It seems that people that fail to prepare are coming out of the woodwork. I guess they have always been there and I am just starting to see the trees in the forest. As we know the credit problems are affecting all parts of the country and my area is no exception. As a matter of fact, my next door neighbor recently turned his home of two years over to the bank as the ARM adjustment kept going up and up. Well, since he vacated the house, one of these "flippers" acquired the note and spent about two weeks of contractors making the house ready for sale.
Here is where the lack of preparation comes in. This "flipper" contracted with a two man house painting crew to paint the interior walls and the exterior trim and a guy to mow the yard. The lawn man comes over to the house and asks to borrow a broom to sweep the mess he made. I gave him one, after a couple of minutes he returns it. So I go out to the drive way to see his work, BAM!!! talk about an eye opener. This idiot did a great job of sweeping...he swept the stuff from the vacant house side an onto my driveway. I was livid...good thing for him, he was gone. Well, not five minutes pass and the jokers hired to paint show up and then knock on my door. The guy proceeds to tell me that he was hired to paint the house next door and would like to use some water and electricity while they are working. I asked him to repeat himself, I know he did not just ask me that. He did and I said no.
I found out who the new owner/"flipper" is and gave him a call. I identified myself and told him what happened. I told him that he is to tell the contractors not to ask for anything from anyone. Flipper starts to get mad at me and that I should tell the contractors and why am I bothering him. I fired back "Because you hired them to mow and paint, you did not hire me to provide water, electricity, or to sweep up the mess the lawn guy made" I had him at that point, he started to apologize, I told him that I was very interested in acquiring the house next door as a rental property but seeing how the new owner is so unprepared that I will have to look someplace else. This guy's tune change on a dime. He became Mr. Nice. He knew that in this market if you have a lead you don't lose it. To make a long story short this afternoon he came by and offered to give me a personal tour of the house so that I can see the modifications and upgrades he made. So as I walked over, I was impressed with not just the work on the house but what was in the back of his pickup truck; ice chest full of nothing but water and a portable electric generator. I think he learned a lesson, ensure that you hire the people that can do 100% of the job without collateral damage.
tags used: Dave Guerra, for sale, house, flipping, Contractor, Be Prepared
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