All Forum Posts by: Tom Harkins

I’ll be there, looking forward to it!

@Les Jean-Pierre From my experience (a large loss claim), the insurance adjuster assesses the damage first and puts together an estimate. That sets the scope of work for returning the unit to pre-loss condition. In my case, it included exact costs for labor and materials. Then select your contractor, who may perform their own estimate and go back-and-forth with insurance on the details. You mentioned a preferred contractor- that *may* indicate that they already have your insurance carrier’s permission/trust to assess the damage and create an estimate on behalf of insurance. That is just a guess, definitely confirm that before hiring anyone. Having a contractor who knows the insurance process is valuable. 

@Pierre E. Regarding your question on ROI - a local realtor can tell you about how much value another bedroom will create in your market. It sounds like yours will be below grade, keep in mind that appraisals may value it differently than above grade. Same idea if it's a rental instead of a sale - what will it rent for as a 3 BD vs 4 BD (for example)? With that number and the installation cost you can calculate ROI.

@Ben Zelenka One of my favorite books. That it’s hard work and no shortcuts to earn respect, and eventually leadership.

@Jeff Sims 2007 Honda Civic. As a landlord I’d never want to drive to a rental property in a flashy car.

@Steve Hammer I prefer the carrot to the stick. A small rent discount for tenants to set up auto ACH payment on the 1st of the month.

@Caitlin Chamberlain Exactly what @Nathan G. said. Years ago I rented an apartment that had this setup. It was weird at first, but it allowed our female roomate to have her own bathroom and everyone was happier.

@Henley H. I recommend it but don’t require it. Should tenants want to protect themselves with renters insurance? Absolutely. Is it my job to force them to? No.

@Paul Deras A lot of it is going to hinge on the specifics of your policy- have your PA explain anything that is unclear, and work with your insurance to make sure nothing gets missed.

I appreciate your reply @Nathan Gesner, extremely helpful. I like the emphasis on having a calculated response prepared for addressing the most likely issues, rather than being reactive.

You mentioned attaching a policy with each checklist – does that also document the “why” behind the order of operations? I have found that preserving the rationale behind a procedure can be useful, for example when outsourcing some or all of it, experiencing turnover on one’s team, or to avoid re-hashing decisions that were made in the past but never written down.