>But the biggest thing is that I'm the only one in charge of maintenance. There's no one person I can call for every single problem. Keeping track of regular maintenance, performing that maintenance, and learning how to DIY things takes a lot of time. And even if I want to pay someone to do it for me, I still have to research contractors, coordinate estimates, and schedule the project. And I still need to learn enough about the project to determine whether they're doing it right!

The thing is, you can actually find these people. My landlord has one. Sage old handiman who knows everything about how the building works and fixed half of it himself already. Seemingly he can do every trade. He's under the building doing plumbing or electric one day. Landscaping the next. Installing appliances. Paint and drywall. Roofing. Most of the time it's him by himself, but he will occasionally bring out his crew of similar sage old handimen who know seemingly everything there is to know.

You don't need a contractor. They will give you the runaround. You need to find a handiman like this. Not easy I'm sure, but they are out there.

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bombcar 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

If you treat your house like a rental that you rent to yourself, you can avoid a bunch of headaches - mainly because you’ve given yourself “permission” to spend on it.

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taneq 6 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Yeah but then I have to deal with my tenant. :P

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natebc 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

wait ... There are landlords out there who will "spend on it"?

Mine took 3 weeks to replace a broken HVAC when it was 35 degress out. 5 days to fix a toilet that when flushed dumped sewage into my downstairs neighbors ceiling.

Maybe if you're treating yourself as a tenant but your run of the mill rent extracting (or worse, middle man) landlord is the cheapest creature on the land.

	▲	bombcar 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		There are, but they're often found in places where the rent pressure isn't so great (e.g., there are many options for renters). When demand is so high or prices are fixed, everything else goes out the window; because what are you going to do, move?

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bradleyjg 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Not easy I'm sure,

Can confirm it’s not easy. If you want to describe a method of finding one, I’m all ears.

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aidenn0 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Ask your realtor for references.

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LoganDark 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Why would you ask a realtor?

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BuyMyBitcoins an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Realtors tend to have a lot of contacts. The realtor I worked with knew “a great guy” for every aspect of the house (roof, plumbing, cabinets, driveways, etc.) due to the fact that she naturally encountered so many of these tradespeople.

She would get recommendations from sellers. Either the seller recently had work done in order to improve the home before putting it on the market, or, the seller had some trusted expert they used for years.

My realtor actually encouraged me to ask her for any contacts if I needed something done in the future. I sense that her contacts like having customer referrals as well.

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memcg 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Realtors often have a list of contractors they rely on to help potential sellers get their homes ready for sale. I have found and used recommended roofers, plumbers, HVAC and electricians from a local realtor that wants my future business.

	▲	kxrm an hour ago \| parent [-]
		I would caution seeing a Realtor as an easy way to avoid doing your homework on someone. I did this long ago and the Realtor's recommendation was one of the worst I have ever worked with. There is, unfortunately, no shortcut to finding quality handymen.

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groby_b 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> He's under the building doing plumbing or electric one day.

I believe I've encountered that guys electrical work, and it ain't sage :)

(I.e. there are a few of those "fix it all" guys, but they're not always code compliant. They do get stuff done, though)

	▲	mc3301 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Plumbing: plumber. Electrics: electrician. Most other things (besides obvious big things like foundation, drainage, roofing, load supporting areas) can be done with a good "fix it all" kinda person, or (with patience) youtube.