All seasoned investors have had the late night calls…
“I’m locked out.”
“The water pipes have burst.”
“The dryer is on fire.”
If you are a seasoned investor, you have had the late night calls. If you are a novice, get ready! While these types of call are a rarity, they do have a tendency to happen at the worst possible time….like when are on vacation in Mexico
While I don’t mean to scare off the novice investor, we need to prepare ourselves. A simple list of contractors and emergency information can go a long way when you are in a bind in the wee hours while a pipe has just burst and you are on scouring the Yellow Pages trying to find a plumber who is on call!
A typical contact list would look something like this:
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| Photo Credit: cosmeticcompare.com |
Fire (non emergency)
Police (non emergency)
Plumber 1
Plumber 2
Electrician1
Electrician 2
Locksmith 1
Locksmith 2
What goes hand in hand with having an emergency contact list?....a home manual! If a pipe bursts in the kitchen or bathroom and there is no shut-off valves, will the tenant know how to shut off the water? Maybe they will, but do they know where the building shut-down valve is located? Maybe not.
These tid bits of advice are crucial in an emergency when the landlord may not be around. And don’t just give them the piece of paper….chances are they will not read it. Make sure you go through the list with each tenant to make sure they understand everything.
Other things to include in the house manual? Click on the link below to see an example for one of my houses!
Lesson 1: Be prepared
Lesson 2: Don’t assume your tenants will know how to do ANYTHING in the event of an emergency.
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