DIY or Hire it Out?

There are two types of real estate investors: Those who do the work themselves and those who spend a little extra money and hire it out. Both are great, but maybe you are trying to figure out which route you should take with your business.

When I started out with my first rental I was afraid to do the work by myself plus I was busy with my regular day job so for me it was a no-brainer that I needed to hire the work out in order to save myself time and stress. As I've gotten older I've become more curious with how things work and what it takes to fix them.

In a past article I wrote about the struggles I had with fixing a simple toilet leak (read here) so I paid someone else to replace the toilet. It was a valuable lesson, but just a couple of months ago I switched out 3 toilets in a matter of 3 hours at my new house. It is a simple task, but we need to get back to whether it is good for your business.

Why You Should DIY (Do It Yourself)

• You save money and saving watching your profit margins is an important part of business.
• You get a grasp of the real cost so contractors don't screw you in the future and you will be able to better estimate repairs on future deals.
• You feel that sense of pride (That's right... I Did That!).
• You grow an internal bond with your investment. In a business perspective think about the attachment the people who started Google have compared to the people who only buy stock.

Why You Should Hire It Out

• You save time. Instead of using your time fixing toilets you could be finding your next investment property to buy.
• Someone with more expertise is doing the work so it is less likely to be a problem in the near future.
• The work is probably guaranteed so if something goes wrong you won't be as accountable.
• Maybe you aren't handy... Most real estate investors don't get into the game because they are handy or like to fix stuff. It is a business and the money is what is important. Don't feel bad if you don't have the skills.

Conclusion

When it comes down to it business and life boils down to time vs money. When planning out your real estate business you should consider if you are going to build slowly or fast. If you have a ton of money backing you then maybe you should hire every aspect out and focus more on buying as many deals as you can. A lot of investors start with planning on buying one rental house per year for a few years and then ramping it up. For these people it might make sense to do the work and learn the costs of doing business so that when you ramp it up and a contractor says it will cost $300 to change the outdoor spigot you will know that it only cost you $25 in parts and 1 hour of work (just happened to me yesterday).