Affordable Home Repair with Vincent Del Donna
Hello Martinis and Your Money Listeners. In 2020 and 2021, we’re seeing a number of Financial Gym clients become property owners or show more interest in becoming property owners due to lower interest rates, more working from home because of the pandemic or a desire to shift asset allocation because of historic market highs, so I’m dedicating the month of September to property ownership. On today’s podcast, we’re talking about cost effective ways to take care of home repairs and home improvements. As a former property owner myself and advising clients into home ownership for the past 10 years, I can tell you that the one guarantee you will have as a homeowner is that once you own the property, something is bound to break and calling in the experts can get expensive. So today, the best home repair expert I know and the man I love, Vinnie Del Donna, joins me to share some of his thoughts and suggestions for when you could and should do things yourself, when to call the expert and how you can find the right expert for you. And now here’s Vinnie.
What are we drinking?
Vinnie – Malibu Bay Breeze
Shannon – Malibu Bay Breeze
Podcast Notes
Vinnie is a general contractor who’s been working in the building industry for 35 years.
He started off working for various building contractors throughout high school and college, moved to the supply side of the industry during the 1990’s, then opened his own remodeling and home inspection companies.
Vinnie recommends seeing what’s involved in a home repair project by first checking out some videos of the project on YouTube, to get a better sense of your comfort level of actually doing the work.
He advises to try and stay clear of jobs that are inherently dangerous and/or require a shut down of an important system in the house. If the repair doesn’t go as planned and you have to fall back on a professional, you’ll probably have to call them on an emergency basis that would most likely add to the price.
Decorative/aesthetic repairs and projects (painting, tiling, flooring, etc.) are the easier of the D.I.Y. jobs and typically don’t require shutting down any essential systems. Even if the project doesn’t go well and a professional needs to be called in to fix and finish it properly, you can do this step at your convenience; keeping you out of a scenario where you need to get help on an emergency basis.
For emergency repairs and planned projects, vet a contractor as much as possible. Utilizing personal references and online review sites, look for someone who has an established, positive reputation. Where states require licensing, this can usually be verified on the state’s website.
Homewyse.com is a great resource to get a range of what a project/repair may cost in your area; this will give you a good idea of what you can expect to be quoted.
While the HGTV-type shows have been good to give homeowners inspiration and a better idea of what home improvement projects entail, Vinnie feels they don’t give the complete picture of remodeling realities and can gloss over what the real-world expectations should be when taking on such a project.
Vinnie suggests getting at least 3 quotes for home improvement projects, scrutinizing any extreme amounts. If everyone is around one amount and someone comes in at say 30% less, don’t automatically assume that it’s everyone else that’s “too high”.
Due to the pandemic, labor and material are at a premium and have extended lead times. This has made the project management portion of construction a lot more involved.
The local municipality usually requires building permits and although there is an additional cost for these, they are necessary and are there to protect the homeowner. Permits and inspections ensure that the contractors are doing the work according to local and national codes, along with accepted standards and practices. A contractor encouraging a homeowner to do work without permits may be doing so because they are trying to cut corners in the project that may not be up to code.
Vinnie recommends finding contractors in advance of needing them. Talk to friends, coworkers, etc. Work on getting the personal recommendations early. Then reach out to the contractor to introduce yourself and verify the services they offer (ex: Do they work evenings/weekends? Do they do repairs or just new construction? Do they take credit cards?). This way when that inevitable emergency happens, you have your “go to” in place instead of just starting the finding and vetting process in a panicked state.
Takeaway: I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Vinnie today. My biggest takeaway is to not be afraid to do things yourself around your home. YouTube and a trip to Home Depot can not only save you hundreds of dollars, but it can also give you the confidence to know that you can tackle just about anything, except maybe some plumbing, electrical and roofing challenges.
Random Three Questions
1. If you weren’t a contractor, what would you like to do for a living?
2. What is a book that you’ve read that changed your life?
3. Where would you like to travel to if money was not a limitation?
Useful links
Vinnie’s company - R&M Design Group: randmdesigngroup.com
Project/repair cost estimates: homewyse.com
Review sites (some may require membership):
Google.com - Yelp.com - Houzz.com - Angi.com - Bbb.org
If you have any topics you would like for me to cover on this podcast, I encourage you to email me to shannon@fingyms.com or join the private Martinis and Your Money Facebook group and let me know what you want to hear. If you’re thinking about becoming a homeowner, I highly recommend Financial Gym’s First Time Home Buyer Course that you can find on our website. If you’d like some accountability to help you achieve this goal faster than you imagined, then you should head to financialgym.com and start working with one of our trainers today. And remember that Martinis and Your Money listeners get 15% off of your Financial Gym membership. We’d love to help you accomplish your dream of property ownership sooner than later.