I’m a lawyer, not a plumber, and my inability to fix toilets was a constant source of consternation for just about everyone I talked to when I bought my first rental property. The number of people who immediately responded, “You’re going to be a slumlord? How are you going to fix broken toilets in the middle of the night?” was absolutely astounding. I have no idea how they leapt to the conclusion that by purchasing and renting out the lovely little Cape Cod across from my own home, I was going to become a “slumlord” and a plumber. I never once endeavored to take a single course on plumbing, and this is a good news story because now, seven years and ten properties after starting on my investing journey, I have yet to try and fix a single broken toilet.

How is that possible? I can almost hear my skeptical friends who threw “slumlord” shade at me from the outset asking this in disbelief. I built a team. And the team included a number for a good plumber.

The team also included a realtor who knew a lot about the structural aspect of houses, a handyman, a painter, a flooring company, a neighborhood lender, and a lot of nice people at Lowe’s. Eventually, it included a property manager once I got to four properties.

I would say that, on average, each property had a mechanical issue requiring a repair person approximately 2-3 times per year. These included broken dryers, backed up showers, slow-draining sinks, fallen trees, broken A/C units, and, yes, the occasional toilet issue.

When I first started investing in real estate, I leaned on a really good home warranty company as my co-pilot for managing repairs. A home warranty cost about $500-$800 per year, and it was well worth it. I went with American Home Shield (I have no affiliation with them), and I was very satisfied. I bought the plan that covered all major mechanical issues: plumbing, HVAC, electrical, appliances, and garage door openers. Whenever a tenant contacted me with an issue needing repair, I would log into the home warranty company website, click the box for what the issue seemed to be, and the company would assign a local repair person and give me their number. I paid a flat rate for the person to come out, and, if the issue was a covered expense, I didn’t pay anything extra. The first year I used the warranty company, they came out to fix an A/C issue, found that the entire A/C unit needed to be replaced, and replaced it. I paid only $100 for the standard visit.

There is the occasional issue that can’t wait 24-48 hours, and, in those instances, I would call a local service person and pay whatever it cost. I needed my tenants to know that if they had an issue, they could count on me to fix it. Because if they let issues slide or knew that I didn’t care about maintaining the property, they wouldn’t care about it either. A dripping sink could become a $12k floor repair. A drafty window could become a $50k mold issue. I want my tenants to feel at home where they live and treat it like home, which helps protect my investment and avoid turnover (which is super expensive). So keeping the property in good condition is actually a way for me to ensure the best return on my investment, rather than a hassle.