All Forum Posts by: Brian Mathews

That's what I say.    Its also probably safe to say he already knows and is testing you out to see if you lie or not.  

$8K in reserves should cover your first move out.     Not all but a lot of people in those areas will tear the crap out of a place.   The hassle factor will be high as well as the repairs.   The good thing is that they may not bother you about anything until a relatively simple problem has become something much more serious and expensive.  

You're talking about a little over $100???   Who cares?  Pay it and move on to get rid of the guy.   A lawyer will cost more than that and all the hassle involved,  life is too short to fight a ridiculous battle like this.   Live and learn.  

I think it depends on what repairs are necessary.   Is it a few odds and ends?   Or a rehab?   If it's a few odds and ends,  you'll probably be ok if its a reputable company.    If it's a rehab, I'd make sure I made a visit or 2 along the way. 

I had a customer of mine who just sold her 30 or so rentals for $1500 to another company.    Not sure if that's the appropriate way to price, but 1 month's worth of rents seems fair enough, you'll probably lose a few accounts on the transfer. 

Its really simple and it can keep it clean.   Why don't you keep all the proceeds after all monthly bills are paid until your $7500 is returned to you.    Then pay yourself a market value PM fee or whatever your day to day duties would be in regards to this property.   After that split the proceeds 50/50 or 55/45 or  similar percentage to keep feelings from getting hurt and write down everything and sign it so there are no questions later.   The only ship that won't sail is a partnership.  

Not here.    My insurance costs are based upon what I do.   I would pay significantly more for $3m vs $300K.   Same with workmen's comp, its a percentage based upon how much I pay.    I have 1 full time employee and 2 part time employees.   I'm paying an average of 15-20% more.   When we do punchout and busy work, they drop into the $200 day range, which is inline with what is paid locally.   But typically they are making double that when we are doing installs.   A tech will make $25/hr + spiff or straight commission here.   A good tech can make over $100K a year easily if they are clean cut and act like a decent person.   I've known installers that make upwards of $200K a year if they do good work.   

I read your line about the PM, I do a lot of work for PMs and they usually have a pretty good relationship established with many different types of contractors.    You as a contractor should know there are many more factors involved than just labor and parts, such as the incredible amounts of insurance, overhead and taxes involved with running a business as well as you making a living off your workers actually doing the work.   So giving an expectation of cost without factoring in those other variables isn't the right thing to do as any contractor knows.   I don't know anything about red beacon.    Angies list is an extortion ring, don't use it as I don't need to pay to get work.   Craigslist speaks for itself, anybody who uses that to find labor is pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel IMO.   If you pay your guys whatever, that is between you and them.   Around here the good guys have options and won't work for what you pay.   If I don't pay them, somebody else will and I'll end up making apologies for the crappy work that gets done.   I pay well and expect  a high quality of work and I get it.    

 Not sure what this advice is.   $150-$300 a day for installation???  If you're trying to hire some idiot off craigslist  that will screw up the job.   I pay my installers that per job, not per day, otherwise I get some idiot who will screw up the job or maybe steal something from your house,    then I have to cover workmen's comp, general liability and commercial auto insurance, put gas in the truck to get them to the job, pay taxes and hopefully put a little bit in my pocket for the trouble of which out of that I need to have something to put back when I retire and pay my health insurance.   $150-$300 a day is a joke.  I would lose $500 just for the honor of doing the job.  

 I can buy almost any brand for less than Goodman, it's an illusion.   The thing is that Goodman sells pretty much to anybody, so you're buying from somebody that can't get good prices from the other brands for one reason or another.   But to tell you the truth, all brands are the same parts in them, same brand compressors, motors, relays, etc...   They all have their idiosyncracies.    When you buy an a/c, the first thing is to find a reputable contractor, which may not necessarily be the cheapest or the most expensive.   Ask friends and family for recommendations, if its not installed correctly, it won't matter what brand it is, it will be a POS.  2nd thing is to make sure the brand you buy has been in your area a long time, it's not some off brand that pops in and out of different distributors.   Typically if you stick with the big guys, American Standard/Trane,   Carrier/Bryant,  Rheem/Ruud,  Lennox or Goodman/Daikin/Amana you'll be ok.   Ducane is one of those brands that tends to pop in and out a lot in my area, but in some areas is solid.   Because when it breaks and it will break just as sure as the sun will come up tomorrow, you need to be able to get parts in a timely manner.