The Six Deadly Mistakes Rental Property Owners Make… (part 3 of 6)

 The Six Deadly Mistakes Rental Property Owners Make…

(How Many of Them Are You Making Right Now?)

                                          Part 3 of 6 ....

Costly Mistake #3: You are Falling prey to unscrupulous or inefficient repairmen.

If you have owned your property awhile, I am sure you remember the annoyance of being over charged by one of these guys. For example, your Plumber shows up to fix your leaking toilet, charges you $75 to drive out, $85 to fix the toilet, and $35 in parts for stuff that costs $8 at Home Depot. OR… Your appliance repairman comes out to fix you’re A/C system. And after just 20 minutes of looking over you’re A/C unit, he tells you it can’t be fixed, and you need a brand new system. You’re left wondering if he is really looking out for your best interest… or his own. Does any of this sound familiar? After a couple of years of experiencing this type of service, I decided to do something about it. We created…

Our own 24/7 Zero Overhead Repair Service

We went searching for and found electricians, plumbers, and appliance repairmen that are 1 or 2 person businesses. They are licensed and insured and operate out of their work trucks. There is no office space, fancy trucks, expensive advertising, or employees, so their over-head is next to nothing. These guys constantly suffer from inconsistent business: a typical “feast or famine” cycle. So when they find us, we give them steady work which smoothes out that annoying problem. In other words, we can instantly fill 50%-75% of their time, and they never have to spend any advertising dollars to keep this business. We simply insist they do quality work, and our clients receive discounted rates.

For example a typical electrician might charge you $125 an hour, $75 trip charge, and a 300% markup on parts. On the other hand, our electrician charges us $60 an hour including the time it takes to drive to your property and zero mark-up on parts. He comes out ahead because he is NOT just fixing your house that day. We have also given him one or two other electrical jobs at other properties.

Keep in mind, the electrician we hired spent no money on advertising, office rent, receptionist, or any of the other significant costs. Therefore, he is earning more “take home” money compared to the electrician working at a large electrical company, with far less headaches. Can you see how this would work for him (and you), in a positive way? The net result is:

Your Cost to Repair Electrical, Appliances, or Plumbing Issues Is At Least 50% Less Than You Will Pay Working With Other Property Managers

Our ballpark estimate of what our typical clients saves in repair costs is $875 a year per property.

More importantly, you typically don’t need to hire an electrician, plumber, or a contractor for minor repairs. A well trained, responsible handyman can easily handle 80% of repairs that typically come up. Our company actually has 3 of these handymen on our payroll. You end up saving even MORE money on these types of repairs.

For example, any handyman (worth is salt) knows how to quickly repair broken or leaking toilets and sinks. You don’t have to hire a plumber for that kind of stuff. If you do, it is simply an overkill and much more expensive. It’s like visiting the emergency room for a migraine headache and getting a prescription. The visit would probably cost you around $700 while your neighborhood walk-in clinic could provide the same thing for $75.

Obviously, any type of serious repairs will be handled by our licensed and insured plumber, appliance tech, electrician, or contractor. But, the fact of the manner is that most repairs are minor and do not fall in that category.

Be leery of any property management company that just hires repairmen from large companies driving fancy trucks. You end up “paying through the nose.” The property manager is paying top dollar to companies with huge amounts of overhead.

Not to mention, these repairs are being completed by an over qualified technician, which (more often than not) could be repaired by a competent handyman, at a fraction of the cost.

Please come visit us again next week for Part 4 of 6 Critical Mistakes Rental Owner's Make!

Del Val Realty & Property Management is a FULL service  company serving Philadelphia, PA and the western suburbs. We offer real estate investors and property owners a vehicle to build wealth and financial security through hassle-free ownership of rental real estate with our "Total Property Management Program." This proven management system allows property owners to enjoy the financial benefits of cash flow, tax savings, and wealth creation while it GUARANTEES you will never receive a late night emergency call, deal with a lengthy eviction proceeding or ever have to interact with an irate tenant.
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