Being a long distance land lord is no big deal these days!

[Brandy Anderson]

I am just posting to say how cool this service is that I just learned about. I had turned over management of my rental property in Nashville a couple of years ago because I was tired of being a long distance land lord. I have since decided to sell the property to buy a duplex here in Portland, and had an appraisal done. Turns out that in order to sell my house in Nashville I would need to invest a bit more into it first. I googled exterior painters in Nashville, TN and this service called Thumbtack popped up. I asked for bids on the job and had several emails on phone calls within minutes (maybe seconds, no kidding). I hope this isn't coming across as an advertisement, I just wanted to make sure people know about this. I know a lot of people are scared of owing property outside of their own back yard, and I want to let you know you shouldn't be! I have owned this house in Nashville for over a decade, and lived outside of TN for 5 years, and have never considered it a burden. It can be a touch stressful sometimes when a lot of things come your way at the same time (meaning work, family, and property management stress), but that is just life. I can't believe how easy it is managing such things in this day and age. It is awesome. I love technology! If I wasn't trying to increase my cash flow I would gladly just hold onto the property and keep paying down the equity. Happy New Year to all of my fellow investors!

[Michaela G.]

Great, that you've been able to handle this long distance. 

I have to say that a quote for a paintjob sight-unseen makes me think that there's all kinds of small print, like: does not include prepping or caulking, all subject to actually looking at the property etc.

I've had a bad experience with a similar service that Home Depot had started, where it was a very clearly defined job, that any good plumber could have quoted a firm quote on. I was getting all these quotes, with everyone trying to underquote each other and when I called them, from the lowest bid on, I was always told: this quote isn't firm, I have to look at the job and then I'll give you a firm quote. That happened with 4 of them in a row. The 5th one stuck to his quote and then didn't show and didn't respond. 

I think that those websites, where people quote without looking at the work, some people have figured out to just quote really low to get that call and get invited over and then come up with all kinds of things to add on, figuring since you've already given them the time, they'll get the job.