The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Real Estate and Landlording => Topic started by: salmp01 on March 22, 2018, 05:40:46 PM
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I own several rental properties and have had them under a repair plan through Xcel Energy (our local utility company). I had been paying $14/month and they will cover most repairs on my furnace and three appliances for this cost. I live in MN and I primararly get this plan so that my tenants can call in an issue with their furnace and have a tech out there in a matter of hours (this is needed when the temps drop below 0). I just got a notice that they are increasing their cost to $20/month and I'm considering dropping this or changing to another plan.
I just got off the phone with American Home Shield and it sound like they offer more of a cadillac but the cost is $40/month and they charge $125 per call. Does anyone out there use this or anything else like this? If so, what has been your experience?
Thanks!
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this sounds like insurance. insurance is generally a bad deal for things that you can afford to take the risk on yourself. Certain you will come out ahead of if you self-insure by putting some furnace repair/replacement money in a savings account and making sure there is enough to cover emergency repair or replacement.
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I have a couple of rentals, and do not use any plans like this. When a tenant calls me with a problem, I usually go over and have a look and if it's not something I can fix I call a repair person right then. Furnace repair people are always available on short notice, but plumbers usually schedule for 2-3 days out unless you have an emergency.
I don't see the advantage of paying someone to call a repair person for me, except that it spreads out the cost over every month instead of hitting you with big bills for occasional repairs. I maintain enough of a cash buffer in my rental accounts that it's never been a problem.
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I have a couple of rentals, and do not use any plans like this. When a tenant calls me with a problem, I usually go over and have a look and if it's not something I can fix I call a repair person right then. Furnace repair people are always available on short notice, but plumbers usually schedule for 2-3 days out unless you have an emergency.
I don't see the advantage of paying someone to call a repair person for me, except that it spreads out the cost over every month instead of hitting you with big bills for occasional repairs. I maintain enough of a cash buffer in my rental accounts that it's never been a problem.
+1 to this.
I only have one rental, but I enjoy fixing things myself, and learning to fix things. I believe it will help me with future rehab/rentals.
Last week I fixed a plumbing issue in about 1.5 hours that would have cost ~$400 for a plumber to fix and required a 3 day waiting period during which the rental would only have one shower.