Become a first class, market leading, money making, professional real estate investor through my mentorship. Apply to be my next apprentice here: www.freedommentor.com/apprentice
I manage multi-billion dollar construction projects...this guy is spot on for those not in the biz. Contractors absolutely live and thrive in ambiguity...take it away from them by insisting on clarity throughout the whole process.
" Contractors absolutely live and thrive in ambiguity." So what you are saying here is that all contractors are scammers. Makes sense to me! This has been my experience with contractors which is why I'll never hire one to do any job except the jobs I do not have the physical ability to do.
Ugh, I had a contractor in 2018 that kept saying he only had one days work left. The place was a disaster. I had to fire him, tell him to pick up his tools, and then hire three guys for 3 days to get it finished. He didn't get his last payment and it cost me about 3K more. I had bought all of the materials. He kept taking off and not showing up, doing other jobs in between.I am still having to fix things like grout that fell out. I just noticed he is still working in the area. Ugh. At the time my place got vandalized mysteriously with only the things that were being worked on damaged. He swore to the police he didn't do it and they believed him. Mysteriously the vandals knew what to damage.
Thank you for this advice Phil. I've been an investor since 2017 making several deals and I still haven't mastered dealing with contractors but this advice will definitely give me an advantage.
So basically, be the adult in the relationship with a contractor: define the terms as specificity as possible, communicate them to the contractor, and follow through on the agreed upon terms. Expect the contractor to try to test the boundaries. Thanks, Phil!
Very good video! I wish I watched it before I hired a contractor. He did exactly what you said and kept begging me for money with sob stories. I gave it to him and he still hasn't even started working after 4 months..
MY last project, I hired 4 subcontractors. Roofing, sand/refinish floors, electrical, and siding. All 4 were excellent. Project before that, drywall contractor. All meet, or exceeded my expectations. All of them I got recommendations from somebody including my realtor, Facebook community forum, supplier.
@@mph5896 That’s must be a miracle! These guys are such hustlers, always looking out for themselves and not the customer. I never wanna deal with one again!
What do you do if your husband didn’t make a contract with a contractor that charges us by the hour, and now he left us with an electrical problem, and won’t call us back? He also hung our cabinets wrong and blamed it on the uneven ceiling. We paid him a ridiculous amount, and he won’t call us back and fix either thing. He acted like he did us a big favor by coming in and fixing and finishing the job the previous lousy contractor did. Now we see why he didn’t want to make a contract and he charged by the hour. We’re obviously screwed! But is there any kind of arbitration or do we have to take them to court? What do we do?
Great info / advice Phil. So many contractors don't have bank accounts OR if they do banks screw the poor/small timeers with 5, 7, even 10 day holds on the cash from your checks. So many will run the local branch and cash your check. Soo you need to have a checking account you pay from with local branches. When I was rehabbing in small towns, I had to have lots of cash... Hard to keep books when paying in cash. Write it on a piece of paper, show the stack of cash and take a picture and email that picture to to yourself. Then move email into the folder for this house. Many contractors need paying Friday afternoon cuz the subs need beer/cigarette money as do the contractors... I might give a check for the that draw AND $50 in cash.. Lots of small issues when deal with real people with real lives. The more you acknowledge they are peoplee with needs AND work a balance of praise, recognition, providing for their needs even given a good contract, the more they will answer your phone calls and come to work on your projects. I almost always add a tip onto the final payment. Serious amount, $500 even. That helps them remember y9ou in a favorable light. :) Best to all.
Thanks for this awesome video Phil! Can you please do a video on the same topic but when your properties are out of state and are not within driving distance?
Get in your vehicle (or on a plane), travel to the property, stay in the area until the work is done. Or don't do long distance deals. Hiring contractors long distance is extremely difficult. You need someone on the ground.
Hire a local inspector to do weekly/etc progress inspections on an agreed-upon progress checklist. It's cheaper than flying out and staying the whole time. Any contractor and inspector familiar with flipping will know the concept. Always get lien releases with each payment.
If you are using hard/private money for your flip, they will often have their own inspectors and milestones for you and just deduct the costs at closing.
My electrician gave me an extra surprise bill of 5K in the middle of the job. I told him I wanted to be itemized and he said the contract doesn't say to itemize. I answered him, the contract doesn't have an extra 5K in it either. Out of his mind.
