Investor · Santa Monica, CA · Member since 2017 · 24 posts · 18 votes
Hey all,
I've been working with my PM to get a termite control schedule put in place on my MF properties. All of them are between 4 and 8 units. Both she and the realtor on my most recent deal have been pushing the idea of termite bonds. I just received a quote from the termite company and it includes a $1,000+ one-time up front installation fee for some sort of device that prevents them on an ongoing basis, and then like a $200-ish per quarter charge on each property for ongoing treatment.
~$200 per quarter per property sounds about right to me for termite control, but I'm having a really hard time wrapping my head around a $7,000+ up front cost to install their system at all of them. How do you guys handle termite prevention? Is this a standard thing or am I being sold an expensive system I don't really need?
FWIW, I live in Los Angeles where we are no strangers to termites and I've never heard of something like this.
Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 210 posts · 155 votes
7y
Sounds like your quote came from Terminex (just guessing). We previously used them for our duplex and they are sooooooo trash. They charged us $2500 for termite subterranean installation + rat proofing at one property and then ongoing charges for quarterly 'pest control' - aka spray and glue mice traps. We cancelled our service a couple months ago because it was so difficult to get someone out to the house when there was an actual problem and their customer service is horrible. Save yourself money, potential hair-loss, and blood pressure spikes; go with someone else. We're still looking for another company for termite services. I'll follow up when we find someone worth sharing.
Investor · Santa Monica, CA · Member since 2017 · 24 posts · 18 votes
7y
@KJ L. Actually no, it's not Terminix. I'm going to send you a PM about it if that's cool. I'd like to hear if you've spoken to this company but don't want to put them on blast necessarily because they're local.