Lesson # 2 from first year of self-managing our 20 rental units

[Heath Jones]

Lesson #2 - Always, always, always get three bids!!

The next thing we learned is how tough it was to find good help. Contractors apparently are notoriously unreliable and even when we had one sign a contract to do the work we needed, they didn’t show up or call the day in the agreed upon day. This was in spite of the fact that we had verbal confirmation on the phone the day before that they would be there. When I finally got a hold of them, they told me they were too busy with other jobs.

My wife and I were stumped! We just figured contractors are always looking for work, so how could they turn down a job or just flat out not show up.In the end, I’m glad they didn’t do the job because come to find out, we would have overpaid significantly.

You’d be surprised at how much someone charges for the same work varies. It depends on a whole host of factors, but you can be assured that if the person sizes you up as someone who doesn’t know anything, you will be taken to the cleaners. Don’t get me wrong, there are several straight-shooters out there. The problem when your starting out is that you have no idea who is giving it to you straight and who is blowing sunshine as if they are here to help you out too.

The only way to get around this, is to get 3 bids. I also tell them that I’m getting bids. This won’t mean you always get a cheaper price, but you can be more confident of how much the job actually costs.