Check out the complicated contractor agreement on this link: www.freedommentor.com/how-to-get-contractors-to-finish-the-job/ and inside that contract you'll find some examples.
The link in the description takes you to two different contractor agreements, a simple one page contract and a much longer one: www.freedommentor.com/how-to-get-contractors-to-finish-the-job/
The one and ONLY contractor we have ever dealt with who was honest, did a great job at a reasonable price and was an all around great guy we never had to treat like a little child with all this bullshit was the italian mobster guy who did our floors. The ONLY problem we had with him was that he was so honest to a fault that he refused to do any job he wasn't licensed for, lol. We wanted him to do some other work for us and he stuck by his training and licensing to a fault and refused to do anything but floors. We got lucky with him because 99% of these assholes would have taken our money for other jobs out of their scope of training and either screwed us or messed up the job. We were naive at the time new homeowners and had no clue that contractors were like elementary school children 99% of them. The mafia guy was our first ever contractor hire and we were left with such a good impression of contractors that when we needed other work done we thought we had fallen down into some sort of interdimensional warp where literally no one was honest or hard working. It was such a shock to discover all of this. Thank you for your video.
Contracts! Contracts! Contracts! + If they don't have the money or CREDIT to purchase materials... send them on their way... and only pay for materials that are ON SITE.
What info specifically? Schedules? Agreement templates? I can send you. Really depends on scope of work and is it residential or commercial and what state are you in?
Have you ever used a penalty clause, say $50-100 per day, if the project runs over the completion date? On the flip side, have you used incentives ($$$) for quality work completed ahead of schedule?
It can be a catch 22; because if the penalty racks up, they won't show up because there is no money left in the project. You would need to leave a ton of money at the end of the project so the daily penalty hurts but doesn't demotivate them to not show up at all towards the end.
Pathetic situation......contractor wants to do the least amount of work for the most money while the customer wants the most work for the least amount of money. That's a given. But even so, that's not enough. Each side wants to squeeze the other more!! What happened to honesty, decency, apple pie and the American Way?
You are assuming there was a time in history when people always did the right thing? Humans have always been sinners. Always liars. Always in need of accountability. In the old days, they had duels to settle disputes; literally all the way up into the 1900s in the US.
You are entirely correct. We need to take off our rose colored glasses and have a look at reality. It’s quite possible to hire a contractor and get great work done by that contractor. I’ve actually done it!
People must read the entire KJV New Testament, (every word), then read the Old Testament (every word). The Ceremonial Works, Blood Sacrifices, Dietary Laws, Clothing Laws etc: were completed & finished on the Cross & God's Grace through his Blood gives us access, a ONLY path to Heaven!! But the MORAL LAWS OF GOD, OBEDIENCE TO GOD, ALWAYS WERE FOR EVERYONE. WILLFUL, PERPETUAL SINNERS, WILL NOT INHERIT (BE REWARDED) Eternal Life in Heaven! We now are ourselves God's Temple, God is to dwell in us through Spiritual Rebirth. He can not dwell in your body if you are disobedient, run to porn, use profanity etc: God Justifies you as his child, your evidence of Faith is you're a new Creature, Sin is dead to you and you over come it and walk as Jesus did. If that Spiritual Rebirth didn't ocurr, well you never changed, your Faith is FAKE, it's VAIN, you stayed in Sin and talk lightly on Sin because it's your excuse for not overcoming it! 