Property Management – Save Thousands on Property Repairs

roger maupin

Howdy everyone from the great state of Texas!  I moved to Austin this year from Denver, CO and loving it.  Though I do miss Denver, sailing my boat on Lake Travis helps me deal with it.

Being a real estate investor for half of my life, I have learned a lot from my mistakes.  Today, I want to share with you what I have learned regarding property repairs.

Learn to look for hidden stories in the details. Look at numbers in a new way, with a different eye.  You don’t need a degree in engineering to Save Money on Property Repairs.

In my 23 years as a property owner, I have learned to routinely scrutinize quotes before any work is approved. Two quotes for the same job can vary enormously.   Just by applying the following steps you can save up to 75% on repairs…no kidding.   That means you can save thousands that will go directly to your bottom line….

Here are the four easy (well…not so easy) steps to save thousands….

Examine estimated quote charges…..

1. Get at least three quotes – Discard any ‘distorted’ quote which is significantly higher or lower than others.  Also…beware and have your “eyes wide open” ….scams happen.
2. separate labor and materials costs
3. break each (labor, materials) down into specific jobs comprising the larger project
4. itemize the costs for each job of the project - Qotes must specifically list all materials and estimated labor in order to be evaluated.  Vague quotes are impossible to judge.

Questions to ask yourself…..

1. Is the labor charge reasonable? – make sure think through actual steps required for the project
2. Is the material charge reasonable? If you don’t know what is unreasonable, do a quick Internet search entering make, model and other relevant numbers to verify the exact item
3. Should you repair or replace

Here are “real-life” examples of true savings:

An apartment complex needing serious roof  and chimney repairs.  Here is how the situation went down:

Original Bid

• Remove 4 leaning pony walls and repair roof @$2600 ea =$10,400

• Install 48 sheet metal chimney caps @$525 ea=$25,200

$ 35,600    original bid

$   9,900 final quote

$ 25,700    saved!

A whopping savings of 25K…..just by getting more bids, questioning the quoted price and discarding the high quote.  Easy huh?

Here is another example with the same apartment complex where the boiler pump went out in the middle of the night….fun right?

Here is the sco

$     750    contractor charge for new boiler pump

$     223 online price

$     537    saved!

Situation:   Staircase repair:

$   3,100    original bid for replacing entire stair structure

< $     952 materials and labor after scrutiny

$   2,148    saved!

How?

· Requested pictures from the contractor

· Discussed project with contractor/welder

· Found alternative solution

· Replaced only steps instead of entire stair structure

If you have questions, suggestions, or experience saving (or losing) money on property repairs, let us know.  We can all benefit.

• How To Give Your Kids An Allowance
• How I saved 1000's on remodeling and home maintenance and you can to!
• Google Voice Can Save You Money