All Forum Posts by: Rabeeya Khan

@Matthew Paul

Well we agree to disagree then. As for RE agent, yes we do negotiate and adjust our commission all the time. Not only that we do many little things between the process and not up charge for it :).  BTW healthcare system in the US is broken and one of the biggest scam but that’s another discussion. 

Quote from @Matthew Paul:

@Rabeeya Khan Range of prices is common with contractors , BUT the difference of $1000s of dollars is the difference between hiring a professional or chuck in a truck . With an itemized list ( also known as a scope of work ) Of course every item is up charged , as it should be . contracting is a business , done with the intention of making a profit . Not beer money for friday night 

If the customer thinks the prices are high , they are free to get other quotes and choose who they want .  As long as a contractor does the work correctly a high price is not a rip off , its good salesmanship . Its only a ripoff when the work is incomplete or less than industry standards . 

Your example of 60 bucks to install a 7 dollar lock , In my book that would be a deal , If I sent a man to  home depot to buy a lock and then drive to your house to install the lock , and then the office bill you for that lock and then wait to be paid . Our minimum charge is $135.00 plus materials . 

That would be silly of me to compare handy man quote with a license contractor wouldn’t it??? My example is between two fully licensened contractor doing business  in the community. But as long as we are on topic ,most  handyman do fine work as well so I don’t think every handyman fit into your category of chuck with a truck. You are in the business so I understand your bias but that doesn’t mean we as customer ignore the lack of any standard and transparency in how  contractors price their work.

As for lock, yes if they were coming to do only lock I would expect to pay that much but as a part of bigger job it shouldn’t be marked up to this point. And if you think it should be that yeah it is a ripoff!! 

There is something to be said about the range of prices you get from contractor for one job. For example wall paint. How is  there a difference of 1000s of dollars for essentially the same work that everyone will perform? I don’t believe that one charging 5000 will do exponentially better than one who is dong it for 2500.
Also With itemized list like this for a turnover,  problem is that every item is up charged like it is when you get a vendor to do a single job. Same vendor wants $60 to put a padlock on the shed. Just a lock that cost 7 from Home Depot. There is some amount of ripoff one expect but things like that makes it very difficult to trust PM and their vendors. 
There are some good suggestions and input in this thread so thank you everyone! 

Quote from @Kenneth Hale:

I live in Indy and also own a HVAC/Plumbing company. Most houses in the 46229 zip code are very old and in rough shape. As far as the plumbing pricing, its extremely fair costs. I have some decent property managers I can refer you toe along with a vast network of contractors in the area. 

Thanks Kenneth. Please feel free to send some recs . We do need to check HVAC in that home as well. Let’s connect on msg. 

Richard F thank you so much for this detailed analysis and response. I wish more PM think and work like you do. 

Quote from @Account Closed:

@Rabeeya Khan feel free to pm me. We do a lot of work here in Indy with PM companies as a preferred vendor. For the most part it seems okay but there are a few items that definitely stick out to me as being steep. 

Thnx, 
pm sent. 

I guess that’s the cost for absentee landlord. Out of State rental investments always comes with additional challenges but this one particularly annoys me when PM acts like they are there just to collect rent check and get their share out of it. Bay Area is expensive to invest but managing my own rentals here is priceless. Thanks everyone again for your input!! 

Quote from @Greg M.:

Individually the prices look fine. There is an item here and there that looks on the high side, but there are also items that look to be on the low side.

When was the last time this unit was updated? From what "needs" repair, this looks like a place that was never maintained. 

If it really does need this work and all the other recommended items, I'd get them all done while vacant. 

Yup that’s the issue we are discussing with PM that if really this property needs all this for a turnover it means they failed at their job of regular maintenance. 

Quote from @Travis Timmons:

Is it a standard turnover or deferred maintenance that has always needed to be done? For that price, I'd hop on a plane and do a lot of that myself. 

Thanks Travis, 
I really think PM companies should do a better job in having a preferred vendors. It is suppose to be renter turnover. The other quote that they gave us was 10k more. At these rate ROI doesn’t make sense in indi rental market. 

Quote from @Nicholas L.:

@Rabeeya Khan

the prices for the individual items aren't bad, so the question is just whether it needs all of that.  so hard for us in the forums to say when we don't know anything about it.  but based on those comments on the first page... it seems like it might be in pretty rough shape.

so... have you ever been to it?  what was it like when you bought it?  do you have someone trusted who could go walk it and send you photos and videos?

Thanks Nicholas, 
No we haven’t been to the property but it has been under the PM for past few years. It’s not a new acquire. We got the foundation inspection done separately and other than a leaked pipe there was nothing that was wrong. You are right One would expect reading through the report tgat the house is in bad condition but the pictures shows very different. It needs some work , but of course people were living in there until 3 weeks ago and it wasn’t an abondednd property. I don’t think all that is mentioned is needed but for example 2800 for yard cleanup. It seems excessive.