Insurance on appliances, electric, and plumbing?

[William Huston]

I am still learning the ropes of real estate investing, currently i have PM that manage all of my rentals, but i have been looking at trying out self managing recently after listening to some podcast and readings. One podcast recently i listened to mentioned that he self manages all his properties to save on the PM fees, but he has some sort of policy with the local utilities that basically gives his tenants a 24hr number to call if something was to happen to say a frig or hvac... he even mentioned it covered a clogged toilet..

I am curious what exactly is this such policy he is talking about, because the way he worded it, it sounded like he took most of the headache out of the job with this and he just worries about getting new tenants and collecting rent... he said the policy was cheaper than just keeping a handyman on call to do the repairs.. 

[Jim S.]

Be careful with appliance warranties from power companies. Some don't cover much. I would set up service people and call them yourself. It you get lots of calls for appliance repairs you might want to update your appliances or your tenants.