Some Notes on Property Repairs and Your Contractor

This is a quick note on repairs on a property. There are three issues when dealing with a contractor, tradesmen, or a handyman. The first is tell you what the problem seems to be, and the second is the solution he or she suggests, and the third is the selling personality a person has. Let me give you an example.  

Since I am a roofer I will stick to roofing as an example. Let us say there are three roofers, they come and take a look at your roof. One comes to your property, does not even get on the roof, does not really provide a solution, and he has the pleaser syndrome type personality. His selling personality feels he has to please the property owner and will say yes to anything to get the job. Let us say he gives the lowest price, even though he saw other potential issues, like that the roof may also have bad decking issues, but did not bring it up until the job already started. He gave the price based on the what the property owner wanted and not his "professional" opinion was. Then the property owner feels stuck and resents the situation. This person not only did not look at the roof, find the problem, and really give no solution based on the problem. In addition to that, he has a personality that is either desperate or just a scared of rejection type of selling personality. This is the type of person who may not pick up your calls when you are upset.

The second roofer gets on the roof, finds the problem, takes pictures, and his selling personality is like "I am professional roofer". He is a straight shooter. He is not a seller, as much as he is a roofer, he will tell you all the roofing problems, and give you cost based on that. He may also say something like, "It may cost more when we open up the roof and find bad decking, that's going to be an $100 a square." No property owner likes such uncertainty. Even though this roofer found the problem and has a solution, but as a pure roofer personality, he sees a lot more issues than even the home inspector-- his personality wants a perfect roof. Everything bad on the roof that is "wrong" needs to be fixed. He is not thinking "functionally" --- if it broke don't fix it, and as long as it does not leak, no need to touch it.

The third, roofer he asks the property owner what he or she wants, and then jumps on the roof, and comes back to give a few options as a solution. He does this to compensate, the roofer side of him, and what the property owner wants and what the home inspectors report says. He is a lot more practical to the needs of the property owner. There are also contractors who will say because they have a hard time to say no. There are also contractors, who are real contractors/roofer/plumber/ etc at heart, and they want to fix every aspect of the problem and make a perfect roof, foundation, etc. There are a few contractors, who will understand the balance between the repairs that need to be done, and what is needed in the industry.

So, there are three things to look at, did he find the problem, the solution, and personality type. It is always a good sign if he or she asks for the inspection report. This shows he understands, that what needs to be fixed has a certain scope. Different roofers may have different solutions, so always ask for what the proposed solution is. Take the solution of one roofer and offer it to the other one and see what he says, the solution may be different material types. For example, the roofer who a true roofer at heart may want to put water and ice shield in the valleys, and other more practical roofer may say, they will install a metal valley, and maybe one decides to put nothing in the valley to save costs. Personality types for this purposes can put into three types, someone who says yes to everything, someone who is a true tradesman and wants to do his trade perfectly, and someone who understands the practicality of the situation.

So, now lets deal with the next aspect of estimating costs. There two types of repairs from a hidden cost perspective. Let us say you have a broken window or door or wall. One can see the whole problem. There is nothing hidden about it. There is no reason for the price to go up. Then there are repairs even the tradesman can not see fully till he starts to work on the issue. For example, sewer, foundation or roofing issue. Sometimes, when you open up the roof you find more problems. How should a property owner deal with this? The property owner should explicitly ask the tradesman, are we going to run into any more issues. If so, you should know beforehand the maximum cost to be expected. For this reason, you should get three bids on obvious situations, but in unclear situations, you need to talk to as many five to ten people to get a better understand what your costs will be. Also, in clear situations, like a broken window, the problem is clear, solutions may be different, and personality may vary but it's a clear decision for the most part. However, in unclear situations, the personality is the most important aspect, then the solution, and then the problem itself.

There is another reason why in unclear situations why it's important to talk to more tradesmen. If you think about it, the essence of any business is relationships. Sometimes the relationship is forced, like your siblings, the same with your local Walmart, it's one of the only practical choices you have in your location. However, most times relationships are built. The most important thing in a successful deal is to make a relationship with the right people. To see all the relationships as a team. So, do not see meeting with contractors as a hassle, but rather a relationship building process, like dating.

The ideal relationship means a win-win situation. You need trades people who know how to find the problems, come up with economical solutions and a personality that is practical about needs of the property owner. Someone who answers your calls will address any outstanding issues quickly.  

Do not just get an estimate in terms of cost, also get an estimate of the trade person knowledge, his or her personality.  The better relationships you have the less worry you will have and you will be able to focus on what makes you money.

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