FINDING GOOD SUB/GEN CONTRACTORS
What are good ways to find subcontractors or general contractors besides the phonebook?
I have an established business in a related field (to real estate) and just received my general contractor's license so i could expand my business into real estate. I would like to rehab a house and rent it. I have a flexible schedule and should be able to stop by the prop each day and maybe even do a little work. I also have 1 handyman on my staff who could stop by each day and do some light modifications.
How do i find good subcontractors to manage or another general contractor with a small crew who can do everything? I'm interested in finding better sub/contractors who do good work and are better than average sub/contractor. its okay if they cost a little more.
Ideally, i would buy the house and let a 2-3 man crew do all the work in 90 days. Again, only interested in the better contractors. What's the best way to find them? Post an ad for a bid in local print medias? Contact unions and post thru them? Place an ad in a local trade journal?
Any one who has had success with a similiar situation - please reply. Thank you for your thoughts.
This is the question that men have been trying to answer for eternity. Whole business have been created in the pursuit of providing a person with the ability to know ahead of time what a contractor will do and how well (Servicemasters?)
There is no magic bullet. All you can do is ask for referalls and try them out, limiting your exposure as much as possible in the beginning as you weed through the less desireables.
One way that I have found to get an honest answer from someone is to ask them if they would work behind someone else.
What this means is: There is usually an order to contruction, a foundation, then a framer, then an electrician, then a plumbler, hvac, drywaller, finish carpentry.
If you are looking for a good drywaller ask some finish carpenters if they would work behind the drywaller.
Everyone who comes before the next person can either make the next person's life easier or harder, if they are competent and do good work the person coming behind them has an easier time.
Everyone in the trade knows who sucks to come behind and who is a joy to come behind.
Contact your local Home Builder's Association..there are many Contractors and Subs that you can network with.
I know if you have a Lowes, Menards, or Home depot in your area they will give out contractor business cards of who they reccomend.
Hope this helps.
Just becaus Lowes od HD uses them that doesn't mean they are any good. Trust me, I do work for a guy that also does Lowes and he's a hack. Word of mouth is the best way to get good one. Ask your friends and coworkers who they have used.
The best way to find out if the people or companies that are advertising are any good is through a D&B REPORT, that is the same report banks use to determine credit worthiness. It will show if any complaints have been filed against them, defaulted on any jobs, BBB info, and much more. If a person is responcible and respectable they would be listed. This will help you investigate companies and people who run ads to make sure they are legitimate
Hello sflosab,
I have come to the conclusion that I can do a better job at managing subcontractors than the general contractor that I hired for my rehab. If I had the time to do it. I would not hire this guy to build a dog house for me. I will be all too happy to get this project over. He has turned a 2 1/2 month job into six months plus. He is sloppy, does not work Fridays, he is the general contractor from hell. I guess I will have to take him to court in order to get my rehab done in a workmen like condition. I mean he is sloppy and a poor craftmen at best.
The general contractor that I had planned use died right before the job was to start. This guy had done some work for the commerical loan officer that gave me the construction loan. So I figured how bad can he be if, he work for someone like the loan officer.
Always, always, always go out and look at some of their past works. This is the only way that you can get a good feel for what they can do.
Thanks everyone for all your input...pls keep the discussion going so others can search the forums and find this topic in the future.