🔥✝️ This was Written by the Holy Spirit within me, not of my doing, not my words, but GOD'S WORD 🔥✝️🔥 Jesus needs the World to Know that in these last days, the BIGGEST LIE Satan put into the Churches is the OVER BLOWN Emphasis of God's Grace, Excusing/Allowing us to Sin Freely. (As if we can Have our Cake & Eat it too) Itchy Ear Believers LOVE this False Doctrine because it Excuses them from changing their ways, thinking God's Love overlooks their Sinful deeds. Make NO MISTAKE, Jesus HATES SIN, he Will NOT be Mocked, nor Entertain Sin, nor allow his Grace/Blood or Forgiveness to be Prostituted with a Lifestyle of Perpetual Sin. YOU MUST Turn & Seperate yourself from ALL Sin & Turn to Jesus with 100% Commitment ( this is True Repentance ). This is How you Obtain True Salvation & only then Jesus Gives you the Holy Spirit to Help Keep you Holy (Spiritual Rebirth) this is Baptism, not being dunked by a Pastor in a Bath of Water 🤦♂️ Then like myself the Gift of Healing the Sick or ( any of the other 9 total Gifts he Chooses to gift you) YOU WILL Receive. Jesus Said: " Be Perfect, as the Father in Heaven is Perfect ". BTW Sadly VERRRY Few will ever do this & Consequently will NOT obtain Eternal Life, but shall be Condemned to Eternal Punishment in Hell. 1000:1 Hell to Heaven Ratio. When Jesus Forgave the Adulteress, he Commanded her to " Sin No More ". You nail your old self to the Cross & become a New Creature in Christ. Jesus taught if you Love the World, or the things of the World is to be ENEMIES of GOD. EXAMPLES: Having Hate, Unforgiveness, Jealousy, Lying, Gossiping, spending too much time on Social Media, Video Games, Alcohol, Sports Obsessions, Yoga, Meditation on anything other than God, Work, Excercise, Sexual Immorality, Perversion, Porn, Masturbation, Partying, Anger, Slander, Any Obsession that takes your time from Worship/Praising Jesus or doing God's Will. Jesus must be your Obsession or he calls these people Idolaters & Adulterers, & will CONDEMN them to an Eternal Punishment of Hell for Cheating on God by Giving their time to the Temporal things of this World run by Satan. If this sounds Foolish to any of you, you indeed have a Reprobate Mind, you have not been Spiritually Reborn & Will Not Enter the Kingdom of Heaven in your Current State. Read your Holy KJV Bible People. Don't let some Motivational, Cherry Picking Preacher tickle your ears Straight to Hell. I have been in the Presence of Jesus. HALLELUJAH, get close to him, he will get closer to you. You get close by Reading his Word & Choosing to Sin No More, that is the only way you can Truly Love God which is the #1 Greatest Commandment. Jesus said if you Love me, you WILL KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS. Over 200+ Commands in the New Testament Section of the KJV HOLY BIBLE. READ IT or LIKEWISE PERISH in IGNORANCE. 🔥🔥✝️🔥🔥
Become a first class, market leading, money making, professional real estate investor through my mentorship. Apply to be my next apprentice here: www.freedommentor.com/apprentice
I was a contractor, and you are 100% correct!!
I manage multi-billion dollar construction projects...this guy is spot on for those not in the biz. Contractors absolutely live and thrive in ambiguity...take it away from them by insisting on clarity throughout the whole process.
What company are ya workin for? Turner, JE Dunn, Kiewit?
" Contractors absolutely live and thrive in ambiguity." So what you are saying here is that all contractors are scammers. Makes sense to me! This has been my experience with contractors which is why I'll never hire one to do any job except the jobs I do not have the physical ability to do.
Great advice Phil. This is the most difficult thing to master as a real estate investor.
As a reputable contractor, you are 100% correct Phil!
Ugh, I had a contractor in 2018 that kept saying he only had one days work left. The place was a disaster. I had to fire him, tell him to pick up his tools, and then hire three guys for 3 days to get it finished. He didn't get his last payment and it cost me about 3K more. I had bought all of the materials. He kept taking off and not showing up, doing other jobs in between.I am still having to fix things like grout that fell out. I just noticed he is still working in the area. Ugh. At the time my place got vandalized mysteriously with only the things that were being worked on damaged. He swore to the police he didn't do it and they believed him. Mysteriously the vandals knew what to damage.
As a soon-to-be owner of an older home needing some reno work, this is great info for me, and very much appreciated.
Very welcome! Keep us up to date on the renovations.
Mind blowing that this information is free. Thank you soo much for this.
Great advice. Organizing contractors is like hurding cats with an air-horn and I’m sure this advice will solve a ton of issues. Thank you!
Thank you for this advice Phil. I've been an investor since 2017 making several deals and I still haven't mastered dealing with contractors but this advice will definitely give me an advantage.
Thank you for making this video. This is something everyone can benefit from watchibg
So basically, be the adult in the relationship with a contractor: define the terms as specificity as possible, communicate them to the contractor, and follow through on the agreed upon terms. Expect the contractor to try to test the boundaries. Thanks, Phil!
