Countryside holiday house: remote building project management: hints?

[valsecito]

Hi!

Any hints on remote building project management?

My significant other and I own 2ha("5 acres") of land with an old farmhouse and some outbuildings in the remote countryside, 2000km from where we live, in s.o.'s native EU country. See https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/real-estate-and-landlording/hints-to-help-close-a-rather-unusual-real-estate-deal/msg1963073 .

Some serious construction work is needed to build a holiday rental there. The sketch is clear. How would we go about organising this on a tight budget? We'd appreciate your hints!

My gut feeling is we need a detailed plan and a good quality local general contractor. Not easy since most of the good ones have left for higher paying work in western Europe. Maybe remote managing known good subcontractors would also work. Close friends are our closest neighbours less than a km away. That might help with the remote management.

Thank you for sharing your hints!

Valsecito

[valsecito]

What would be correct/generous compensation for the friends taking care of the on-site bits of property management for holiday rentals? 15% of gross income? 20%?

Some background. This will be a new build with two holiday rentals, one of which we will reserve for ourselves when in the area. Our good friends and neighbours live in the next house, 900m away. They seem to be interested in doing the on site bits of the property management only: lawn mowing, minor maintenance on the house, cleaning, walkthrough before guests arrive, ... Anything off-site and especially paperwork they are not interested in. We would manage that to start with, so we get a good feel of what's involved, and possibly outsource to someone else later.

We will be building with local subcontractors as much as possible. Coordination will be a combination of remote and on site. I'll be on site for two weeks around easter, and for two months in summer. An advantage of a job with luxurious holidays I guess...

[Dicey]

What is the rush? I guarantee doing this remotely is going to cost you more and take longer than being on site.

[valsecito]

What is the rush? I guarantee doing this remotely is going to cost you more and take longer than being on site.

Sorry, I'm not sure I understand your question.

In the mean time, we seem to have found a trustworthy potential  project manager. He's a direct recommendation from local friends who have worked with him building and doing some related project management. He also has some experience working for remote clients with local property. Incredibly, he still has quite a lot of space in his schedule in less than two months.

The plan is to test him on some minor work that requires project management skills. He can arrange the teardown of the old farm, the restoration of the well, reconnecting electricity, and setting up a temporary living space in the barn.