Government Payed Remodels

Michaeljp86

Do any of you guys work on remodels for people on welfare and get payed by the government? A freind of my sisters and some sort of far off relative had her house remodeled all payed for by tax money. Shes on some sort of assistence and got a new roof, kitchen, windows and doors. She said the contractors sigh up for the jobs then the gov. office calls them up and tells them about a house and the check it out and put in a bid.

Do any of you guys do this? Id like to get in on it if theres no reason not to. Im tired of working for people who think $50 is a fair price.

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Global warming is a myth, like evolution and the metric system.

oldfrt

Michael,
Check out this thread I started earlier ,it may be what your after.
It's federal $ dispersed through individual towns for the low and moderate income HO's.

http://www.contractortalk.com/f12/if-you-need-work-32824/

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wizendwizard

This is usually handled through Fannie Mae or HUD. Sometimes state housing authorities will also commission work through private contractors. This results in close to 20% of total work for me.

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valerko

I'm lost.Tried to do some research online .
Got info on companies receiving Goverment grants in my area , but how exacly do you sign up to do bussines with HUD or Fannie Mae?

wizendwizard

I'll try to find the HUD and Fannie Mae links or numbers for ya.

__________________
"If you start the grout process over, you too could use sparkly grout!"
There is no such thing as an illegal immigrant, they are either illegal or immigrants.
I'm Retired, or a student, don't really know anymore.

TimelessQuality

I've done a few jobs for Kansas SRS (medicaid). Mostly accessibility stuff. We have a local office that helps people with disabilities. Every year they get x dollars for grants. Their clients ask for improvements, they OK it then have the client get bids...That's how I got in. Some of the stuff is pretty big (like widen all interior doorways, baths..basically whole house remodel)

Now the office calls me to bid, as they know my work...

As the old saying goes...It's good work if you can get it!!!

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-Steve

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science." ~ Albert Einstein

Michaeljp86

There was a add in the paper almost a year ago about a city thats a slum about 15 miles away and they were wanting contractors to put in bids of fixing up some properties. This was all gov money and I hope they do it again this year. Im going to see if my sister can find out from that woman she works with how you sign up to do those jobs.

__________________
I am just a vessel from which genius flows -Homer Simpson

Global warming is a myth, like evolution and the metric system.

bujaly

All I can say is WOW!!!! I bet all of this is true and I'd like to get in on it.. LOL!!
True story. A friend of mine, who is and has a locksmithing company, asked me to come help him with some interior door handles in a government daycare facility for gov workers. He said he'd give me a $100 an hour to help and I did, 2 hours in fact. Guess how much they paid him for 2 hours work?

TWENTY FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!!! I saw the check with my own 2 eyes as she wrote it!!! HOLT ****!!! I said. He says, "I got all kinds of work around here too!"
Amazing what my tax dollars pay for...

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bujaly

How could I start investigating this here in Maryland? What state or county office should I be looking for. Public housing? Community development?.. Whatever...

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Michaeljp86

Just think what happens at places like the white house, your friend would be getting like 9.2 million.

__________________
I am just a vessel from which genius flows -Homer Simpson

Global warming is a myth, like evolution and the metric system.

wizendwizard

Fannie Mae 1-800-732-6643
Hud http://www.hud.gov/offices/pih/pha/contacts/index.cfm
All other government contracting
http://www.ccr.gov/Contractors.aspx

__________________
"If you start the grout process over, you too could use sparkly grout!"
There is no such thing as an illegal immigrant, they are either illegal or immigrants.
I'm Retired, or a student, don't really know anymore.

valerko

Well,NY state sucks as always.
Finally found company that "distributes" these grants here and call them up.
Was told ,they're not allowed to give out contractors info to people receiving these grants.WTF?? Only in NY.
Time to get out of this state.
Anybody from Tennessee or Kentucky?

DavidC

We are currently doing a job that includes building a wheelchair ramp, ramping interior thresholds, handicap shower unit, new roof, and some misc. work. All free to the HO. This is funded by HUD money via a local agency that assists the handicap.

2 years ago we built a garage for the same client that was funded by the USDA Rural Developement Agency.