That about sums it up
It's actually disgusting that they don't know how to be an adult. But alas this has been my experience with every last damn one of them too.
Very good video!
I wish I watched it before I hired a contractor.
He did exactly what you said and kept begging me for money with sob stories.
I gave it to him and he still hasn't even started working after 4 months..
Forgot inspections to agree in milestone. We buy materials and get at least 3 quotes for the job.
Thank God I did step 1 and 3 right. Bud I wished i was more specific with step 2.
We do 20 % down 40 % at rough in inspection and 40 % at final inspection
Yes...contractors never finish..always take shortcuts..and are always looking to rip you off.. Their favorite targets are women and elderly
@@jeffmpvd7689 95%
MY last project, I hired 4 subcontractors. Roofing, sand/refinish floors, electrical, and siding. All 4 were excellent. Project before that, drywall contractor. All meet, or exceeded my expectations. All of them I got recommendations from somebody including my realtor, Facebook community forum, supplier.
@@mph5896 thats either a miracle..or a lie
@@mph5896 That’s must be a miracle! These guys are such hustlers, always looking out for themselves and not the customer. I never wanna deal with one again!
@@jayc4715 Try 99% , lol.
Great video.....so many homeowners being taken advantage of by dirtbags being "vague" and pushing for more money.. Should be a law/s against it..
They need to be regulated.
Thank you. So much truth and wisdom here.
You're welcome! Are you investing in real estate right now?
What do you do if your husband didn’t make a contract with a contractor that charges us by the hour, and now he left us with an electrical problem, and won’t call us back? He also hung our cabinets wrong and blamed it on the uneven ceiling. We paid him a ridiculous amount, and he won’t call us back and fix either thing. He acted like he did us a big favor by coming in and fixing and finishing the job the previous lousy contractor did. Now we see why he didn’t want to make a contract and he charged by the hour. We’re obviously screwed! But is there any kind of arbitration or do we have to take them to court? What do we do?
Thank you so much for this very educational and smart video!
You're welcome! Thank you for the kind words.
Great Guy, I used his sales training in Insurance to make a Bunch of $$$
Really appreciate this video!
Great info / advice Phil. So many contractors don't have bank accounts OR if they do banks screw the poor/small timeers with 5, 7, even 10 day holds on the cash from your checks. So many will run the local branch and cash your check. Soo you need to have a checking account you pay from with local branches. When I was rehabbing in small towns, I had to have lots of cash... Hard to keep books when paying in cash. Write it on a piece of paper, show the stack of cash and take a picture and email that picture to to yourself. Then move email into the folder for this house. Many contractors need paying Friday afternoon cuz the subs need beer/cigarette money as do the contractors... I might give a check for the that draw AND $50 in cash.. Lots of small issues when deal with real people with real lives. The more you acknowledge they are peoplee with needs AND work a balance of praise, recognition, providing for their needs even given a good contract, the more they will answer your phone calls and come to work on your projects. I almost always add a tip onto the final payment. Serious amount, $500 even. That helps them remember y9ou in a favorable light. :) Best to all.
hello
This is a BIG help
Great vid man..
line item EVERYTHING; 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 AT END WITH SIGN OFF; no liens or liabilities on sign off
I know somewhere contractors have a whole forum about you!!🤣🤣🤣. Loved it!!
Great video, always wondered the best way to counter those tear jerking sob stories!
Can you please do another video and be more specific about each bullet point.
You’re right; I need to be extremely specific
As always, good content, Ty
Thanks for this awesome video Phil! Can you please do a video on the same topic but when your properties are out of state and are not within driving distance?
Get in your vehicle (or on a plane), travel to the property, stay in the area until the work is done. Or don't do long distance deals. Hiring contractors long distance is extremely difficult. You need someone on the ground.
Hire a local inspector to do weekly/etc progress inspections on an agreed-upon progress checklist. It's cheaper than flying out and staying the whole time. Any contractor and inspector familiar with flipping will know the concept. Always get lien releases with each payment.
If you are using hard/private money for your flip, they will often have their own inspectors and milestones for you and just deduct the costs at closing.
good advice.
