secoon
10-19-2004, 04:49 AM
As a real estate investor, you will inevitibly be hiring people to work on your property. In doing so, you need to be very carefull in who you hire to work on your hard earned investment. Handymen, and fly-by-night contractors abound, and with low prices, many budding investors take the bait.
I have been a building contractor for the last 10 years, and still haven't seen it all. From simple mistakes, like miss-wired plugs, to major structural blunders, that have cost thousands to fix.
When choosing a contractor keep the following in mind:
Most states have some sort of licensing / regulatory agency for contractors. Check with them to be sure your chosen contractor is licensed.
Contractors should cary insurance, and lots of it. General liability, to protect you in case they break something, or run a truck into your house, or worse, drop something on a neighbor or passer by.
Performance bonds, to protect you if they bail out on your project without finishing.
Workers Comp, to protect thier employees while working on your property.
All of these expenses for the contractor can add up to a fair price for doing work for you. However, it will likely be done correctly, and you will be covered in case anything bad happens.
The picture below is of an exterior wall that is in a house that I am currently adding on to. It is painfully obvious that the owner, at the time, didn't follow the above rules.
http://www.oldromatb.com/majicb1.jpg
The exterior, load bearing wall is structurally unsound, with several problems that were obvioulsy created by a moron that didn't know what they were doing.
Whatever repair was done there (my guess.. new smaller window several years ago) is going to cost the new homeowner over $1000 to fix, EVEN THOUGH we are removing the wall. This botched job has carried into the roofing system and has settled poorly.
Someone saved a few bucks in the short run, but eventually, you have to pay the piper.
When it comes to the largest investment you will ever make, don't skimp on who is working on it for you.
Sean
I have been a building contractor for the last 10 years, and still haven't seen it all. From simple mistakes, like miss-wired plugs, to major structural blunders, that have cost thousands to fix.
When choosing a contractor keep the following in mind:
Most states have some sort of licensing / regulatory agency for contractors. Check with them to be sure your chosen contractor is licensed.
Contractors should cary insurance, and lots of it. General liability, to protect you in case they break something, or run a truck into your house, or worse, drop something on a neighbor or passer by.
Performance bonds, to protect you if they bail out on your project without finishing.
Workers Comp, to protect thier employees while working on your property.
All of these expenses for the contractor can add up to a fair price for doing work for you. However, it will likely be done correctly, and you will be covered in case anything bad happens.
The picture below is of an exterior wall that is in a house that I am currently adding on to. It is painfully obvious that the owner, at the time, didn't follow the above rules.
http://www.oldromatb.com/majicb1.jpg
The exterior, load bearing wall is structurally unsound, with several problems that were obvioulsy created by a moron that didn't know what they were doing.
Whatever repair was done there (my guess.. new smaller window several years ago) is going to cost the new homeowner over $1000 to fix, EVEN THOUGH we are removing the wall. This botched job has carried into the roofing system and has settled poorly.
Someone saved a few bucks in the short run, but eventually, you have to pay the piper.
When it comes to the largest investment you will ever make, don't skimp on who is working on it for you.
Sean