Handyman Roger

When I started this whole quest into real estate, I decided early to make sure I set aside money in my budget to hire handymen for everything. I see those landlords that do the repairs themselves and save a ton of money. I would have liked to do that as well, except for just one problem: I suck.

When I first bought property Alpha, I tried to do repairs myself but I was awful at it. Replacing a doorknob took at LEAST an hour. Fixing leaks and kitchen pipes took even longer because I hated being on my knees or on my back in a cramped area for an extended period of time. I also hated painting because I would always leave lines on the wall and the same knee problem would happen when I would try to paint the baseboards. So I would always rely on handymen to do the dirty work. Robert Kiyosaki does the same thing with his rental properties as well. I understand my limitations/disadvantages and adjust my business plan accordingly. There are a few times, however, that I can actually do something right—and it feels pretty good when those times occur.

One of the upstairs tenants of property Alpha, Sebastian, called me two weeks ago (Thursday I think) and said that the kitchen sink was leaking. I didn’t want to start their tenancy off on the wrong foot, so I told him I would send someone. I both texted and called Handyman Stan to see if he could take a look at it. When he didn’t respond, I told Sebastian I would take a look at it once I got out of work.

Bottom of kitchen sink

The slipknot on the right was faulty

 The leak was coming from the right side of the juncture, right at the slipknot. I tried to tighten the slipknot but it just kept turning, so I took it out and examined it. The washer inside the slipknot was in perfect condition so I figured that the slipknot must be bad. I went to the store, bought a new slipknot for a dollar, and then put it on and BAM!! Problem solved. Hiring Stan would have cost me 15 dollars just for the service call, so I’m glad he didn’t pick up.

The next issue occurred this weekend, with my new tenant Libby in the upstairs of property Beta. The refrigerator needed a new handle so I had to special order it (refrigerator parts are EXPENSIVE, with the handle for this fridge costing me $48!). Once I got it, we set up a time for me to go over there and screw it in—Saturday morning. So I went over there thinking it was going to be a simple task of screwing in a handle, when I discovered a big problem:

I even tried gorilla glue

 The top hole didn’t have anything to screw into! It was just a gaping hole and I really didn’t know what to do. I told her to give me the rest of the day to figure something out because I had to go to work. The next day (yesterday), Carver told me about these things called toggle bolts. I folded the end-piece and put it through the hole, and then it expands once it gets through. The expansion catches on to the back of the hole, allowing me to screw it in and the rest was history.

Refrigerator handle w/toggle bolt

Problem solved

The best toggle bolts are those with zip cords that you can pull to give a tighter grip when screwing it in, but the cheap-ass hardware store I went to was no Home Depot. So I guess I learned that, with the right tools and identifying the problem, I can fix the little things. For the next few months I’m gonna do all the little repairs on my own. If I don’t know how to fix it, I’ll take a picture of it and get ideas from the guys at Home Depot or Carver. I already have a toolset from Porter Cable (drill, circular saw, flashlight and reciprocating saw) and a neat little bag of tools I keep in my car. I'm learning that sometimes it's not about how skilled you are, but whether or not you have the right tool. I’ll never be a full-time Mr. Fix-it, but part-time is okay with me.