Posted by By Paul Branton, Director of Investment Services for Home Rental Services
We’ve all heard it said before, “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.”
Recently I was working with an owner on his vacant property. He insisted on subbing out the flooring job to “his guy” instead of using one of our professional vendors. The reason he made this decision was solely based on cost, and the hope that he could “save” some money. That’s when I wish I would have told him, “If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire an amateur.”
The money he “saved” was lost in the extra time it took for his guy to get the job done. (Additional days of vacancy due to project work means lost potential income.) The situation got even worse. The job wasn’t done well, which required us to have professionals come in and fix the problems at additional cost. This resulted in even more vacancy.
When hiring a contractor, you typically get what you pay for.
You can typically choose only two of these three categories: Cheap, Fast and Great
- You can have Cheap and Fast but the results will likely not be Great.
- You can have Cheap and Great but it likely won’t get done Fast.
- You can have Fast and Great but that doesn’t usually come Cheap.
Don’t focus solely on the cost… consider the rental ROI.
In business, there are times when you have to spend money to make money. When it’s time to spend, you shouldn’t dwell on how to save money but focus on how to spend your money wisely.
If you have questions about what improvements might bring the best rental ROI for your investment property, give us a shout. We’d love to help you figure it out!
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