topic question. what sort of terms do you have with your private lenders? points? interest? monthly payments or not? length of term? 100% or do they require you to put some down also? thanks man. i got a deal out here in colorado springs that i’m trying to work out some funding for…a private lender would be nice.
Hey Nathan,
I’m definitely relearning a LOT, and will definitely post all of those lessons learned!
Hi Cliff,
My private investors are mostly making business loans, not loans on specific deals. So, I have the money full time in my account and make interest payments on a monthly basis, whether I’m using the money or not. Terms are between 8-12% and either party can terminate the agreement on 90 days notice.
The private lending I used to get per property was typically 10% interest, 1 point upfront, and 6 month term. I would put in between 0-20% of the costs, depending on who the lender was.
You are much braver than I. Hoping you have a very good superintendent!
Jingle –
I’m not feeling too brave these days… 😉
Hey J Scott, I just found another great sub contractor from Angie’s List. For me, it’s well worth the ten dollar annual subscription.
Milwaukee is big enough that there will be lots of reviews.
Hey Mark,
I’ve used Angie’s List a couple times, and what I’ve found is that the contractors are typically priced at or near retail — I’ve never found a contractor on Angie’s List that had investor pricing. What I’ve been finding in Milwaukee is that there are plenty of qualified contractors, just not decent-priced contractors…not sure Angie’s List can help with that! 🙂