Most Helpful Trade, Rentals?

[Lights]

I am not sure how many of you went to learn a trade, but what would you consider a useful trade to learn when it comes to rental homes/apartments? Especially when it comes to fixing them up in a more of a routine basis, if you live in the area of the homes. It wouldn't be useful to learn a trade that you would only use once in 2 decades on a rental home like concrete to me...

like plumbing, electrical...

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Wimtbimtb]

Plumbing hands down most people don't like dealing with " Shit" Thats why they get paid so nice to clean up others people shit. Nice side income to use a snake / drain cleaner 5 min's work $75.00 bucks thank you for the business

 

[Tom.V]

I can do carpentry, masonry(REALLY well), roofing, and gutters. But when I get in the position to rehab a home that I own, I will use my connections that I have acquired over the years. People that owe me favors, yada yada.

Really, if you plan to rehab yourself, I'd hope you at least have some basic working knowledge.

 

[EastWind]

Something that happens often and when it happens people NEED it fixed now. Plumbing, Heating, Window & Door replacement.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[CashFlowDepot]

Learn property management.

With a trade, you don't make money unless you are working.

With property management, you'll find a tenant & get it rented once, then get a commission every month for years. The more properties you manage, the more commissions you make. Manage an apartment building and you are set.

You Get Residual Income!

There is always a need for good property managers.

 

[Windsurfer]

Couldn't agree more with Cash Flow Depot. I try to look at how I spend my time in terms of $'s/hour. A good property manager with a lot of units can make an exponential return in this area if she is well-organized and have a lot of systems automated. But if you are a plumber/electrician/HVAC guy, you can only work on one toilet/electrical box/furnace at a time. Even if you are making $200/hour it is still a slowlane job that won't scale.

When I bought my first properties I would ask contractors if I could help them do what they are doing (at no pay or discount) and would ask lots of questions to get an idea of what their job entails. This gave me a good idea of when a contractor is blowing smoke up my a*s or is a good one. But now I just manage my properties and most of the management is through cell phone or computer. I use a management software service called Buildium (Property Management Software | Buildium | Home) and it really helps.