How Much Does it Cost to Flip a House: The Labor Factor

You can do all of the other math extremely diligently but still find you spent your rehab budget and netted less than planned due to the labor factor.

No matter how great your intentions are of providing quality housing for the right price that looks amazing, this is where it can go south. It’s not just your profits on your next deal that are on the line—it’s your reputation and future too.

It’s not just the big repair and replacement items that are always the problem either. Sometimes it can come down to your day labor taking care of what should be small, fast jobs to keep everything moving that really trips you up—causing multiple delays, multiplying your hard costs, and escalating your overall repair budget.

This is challenging, even for experienced house flippers and builders. Fix and flippers who manage this part of the process will have a major advantage in the marketplace. They can bid higher on properties and still make more profit. They can take on more house deals and do more volume without extra headaches. They stand out to other vendors and strategic partners who can be valuable to work with. Lenders want to know you have a strong team too. A reputable contracting team gives lenders a lot more confidence in your ability to complete deals you’ve submitted. That may not only fast track your loan request, but get you better terms too.

Where do you find the help? How do you keep them working at optimal efficiency without driving yourself crazy or wasting all of your time on the job site?

Get Referrals

Just like trying to find a great realtor, attorney, mortgage lender, or CPA, it can be really difficult to pinpoint the best option.

The optimal way to avoid all the guesswork and gambling is to ask for referrals. This is best if these are referrals from other builders who have run similar projects to what you are working on. Not all of them will want to share this priceless information, but some will.

Rehab loan lenders can be a great source too. If they’ve been funding deals in your area there is a high chance they know who has and hasn’t been doing good work. They can also get referrals from other investors, without the investors feeling like they are giving away their secrets to the competition.

Realtors, builders and home improvement store referrals follow that. If you are still coming up empty handed, ask around at your local real estate investor association and chamber of commerce. Don’t forget to utilize professional networking sites like LinkedIn, asking others in your field for introductions.

Sourcing Workers Locally

The next resource to pursue is local job sites and building supply centers. Ask around. Look at who is on site and appears to be doing a great job. Snap a photo of their trucks with contact info, or introduce yourself.

Ask Google

It’s not ideal, but Google is always at your fingertips and voice command to help. Be sure to check for reviews and look for ways to back those up with evidence of jobs well done.

Hire Someone to do it

To achieve your full potential as a professional investor and master of your own business you have to be very conscious about avoiding time traps. This is definitely one of those areas. It is extremely important, but your time is far better spent and will generate much better returns if it is focused on signing new deals, rather than trying to become an HR professional or managing your site laborers all day.

Think about the big picture and long term—did you get into real estate to become a construction site foreman? Or did you get in to make more money, enjoy more free time and grow?

Hire someone else to handle this part of your business. The time and stress it will save you can lead to a lot more deals done. Unless you’ve been a licensed builder and GC yourself, there is probably someone far more experienced at this you can have working for you.

This could be a general contractor who runs all the subs and manages the project from start to finish. It could be a general manager for your business or personal assistant who handles your recruiting, screening and hiring for you. Or it could be your own in-house division manager who runs with the ball once you’ve got a deal in your sights.

Consider hiring this person first. Then let them do all the other recruiting. Upwork and other outsourcing sites like it are a good place to start for sourcing talent for this role if they can be virtual. If you need local on the job help, go back to the top of this list and go through those steps to find this key person.

Keeping & Growing the Best Team

Good construction workers are in very high demand. Once you find one, never let them go. Expect others to be trying to poach them every day.

Treat your team well. Pay them well and on time. Put yourself in their shoes and understand their personal aspirations and pains, as well as those they face on the job. Listen. Then, work to help them solve those challenges, fostering loyalty.

Consistently ask them to recommend and bring in other great people just like themselves who are a good fit for the team!

Summary

The success of your real estate project depends a lot on your construction team. Use this list for finding and hiring quality workers. Find a great team leader and delegate the task of securing and retaining a strong team to them.

Then, you’ll drive down your house flipping costs, and boost your profits, while freeing up more spare time and time to do more deals. Additional perks of acing this part of the house flipping process could even mean faster and better loan approvals, as well as becoming a magnet for top talent who learn about your reputation.