Using own tradies without Property Managers

My PM has forwarded a quote for a repair job which I think it's too high. The PM tells me that a second quote will incur an extra fallout cost. So I took a step back.
Can I find my own tradie who will do the job for less.

 

Sure

 

Many tradies don't charge a call out fee. What is the type of repair?

 

This is the question I also have. Before the serviceman / property manager send me quote to supply and fit, can't I ask for whats the exact problem.

 

What is the tenant complaining the issue is? I may be able to direct you as to what trade you need? @darrelj

 

Quite a few do.

Say you have trades A, B, and C.

You send them to job 1. They all drive out to take a look at it and present back to their quotes. A wins.

You send them to job 2. They all drive out to take a look at it and present back to their quotes. A wins.


You send them to job 3. They all drive out to take a look at it and present back to their quotes. A wins.

How do you think B and C feel now?

 

It feels crap. Sometimes I know they are just "getting quotes" and some you can tell will go with the cheapest one, and I know they will be getting a poor quality job (We do bathrooms)
My whole day is spent going out to homes quoting. This is my full-time role. 8 hours per day, 5 days a week.
Difference is, we make our money once the quotes translate to jobs. I have about a 90% hit rate of getting the quotes I do turn into work, though some may come back a year later, but generally within 1-30 days.
I don't charge for quotes at all (If I did I wouldn't have as many quotes to do, but wouldn't have many translate to jobs). All of our jobs are worth 5-20k though, so not jobs in the range of a few hundred dollars.
I wish I could charge for quotes, but we never start work at the time of the call out, so I just can't charge for it, and no one in our industry really charge for callouts unless they are attending, and starting work.

 

@darrelj You're welcome to find your own trades, but just make sure they're qualified and insured!

 

How much was the quote? A good PM should have a list of Tradies they use for varios jobs. So they should have a fairly good idea as to a reasonable price. Often I find money is not everything, I value workmanship, durability, trustworthiness, future works.....​

 

Often I find money is not everything,

Is it normal for property managers to get the quotes, then inflate them with a surcharge? I have numerous managers,and i know one does for a fact,and the others do not,as i deal with the handyman direct from time to time.

 

No we dont do that. We are very transparent: we forward the quote from the Tradie, when accepted and after completion, pay the bill and forward the invoice. In cases where bigger and more complicated/long drawn project is involved, we agree to have a Procurement Charge.

 

I think you'll find 99.9% don't do this

 

No it should be passed on at cost, and a fee for service charged for larger bodies of work eg major renovations.

Whats even dodgier is a PM who owns the trades/handyman business/cleaner on the side and has their secondary business do the work without disclosing the monetary benefit they are receiving to their client or tenant.

Or those which charge tenants for cleaning/repairs from bond and dont actually do the work just pocketing the money, or have their side business told to tenants that it is the only company they can use to be sure of full bond refund, who then charge double or triple market rate.

A truly good PM is one who works for their clients interests first and foremost, not their own.

 

Now if it were a smallish repair/issue anywhere upto $200 I generally get my PM to go ahead, but when it comes to larger costs I always request a minimum of 3 quotes.

Recent ceiling repairs we had 3 quotes ranging from $1500 to around $3500, why a huge discrepancy??? because they all provided different solutions, I went with the cheaper quote because I also got a 10 year guarantee.

Its my money and these costs impact on my cash flow.

I also don't want the PM to become lazy, or think I am silly and believe everything they say, because at the end of the day they are a PM not an expert on ceilings etc.

 

Tell me this isn't a widespread phenomenon...!

Oh my god no.

 

I was in a situation where the leaking roof tiles need repair. So I told my PM to get some repair quotes, came back with 3 roofer quotes ranging 13-15k for full roof replacement. I told the PM I am not going to replace the whole roof for just one leak, so I organise roofer myself and get it fix for $2k with 8 years guarantee. And I switch PM later on.