Investor · Rochester, NY · Member since 2013 · 131 posts · 36 votes
Hello,
Am i being unreasonable by telling my handy man that these charges are too much. He said he went online and searched for average charges. My argument is he should use local comparisons not national. And i could have done most of these except the ceiling repair :) It's just that i am 2 hrs away from the property in Rochester NY. Would gas be worth it to fix these minor repairs? (The work is already completed and i will pay) but i don't want him to think he can take advantage of me..especially being that i am a woman. Thanks.
2
Two installed smoke detectors
25.00
25.00
1
Installed new padlock
25.00
25.00
1
Repair the door with hinge with new holes
50.00
50.00
1
Ceiling repair replaced the new drywall, screwed the stud and patched 2nd times then put the texture for match ceiling. Painted 2nd coat.
85.00
85.00
1
Tile base fell off and removed the old caulked then cleaned installed new caulked.
Those seem very reasonable to me, if anything the drywall job alone I'd expect to cost around $200. If he/she does quality work, don't nickle and dime them-- a good relationship is worth a lot more than a few bucks!
Investor · Saint Joseph, MO · Member since 2017 · 29 posts · 85 votes
7y
@Meg K. Seems reasonable. Someone else commented about throwing in an extra $$$. I do that all the time. It gets my calls returned quickly the next time.
Developer · Houston TX · Member since 2018 · 423 posts · 400 votes
7y
@Meg K.
I see where you are coming from. If your cashflow per month is say only $300 that amount nearly wipes that months income. I learned a while back ago you get what you pay for. If this contractor did a good job best to give him his asking pay because you never know when you will have that job that will be out of your budget but he can help you and come down on his price to help you fit project within your budget because you have given him lots of work and paid him on time. Sometimes best to give versus negotiate. If you negotiate on every project he will either start giving you higher prices in anticipation of you negotiating or just send your calls to voicemail. If you grow your RE business and he keeps doing the work you will great a team member who will do more than your paying. Your success will be in his favor.
Developer · Holladay · Member since 2019 · 64 posts · 36 votes
7y
If I wrote that estimate in Xactimate(what 75%of insurance companies use to estimate for repairs just like this. I'd have $750 worth of labor minimums alone, paint, drywall, and general contractor just to name 3 trades. With that said it's more than fair.
Right now in the Salt lake City area contractors are going for $65-100hr and handymen(which only requires a certificate that really means nothing of skillset) go for $40-65$ an hour
Investor · Rochester, NY · Member since 2013 · 131 posts · 36 votes
7y
Thank you everyone. I realize how fortunate I am to be able to do all this over the phone and have someone trust that I will mail them a check. Yes I've used him before...he does this on the side...and I didnt like when he said he had to research the charges but now I see where he is coming from. like I said RE is not my main focus (not much experience ) and I have been burned too many times in the past. I'll work on keeping a level head and my emotions put of it 😊
Rockford, IL · Member since 2015 · 343 posts · 95 votes
7y
@Meg K. Most guys charge a service charge just to show up. I would not even bat an eye at that. However the drywall this is an art. If this is done well. Good prices.
Rental Property Investor · Amityville, NY · Member since 2018 · 351 posts · 441 votes
7y
@Meg K. Prices seem great, I charge $100-150 just to show up including the first hour and it's generally just to help out friends and family.
I will comment this....
One thing that really tweaks me is when a bill is let's say $248 and they give me the exact amount in cash. Knowing that it most likely was more work for them to find the exact change, then to just hand over $250 but they got to save $2.
When customers do that I realize they don't value or appreciate our work.
Pay this guy $250 and tell him how much you appreciate him getting it done and getting it done correctly. And you look forward to working together in the future.
The $7 dollars is not going to change his life but when he's sipping that coffee in the truck before the next stop you will definitely be leaving a positive impression in his head.
Real Estate Agent · Southington, CT · Member since 2008 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y
@Meg K. Those prices are very reasonable and that is not even taking into account the time it saves you driving there and the fact that it is very hard to find someone competent to complete "punch list" type maintenance issues because for most established handymen there is not enough money in it for them to take on these jobs.
Investor · Shalimar, FL · Member since 2017 · 6 posts · 3 votes
7y
Looks reasonable to me. Pay him and pay him quickly. There will be a time when you need him quickly and you want him to be willing to help. The relationship with good people is so important.
Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2015 · 26 posts · 8 votes
7y
@Meg K. I’d say you have a good Handyman. He’s listed each item with a cost. I would love to have a handyman like that. I’ve dealt with a few that automatically start off at a $200 and ends up much more. Keep him, log your repairs. Save yourself the time and drive. Side not, as him to send you before and after pics next time.. have a good day.
Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
Being a landlord, we have to get good pricing in order to make a profit: Buy the buildings at the right price, get a modest priced contract and complete repairs cheaply as possible.
Most of those prices are higher than I would pay. But you're fine for now. You got the job done.
Finding a skilled, reliable and reasonably priced handyman is hard.
Investor · PA · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 602 votes
7y
Seems reasonable. Only way you might pay less is if you pay hourly or daily but in this scenario you would also most likely have to be there to manage or help.
Investor · Rochester, NY · Member since 2013 · 131 posts · 36 votes
7y
I would paint those doors myself ! LOL...speaking of which, i've painted the units' walls myself after hearing the price quotes. But i had a lot of energy back then :)
Investor · Bayside, NY · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
Having owned and operated rentals for 40 years, I have to say hiring help is the most difficult decision. In my case, we partnered with our mother in law, in the beginning, and she is a believer in DIY no matter what. BTW, I agree with those the prices quoted you are very reasonable.
For instance, when a vacancy comes up, I get painters in right away. She couldn't see why, so once we had her volunteer to help us paint during a vacancy. Normally, a 2BR takes a 2 man crew a day to paint, or 1 man 2 days. How did we do? Took us two weeks, me with my bad back, with the help our a 70 year old women. And it wasn't even a good job IMHO, the edging between the wall and ceiling was all crooked. When we're done, told her we could've rented the place 2 weeks ago, and the rent about covers a much better paint job if we hired someone.
She was upset we had people come to change faucet washers and toilet parts when we get complaint on leaks. We got several triplexes and it ran us two to three thousand a year hiring out small repairs.
We started doing REI in the early 80's and she was always talking about her friend who went into REI with her two sons, and they huffed and puffed and did all the repairs themselves instead of paying ridiculous prices, like $85 as we did to change a washer. She carped on it for a few years, and then we heard nothing more. Then a number of years later, she forgot about the tale of her friend and the 2 sons, and she told us a friend who got into REI gave up on it because of all the troubles doing repairs. When we heard it, we asked her if it's the same women and the 2 sons doing all the DIY repairs. She said, "oh yeh, how did you know that?"
The way we saw it, the first two triplexes we bought doubled in the first few years, and we bought it about the same time as her friend. Prices doubled, and her friend decides to sell and take a profit. So with triplexes going from $150K to $400K in that period, they made $500K before taxes. Not bad. But we held on to it for over 20 years, around 25 years, and the prices doubled again, to $750K - $800K. We cashed out, making $500K more than twice compared to her friend.
The bottom line? We were willing to spend about $2,500 a year on these ridiculous overpriced work. Over 10 years, right or wrong, it cost us $25,000. But it enabled us to conserve our energy to acquire more real estate, maintain my high pressure system job. Just on the two triplexes we started with, we made another $500K capital gains just spending $25K. Add additional cash flow from the rents, over 10 years, that's another $200K, bringing the total to $700K. So then, what's wrong with having someone charging me $85 to change a washer, if it helps you make another $700K?
Investor · Poway, CA · Member since 2015 · 7k+ posts · 8k+ votes
7y
My rentals are in a high cost of living area and my handymen would be a lot cheaper. However, they know I can provide as much work as they desire. I doubt they would charge more than $10 for hanging two fire alarms when there was already other tasks there. If they went over there just to hang 2 fire alarms, they would charge $25 as that is their minimum fee.
When we had long distance properties (OOS), we would have been very happy that the charges were so reasonable. Most of our bills had little detail and cost significantly more.
If you only have one or two units in the area, I suspect you got an OK price but I still have issue with the fire alarm installation costs. You are not going to get the best prices being a couple hours away with a low unit count. I would not attribute it to your gender; I suspect a male would have gotten the same bill.
For your conditions, the bill seems reasonable (except the fire alarm installations).
