Save Money on Home Repair Bills

You don’t have to dread calling the repairman. There are several ways you can save money when you need home repairs.

One of the lesser joys of home ownership is having to make repairs when something goes wrong. That sinking feeling in your stomach, the feeling of dread when you pick up the phone to the repairman…you can soothe these by taking advantage of the following tips on trimming home repair bills offered by Andy Bell, founder of Handyman Matters, a franchise home repair service, and appearing in USA Weekend:

• Be Clear on the Phone: Tell your repairman exactly what the problem is, the brand names of any components and the history of the problem. This ensures that he comes prepared and will save himself time and you money. You can even ask if you can e-mail a photo of the problem.
  
  
• Group Repairs Together: Repair people usually charge a flat fee of $25 to $90 for the visit, and then tack on hourly charges. If you can take care of multiple repairs in one visit, you can pay only one base charge.
  
  
• Buy Your Own Supplies: Hiring someone to paint or lay new tile? Buying the materials yourself will save you the markup of 20% to 100% that many repair services charge for materials, plus their hourly rates spent on shopping.

The home advice site, HomeTips.com, offers this additional advice for saving on everything from minor home repairs to major home improvements:

• Hire Only Qualified Professionals: You can prevent cost overruns and botched work by thoroughly checking out any repair people or contractors and making sure they are licensed and experienced. For more major jobs, you should consider requesting references and should detail every aspect of the work in a written agreement. Personal recommendations are the best for finding qualified professionals at fair prices.
  
  
• Do It Yourself: Some repairs may be relatively easy to do yourself with a little know-how. Buy a book or do some research on the Internet, and you may be easy to tackle some simpler home repairs or improvements, like painting or fixing a leaky faucet or a running toilet. Be realistic, however, about what you can do yourself. You don’t want to start to tackle something only to find out that you need a professional to fix your mess-ups.
  
  
• Don’t Cut Corners on the Wrong Things: Cutting corners on highly visible items, like drywall or sculpted trim, may be something you come to regret. Understand where you might be able to use cheaper materials, such as paint in closets or basements, and where you should use more expensive, long-lasting materials.
  
  
• Gather Bids: It doesn’t really pay off to entertain bids for small repairs, such as fixing a garbage disposal. But if you are considering more major repairs or improvements, such as a new HVAC unit or renovating a bathroom, it can certainly be worthwhile to get bids from at least three professionals. Make sure the bids include estimates of all materials and labor.

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