There are at least 3 agencies within our city and 4 more at the county level that handle these contracts. The cleints will either be low income, disabled, elderly or some combination of the 3. The work can be anything from handyman repairs to major renovations. Each agency will have it's own spending limits per family and ususlly work off a priority list starting with safety, followed by energy saving and lastly cosmetic.

Lowballers will sometimes infest the agency and gobble up all the work because contracts are normally awarded on lowest bid. Some work can be profitable though, like our current contract. Given the clients, sometimes the work can be less than desirable. We once put in a bid as a favor and accidentally got a job to partially renovate a house with 18 cats inside. We threw some tools away after.

You also need to be certified for lead paint containment to bid on anything using HUD money.

Good Luck
Dave

Stevelsc8721

Hi Dave, it will take a while for you to get back to the 500 club, I followed your posts on the SM site. We would need a big kitchen table to sit everyone down on this site. Great to see you here and read your informative posts

mdshunk

I do a couple a year. They're good fill-in work, since there's usually not any deadlines associated with the work. These places are usually hog pens, so not many people in my area are anxious to sign up for work like that.

Michaeljp86

Yeah they are hog pens alright, if these people get something free they destroy it. Ive been in a few houses the smell made you want to vomit.

__________________
I am just a vessel from which genius flows -Homer Simpson

Global warming is a myth, like evolution and the metric system.

Brock

Yes, we have been doing them for about 10 years now. Many of the jobs we get are grant money. 5k is the limit for the grant and you have to live in the qualifing area. (customer must live in the slum). They also have the low interest loans for homes in these areas and those jobs can get really big. This type of work is not for the fly by night remodel company. You have to be willing to go through an enormous amount of red tape and all your jobs will be tested for lead paint residue. We only have about a 50% success rate for passing the lab work. In most cases your estimate includes the hotel fee for the family to live while your working the job. If you go long on time or your lead samples come back high you are stuck paying the hotel bill until you get clearance. It is not for the faint of heart. Lately I have not won any of these sealed bids because I have been underbid. I will admit I breathe a sigh of releif every time I lose one of these bids. I will probaly get off the list soon because it's just too much hassle.

DavidC

WOW! Is that a typo? Some of our local agencies have as limited resources, but generaly it is more like 25k max. The one we have in progress is for an agency that we haven't worked for yet. I haven't figured out their upper limit yet but our contract is for more than that.

Also sounds like you have to deal with some real harda$$ed lead clearances. So far we haven't had to put anyone up in a hotel, but it is a distinct possibility.

There are some agencies that we have learned to steer clear from. A gov't. contract is a guaranteed pay, but they can still be slow. Some are better than others.

Good Luck
Dave

mdshunk

Maybe his area runs things different. In my area, they mostly do gut jobs, and it's mostly HUD money being used.

Brock

No not a typo. The Federal Gov program in my area offers several programs for what is called "Neighborhood Improvement". The emergency grant has a cap of 5k. The only term is that the qualifying H/O must live in the home post-construction for a certain number of years. If I recall it is 5 years or if they sell before that time they pay it back.

The other programs are low interest loans. These are the gut jobs that few legitimate contractors will mess with. The 5k jobs can be good. It might be a saggy front porch repair, or some vinyl replacements etc. Any painted surface that is touched requires lead base paint clearance, and your whole crew has to have the certifacation also. The guys on this forum don't know what clean is until they have to pass a lead clearance.

FOR EXAMPLE....We rebuilt an interior staircase leading from the main to the basement. Next to the repair was the washing machine and a handy dandy floor drain. We scrubbed the concrete floor under the new stairs with a gallon of bleach. We then unhooked the hot water hose from the washing machine and flooded the area with scalding hot water. You could literally lick the floor. The lead guy comes out and I watch him wipe the floor with the wetnap and stick it in his test tube. 4 days later I get the call that my lead levels were too high and I failed. No money. So I paint the floor with Kilz and had a retest. Passed it. Lesson learned the hard way. You can't clean lead dust. You have to encapsulate it by some means. This is one example of the headaches associated with this kind of work, and why we no longer participate in the program.