First meet with them at the job site so that you can look over the job and see what they would do. 

Ask “What would YOU do?” questions about the houses.  Ask them what they would take out or put in. Base off of bathroom, kitchen, flooring and would they put new windows in. Each place will be different, what you are looking for is are they going to be on the same page as you. So you can feel comfortable with them making decisions without you there.

Ask to see pictures of past jobs.  You’re going to need at least three references.  When you call the references find out what kind of work they did, how long it took them and if they are clean workers. Do they pick up after them selves or is the job site always a mess. What hours did they work i.e. came to the job site early or were they coming at different hours. This will tell you how dependable they are.

How many people are in there crew and how many do they have. This will let you know if you have more than one job going on they can handle it.  Do they have their own equipment.  This is an important one, do they have the money to buy the materials. You do not want to give them money up front to go buy the materials, I repeat DO NOT give any one money up front to do a job. What you’re looking for is a contractor to buy all materials and labor for the first week. So they will give you the bill for the work they have done and you pay it then.  Ask them what kind of work they do i.e. paint, dry wall, windows, bath rooms, you get the picture. For the things they don’t do, will they contract them out for you?  Find out what their time frame is on an average job i.e. can they be in and out in a month on a normal job.

You want a contractor that’s going to bid the whole job not just labor.

This should get you headed in the right direction when it comes to hiring a contractor.

Sean Marmoy

MOKSRealEstate.com

What is the most important thing in a real estate transaction, the property? location? financing? It’s actually the buyer…WHY? most investors try to find the deal that makes sense and line up every aspect of the transaction before figuring out how they will exit.  Your buyer is you exit strategy and you should line up this aspect of the transaction before making a move.  Where are most of your buyers located?  What do they want?  How much money do they want to make?  How are they buying bank financing, their own cash or terms?  You can make money with just about every type of buyer out there.

A buyer with credit can obtain financing and is likely to attract hard money or private lenders for acquisition and rehab you can wholesale to these guys.

A buyer with cash will most likely want a great deal since they’re not using leverage and paying out of their pockets, treat these guys good, you can find properties cheap right now and may be able to net 3-5K per deal in as little as 1-2 weeks.  The key here is speed, they can close within 5-10 days of obtaining free and clear title.

The term buyers have some cash but can’t come to your full price, whether or not they have credit they want to consider owner financing with a good down payment.  Owner financing wholesale deals short-term can create good residual income for you.

Ernesto Tinoco
MOKSRealEstate.com (Under Construction)