My electrician gave me an extra surprise bill of 5K in the middle of the job. I told him I wanted to be itemized and he said the contract doesn't say to itemize. I answered him, the contract doesn't have an extra 5K in it either. Out of his mind.
Yikes! Sorry to hear that. What ended up happening?
Also document any significant changes via change order.
wow, this is a great, great, great video!!!! wow
Good morning Phil! What advice would you give to your 21 year old self? Be blessed :)
Watch ALL of the videos on the "Phil Pustejovsky" youtube channel.
Thank you Phil 🙏🏻!
I can’t count how many times I’ve been ripped off by a single woman trying to squeal out of the last payment . I’ve heard every excuse there is .
Thank you so much!!
Absolutely. Thanks for commenting again.
I wish I could see an example of one of your contracts.
Here is a link to that agreement: www.freedommentor.com/how-to-get-contractors-to-finish-the-job/
@@freedom_mentor Thanks for putting this link in the description Phil.
Great video but couldn’t help but to laugh so hard 14;50 when you said ok? If it’s so quick then knock it out right now.
excellent!
Thank you! Cheers!
Very informative content. 👍
Thank you!
You’re most welcome.
Great information... what would some examples of pacific mile stones?
Check out the complicated contractor agreement on this link: www.freedommentor.com/how-to-get-contractors-to-finish-the-job/ and inside that contract you'll find some examples.
@@freedom_mentor Thank you! I am on a small HOA this going to be so helpful.
@@freedom_mentor Thank you
Can you post an example of what you use Phil?
The link in the description takes you to two different contractor agreements, a simple one page contract and a much longer one: www.freedommentor.com/how-to-get-contractors-to-finish-the-job/
@@freedom_mentor Thank you Phil! I apreciate you!
The one and ONLY contractor we have ever dealt with who was honest, did a great job at a reasonable price and was an all around great guy we never had to treat like a little child with all this bullshit was the italian mobster guy who did our floors. The ONLY problem we had with him was that he was so honest to a fault that he refused to do any job he wasn't licensed for, lol. We wanted him to do some other work for us and he stuck by his training and licensing to a fault and refused to do anything but floors. We got lucky with him because 99% of these assholes would have taken our money for other jobs out of their scope of training and either screwed us or messed up the job. We were naive at the time new homeowners and had no clue that contractors were like elementary school children 99% of them. The mafia guy was our first ever contractor hire and we were left with such a good impression of contractors that when we needed other work done we thought we had fallen down into some sort of interdimensional warp where literally no one was honest or hard working. It was such a shock to discover all of this. Thank you for your video.
Sounds like you may have found the right one! You're welcome.
keep the pot sweet, use a punch list, remember the last 5%of the job takes 30 percent of the time, Changes cost money
Put everything in writing.
Well said!
Contracts! Contracts! Contracts! + If they don't have the money or CREDIT to purchase materials... send them on their way... and only pay for materials that are ON SITE.
Do you have any timelines or contract you usually share we can look at?
What info specifically? Schedules? Agreement templates? I can send you. Really depends on scope of work and is it residential or commercial and what state are you in?
Project management 101
Yup!
Just tell me how to buy a house for myself, I can probably repair it just to live in it but I can’t pay full price
Have you ever used a penalty clause, say $50-100 per day, if the project runs over the completion date? On the flip side, have you used incentives ($$$) for quality work completed ahead of schedule?
It can be a catch 22; because if the penalty racks up, they won't show up because there is no money left in the project. You would need to leave a ton of money at the end of the project so the daily penalty hurts but doesn't demotivate them to not show up at all towards the end.
@@freedom_mentor The fact that anyone has to do any of this just to get a job that has been paid for finished is despicable.
Pathetic situation......contractor wants to do the least amount of work for the most money while the customer wants the most work for the least amount of money. That's a given. But even so, that's not enough. Each side wants to squeeze the other more!! What happened to honesty, decency, apple pie and the American Way?
You are assuming there was a time in history when people always did the right thing? Humans have always been sinners. Always liars. Always in need of accountability. In the old days, they had duels to settle disputes; literally all the way up into the 1900s in the US.
You are entirely correct. We need to take off our rose colored glasses and have a look at reality. It’s quite possible to hire a contractor and get great work done by that contractor. I’ve actually done it!
He who has the cash makes the rules. It has always been that way
Easy..dont pay them until they are finished.
