Property Rehab: Fixer-Upper and Construction Talk

Even honest contractors occasionally play a bit fast and loose with the truth. All tradesmen are looking to maximize profits and minimize hassle and that can end up costing you extra money.
So don't take everything a contractor says as the complete truth. Try these strategies to neutralize three classic fibs without harming your working rapport.
What He Says: "I don't have any wiggle room on my price."
What He Means: "I'm hoping you'll pay my boom-time rates."
During the real estate bust, even top contractors have been forced to drop their bids as much as 10% to 40% to compete for the dwindling pool of jobs. Yours surely has too unless he thinks he has your business locked up at any price.

Are you rehabing in a area where you are worried about someone breaking in? Do you want to lower you insurance rates? There is a portable security system out there that works on the cellular network that can be moved from property to property or even cover more than one property that is close together. For more information go to:

http://www.tattletalealarm.com/

Hello DG Family! I am a new investor working on my very first deal. I have a bank owned property, cash purchase, that requires some work. Someone punched a hole in every wall in the house to gain access to the wire so the entire house needs to be rewired. Some of the sub-floors need to be replaced, drywall, windows, etc. I have a couple questions before I move forward and make an offer on this house. I am brand new to REI, less than a month from reading Dean's book so any and all help will be very much appreciated.

My first question is do I need to have any kind of special permits to preform any of this work? I'm especially concerned about the electrical. Don't worry, I'm not going to attempt to do this work myself .

Are there any investors out there that can give me some advice on flipping.I'm right in the middle of possibly my first deal.I had a contractor look at the home and he's evaluating repair costs as I type this and then he'll email me the results.I have a possible lender online who i will split the profits with but he seems sort of sketchy.I have no money to put down on a hard money loan that most hard money institutions require.I heard that i can put together a loan package including the profits to be made from the deal and possibly find a doctor or someone that has that kind of money and offer to split the profits with them 50/50.What makes this deal so appealing to me is that i already have 2 people who want to buy it as soon its finished.

Are there any investors out there that can give me some advice on flipping.I'm right in the middle of possibly my first deal.I had a contractor look at the home and he's evaluating repair costs as I type this and then he'll email me the results.I have a possible lender online who i will split the profits with but he seems sort of sketchy.I have no money to put down on a hard money loan that most hard money institutions require.I heard that i can put together a loan package including the profits to be made from the deal and possibly find a doctor or someone that has that kind of money and offer to split the profits with them 50/50.What makes this deal so appealing to me is that i already have 2 people who want to buy it as soon its finished.

Hi, can anyone suggest an ideally National but if not availabile then one operating in Las Vegas and a second one in Boca Roton Florida, an independant property inspection company to check mantainance on prospective purchases. Many thanks

Topic pretty much says it I would like to hear some stories about people who have done shell deals in the past & how the went they they make $$$ was it a good or bad experience b/c I was looking for shells online.

Recently I met with a very prolific rehabber. The success this person is realizing is based on a very simple fact. This fact is working with systems.

Any time you can make a process predictable, and duplicatable, you have the makings for a much more profitable venture. Instead of taking each project one by one, and trying to do the analysis, structure the deal, and work the rehab on an independent basis, try doing the same thing over and over again.

If you have a system, all of the people you work with will know exactly what to do, and you as the investor don't need to be there supervising the process all the time. Your crew will know exactly how to act, and will be able to be productive even in your absence. This is a major key to how wealthy people work.

Hi. Not far from where i work there is an abandoned apartment complex that’s been boarded up for about 10years. I went to the county site and looked up the owner who's about 85years old and probably doesn't even know what to do with it anymore. I also found some information about the property. There are 3 2story buildings on 2lots with 30 apartment units(10 units in every building).My issue is that I can't get the assess value of the complex because it is the only one in the area. The rest of the neighborhood is low income houses. My main interest is to obtain the property, and sell it to the city's Section 8,HUD, or Public Housing Program. Because I noticed that the demand for public assistant and low income housing is rising in the city.