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A quick update for residential investors and owners from WILMOTH Group. Providing creative solutions, strategy, services and support in the residential investment community. |
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| | August Notes
Repairs And Owners
Every now and then I receive correspondence that makes me think about whether some part of our business practices need to be reconsidered. We have a number of owners who prefer to handle their own repairs. I believe that offering what a client prefers as an option is often a good business practice. Plus, I know you have other choices..lots of them. So balancing certain requests versus the need to also protect our other clients (ie tenants in this case) is never far from mind. What could go wrong by being flexible makes me wonder about how we coordinate owner repairs. Let me share the story from a fellow NARPM property manager.
Potential Tragedy
"Up until a few months ago, I had always allowed owners to use their own vendors or even do repairs themselves. This almost ended very tragically this week.
A tenant sent in a service request earlier this week for their gas oven not working. The owner went out to the property to fix it. He found that the oven needed replaced, and he opted to do the replacement himself. The day after he did so, we got a phone call from the tenant complaining that she and her family were feeling ill, and they thought they might smell natural gas. That's an emergency, so we referred it to our vendor instead of the owner, and he tried to explain to them over the phone how to shut off the gas while he started heading over there. They didn't understand how to do it, so they left the property and our vendor went out. When our vendor walked into the house, they said they were almost immediately nauseated because of how strong the gas smell was. It was intense. They went to the oven and found that the owner had incorrectly attached the gas line to the oven, and once the gas pressure built it up, the connection had completely come loose. For nearly a full day, natural gas was pouring into the house while the tenant was there. The vendor said that if anyone had lit a match or caused a spark, the entire house likely would have been destroyed and everyone inside killed.
That was a huge wake up call for me. I was trying to make these investor clients happy by letting them continue to do their own work, and as a result, I could have gotten a family killed.
Please remember that sometimes it's not just about protecting from liability from an uninsured vendor falling and hurting himself, or making sure that repairs are done quickly, etc. Sometimes it can actually be life or death. If you're allowing owners to do their own repairs, I would urge you to stop ASAP. As for me, I'm sending a letter out to all clients next week letting them know of a change in policy, with NO ONE being exempt. If I lose a few clients, so be it. It will be worth the peace of mind, because I know I felt pretty sick thinking about what could have happened this week."
So what do you think?
Have you ever considered the risk when you decide to make repairs to your properties? Or when you save extra bucks by hiring the cheap and unlicensed? Something to consider.
Next time there are repairs needed at your rental, possibly it is time to call in the professionals. That is what we are here for.
Until next time...enjoy the dog days of summer. |
| Thanks for Reading!
Joel Wilmoth
WILMOTH Group
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| | | The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from the balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot. It is curiously silent too, with blank white dawns and glaring moons, and sunets smeared with too much color.
Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting |
| | 4 Property Repairs That Cause Owners Endless Frustration A regular dilemma we face in property management is how to fix a problem in the owner’s best interest. Do we start with an attempt for the simple solution first when the simple solution may cost the owner funds that could have been invested toward the replacement option? Read More |
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