Home Improvements You Should Always Outsource. Landlords look for ways to boost their profits. Texan landlords are no different. When you have improved cash flow, you are able to do many other things with the surplus. Nearly all owners are able to do some home improvement projects, like pruning the yard, painting the bathroom, and changing a clogged toilet.
Nevertheless, if you enter into certain fixes, it opens a can of worms. For example, if Home Improvements You Should Always Outsource
If you’re handy or have a little knowledge about plumbing or electrical, it’s not the same as performing those things yourself. What usually happens is that you place a band-aid on the issue rather than rooting out the source of the problem. Even if you fix the problem, you typically spend a great deal more cash to get it repaired. Saving cash and seeing the bottom line is crucial in understanding your boundaries. Here are five home improvements you should always outsource.
- As a rule of thumb, you shouldn’t attempt to do anything that could potentially burn your property down. Just like there is no such thing as minor surgery, there is no such thing as minor electrical work. One false step or mix-up can cause legitimate potential major problems. Even if you have some background working with electrical, it doesn’t make you an expert.
- There is a difference between getting on a ladder to clean the gutters and getting on the roof to repair some shingles. It is usually a simple process to climb a ladder and clean the gutters. Once you start talking about going on the roof, it is a different ballgame. Not only can you fall and get seriously injured, but you also need to be able to carry heavy bags of shingles up the ladder and then perform whatever task needs to be done. Any inspector or potential home buyer will notice lazy or unprofessional work on the roof. It leads them to think there are other issues with the house done in the same sloppy manner. You need to hire a professional roofer for your property.
- Chimney cleaning. A fireplace is a great amenity in any property. Like most other things in a rental property, your tenant will not take care of things the same way a homeowner would. Every winter you should have the fireplace professionally cleaned. Professional cleaning is not the same as vacuuming up the remnants of last year’s soot and debris. With every fire, there are particles and even chemicals that attach to the flue. You don’t want to have your tenants lighting fires unless you know the flue, and fireplace, are professionally cleaned.
- While most people probably can repair a patch or hole in a wall, it doesn’t mean it will look good. There is a definite skill in repairing nicks in the wall to look smooth and clean. A blemish in the living room wall will stick out like a sore thumb. If sheetrock needs replacing, you would be shocked at just how much work goes into replacing even one piece. Not only are the pieces heavy, but they can also create quite a mess.
- Plumbing/sewer.Minor plumbing repairs like unclogging a toilet are some things every landlord should know how to do. However, if you are not careful, you can create bigger, more expensive, problems. A slow drip in a sink or a running toilet can literally add hundreds to the water bill. Fixing one thing may lead to additional problems. If there are pipes that need to be cut or fixed in the basement, this should be an automatic call to a plumber. Even if it is just a patch job, you don’t want to do it wrong and get a call from your tenant in the middle of the night telling you the basement is flooding.
As a landlord, there are a handful of items that you should expect to pay for. Know your limitations.