So true. That's how I got robbed.
Hello
Hello Plato
People must read the entire KJV New Testament, (every word), then read the Old Testament (every word). The Ceremonial Works, Blood Sacrifices, Dietary Laws, Clothing Laws etc: were completed & finished on the Cross & God's Grace through his Blood gives us access, a ONLY path to Heaven!! But the MORAL LAWS OF GOD, OBEDIENCE TO GOD, ALWAYS WERE FOR EVERYONE. WILLFUL, PERPETUAL SINNERS, WILL NOT INHERIT (BE REWARDED) Eternal Life in Heaven! We now are ourselves God's Temple, God is to dwell in us through Spiritual Rebirth. He can not dwell in your body if you are disobedient, run to porn, use profanity etc: God Justifies you as his child, your evidence of Faith is you're a new Creature, Sin is dead to you and you over come it and walk as Jesus did. If that Spiritual Rebirth didn't ocurr, well you never changed, your Faith is FAKE, it's VAIN, you stayed in Sin and talk lightly on Sin because it's your excuse for not overcoming it! 🔥✝️
This was Written by the Holy Spirit within me, not of my doing, not my words, but GOD'S WORD 🔥✝️🔥
Jesus needs the World to Know that in these last days, the BIGGEST LIE Satan put into the Churches is the OVER BLOWN Emphasis of God's Grace, Excusing/Allowing us to Sin Freely. (As if we can Have our Cake & Eat it too) Itchy Ear Believers LOVE this False Doctrine because it Excuses them from changing their ways, thinking God's Love overlooks their Sinful deeds.
Make NO MISTAKE, Jesus HATES SIN, he Will NOT be Mocked, nor Entertain Sin, nor allow his Grace/Blood or Forgiveness to be Prostituted with a Lifestyle of Perpetual Sin. YOU MUST Turn & Seperate yourself from ALL Sin & Turn to Jesus with 100% Commitment ( this is True Repentance ). This is How you Obtain True Salvation & only then Jesus Gives you the Holy Spirit to Help Keep you Holy (Spiritual Rebirth) this is Baptism, not being dunked by a Pastor in a Bath of Water 🤦♂️ Then like myself the Gift of Healing the Sick or ( any of the other 9 total Gifts he Chooses to gift you) YOU WILL Receive. Jesus Said: " Be Perfect, as the Father in Heaven is Perfect ".
BTW Sadly VERRRY Few will ever do this & Consequently will NOT obtain Eternal Life, but shall be Condemned to Eternal Punishment in Hell.
1000:1 Hell to Heaven Ratio.
When Jesus Forgave the Adulteress, he Commanded her to " Sin No More ". You nail your old self to the Cross & become a New Creature in Christ.
Jesus taught if you Love the World, or the things of the World is to be ENEMIES of GOD. EXAMPLES: Having Hate, Unforgiveness, Jealousy, Lying, Gossiping, spending too much time on Social Media, Video Games, Alcohol, Sports Obsessions, Yoga, Meditation on anything other than God, Work, Excercise, Sexual Immorality, Perversion, Porn, Masturbation, Partying, Anger, Slander, Any Obsession that takes your time from Worship/Praising Jesus or doing God's Will. Jesus must be your Obsession or he calls these people Idolaters & Adulterers, & will CONDEMN them to an Eternal Punishment of Hell for Cheating on God by Giving their time to the Temporal things of this World run by Satan. If this sounds Foolish to any of you, you indeed have a Reprobate Mind, you have not been Spiritually Reborn & Will Not Enter the Kingdom of Heaven in your Current State. Read your Holy KJV Bible People. Don't let some Motivational, Cherry Picking Preacher tickle your ears Straight to Hell. I have been in the Presence of Jesus. HALLELUJAH, get close to him, he will get closer to you. You get close by Reading his Word & Choosing to Sin No More, that is the only way you can Truly Love God which is the #1 Greatest Commandment. Jesus said if you Love me, you WILL KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS. Over 200+ Commands in the New Testament Section of the KJV HOLY BIBLE. READ IT or LIKEWISE PERISH in IGNORANCE. 🔥🔥✝️🔥🔥
you are dreaming.. you need a lawyer and a good specification otherwise you have no recourse.