Meeting Date: October 5, 2013
Welcome to THE ‘AL’ REPORT. My name is AL. Here’s my report.
Topic: Good Contractors: How to Find and Share Them
Seattle area FortuneBuilders Mastery students held their sixth Seattle Investors Club meeting from 4pm to 6pm, Saturday, October 5, at the Shoreline Conference Center, the Aurora room, as in the previous four meetings. Once again Coach Joe Bauer and Mastery student Julie Clark organized it. Thank you again!
The first hour we interacted informally getting to know several new people. I counted 17 present including five FB members unknown to the group. They were Jan and Mary Maue, Dan Phillips, buy generic cymbalta online Mike and Cynthia Neubel. Dan Wick brought his GC, Kerry Mugaas. Tony Khuu did what he does best — finding wholesale buyers for his properties. Karen Call, an auction expert from Gig Harbor, came again too! John Caudill, Ken’s associate, is now a new FortuneBuilders team member with Ken. Commensurate with today’s theme, Ken and John came as ‘builders’ complete with paint on their arms from working on a nearby house.
At 5pm Joe began the familiar FB clapping to signal everyone, then we all did a rousing “CRUSH IT!” to begin the second hour. Julie passed out her multi-page interview questions for contractors. The Buying Xanax idea is to find good contractors then provide steady work through our Seattle Investors Club.
Dan Wick began laughing, then explained, “We were just doing this very thing two hours ago.” (making a list of interview questions for screening contractors) Great minds think alike! That’s why we’re all in FB.
Julie also brought a list of 31 companies she found.
Discussion began about underground fuel tank removal. On Julie’s list is PLIA (Pollution Licensed Insurance Agency). Dan says Tanks by Dallas are approx $850 and are very good. They removed his concern about oil tanks on properties.
Julie proposed that we share our good people who we hire, contractors and subs, etc. with each other. A bunch of us nodded. Then we began doing it immediately. She also put forth the topic of how to get more and better subs and GCs. Someone asked whether one should hire an apprentice to do simple things like change all the switch plates and receptacles, get permits or not?
Discussion:
Jan asked about ALUMINUM wiring.
Kerry (GC) said that ANY aluminum wiring is dangerous due to different physical characteristics that promote arching.
Chris: connections come loose with repeated expansion.
John: getting financing is difficult to zero with aluminum wiring.
Dan: inspectors could catch it. There is the question of where to save money and where to leave it to the inspection response. A qualified agent should have information.
NEGOTIATING
Karen: you can negotiate from the 35R (inspection report)
Dan: when negotiating, ALWAYS ask for something in return for giving up something.
Ken: his recent experiences – he had a ‘hot list’ (35R) that was too large and several of his buyers ‘walked’ because of it. Lesson is fix the house to make the list as small as possible. There’s always something you’ll miss.
TO LEAVE IT OR NOT TO LEAVE IT
Julie: some builders say to ‘leave some things’ purposefully for the inspector to find.
Didn’t make sense to her. She gave an example of GFI outlets.
Cynthia: You can get an inspection done yourself prior to listing. She had one buyer who wanted everything done, too picky, would not budge. Went to next buyer.
Dan: If you do get your own inspection, put the results on the MLS when you list. Use it as a marketing tool. Any decent agent will recommend an inspection.
POOLING/COOPERATING
Ken: if we all called the same inspector, we could get a lower price. Avg is about $400.
Dan: that would be the only way we could routinely afford to get our own inspections.
INSPECTIONS
He got a buyer to share the cost of a new roof.
Karen: she had a roof fund available but inspector did not call out the roof.
Owen (roofer): most inspectors don’t know how to evaluate a roof.
Kerry: many inspectors don’t know the building trade.
Owen: new towns are ‘permit conscious’ and don’t let things slide so much. SeaTac, Burien are new towns. Old towns like Seattle are easier to get a pass on things.
Chris: a person in Bothell built without permits, a neighbor turned him in, city shut him down and fined him.
Owen: local regulations vary from town to town.
A LITTLE PR GOES A LONG WAY
Ken: when beginning a project introduce yourself to the neighbors.
Julie: She brings her twins with her (they are for rent) to view her project. Neighbors respond to her in a positive way instead of ‘a greedy house flipper”.
John: Post FOR SALE and WE BUY HOUSES signs on property.
GOV’T ‘SHUTDOWN’
Julie: slows down lending
Dan: Fannie Mae, FHA not affected. USDA, VA, HUD all gov’t backed mortgages are.
OTHER FACTORS
Ken: underwriters look closely to see why the house price went up.
Dan: send in scope of work to justify the price increase. Do not include your costs, just show the work done.
Ken: don’t buy a house where the builder leaves everything to the inspection.
Kerry: be sure whatever you want fixed they do WITHOUT a change order so you won’t be double charged.
Owen: when discussing what should have been done, having it written down ahead of time always works. Scope of work is the contract. “Let’s look at the contract” to see what gets done and what does not. This eliminates confusion as to what are ‘additional items’ that will cost more. Be detailed.
Chris: detailed scope of work helps clarify what customers may want in addition to it.
AL: there is a sample Scope of Work on the FB site.
CONTRACTORS
Ken: Good furnace guy, low price, responsive. Robert Alexander (Secure Comfort, 425.244.3038, 24 Roy St, Seattle WA)
Dan: He will send his list of contractors to me (AL).
Owen: Contractors don’t believe the line, “you’ll make more money in the long run” by charging us less now and expecting us to use them more. They need proof.
Julie: We can invite them to our meetings via a squeeze page. They can see us and decide for themselves.
Owen: Tell them you’re part of FB. Contractors like repeat business.
WHOLESALERS
Julie: what do we need from wholesalers?
Jan: need to know what damage there is to a house. Photos of damage, windows, anything major, etc. would be good. Not a full blown scope.
ETC
Chris: he works with a person who does home design layout plans. It’s cheaper than an architect. Maureen Caruso 206.853.9807
Ken: Details count…the last 10% of a project takes 20% of the time and 15% of the cost. Ex. is faucet straight, cleaning, spilled grout, dust from every drawer….
Categories of Julie’s list of contractors: Garage doors, sewer, GCs, chimney, floors, painters, electric, oil tanks. Some 31 items. If you want it, let me know where I can fax it or email it. Julie has a copy too.
Thank you for all your participation. Let’s keep our group growing and moving forward. Julie just told me that we plan to hold MONTHLY meetings. Watch for Joe’s email announcing our next one….Saturday, November 2nd. Same time, same place. The organizers are asking us what topics we would like to cover. Deal analyzer? Making offers? Looking forward to seeing you there!
To get an invite to the Seattle Investors Club email Joe by clicking here
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Disclaimer: Although every effort is made to be accurate, any reporting errors are solely the writer’s
spacing out. Feel free to let me know if you see any goofs. Thank you. AF
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