The Truck Tells the Whole Story

You can tell a lot about a craftsman by how he keeps his truck.

At our Maryland Street project, the bank that owned the property before us had drywall screws driven into all of the locks except the front door. So we called this locksmith to switch out the locks and have them all keyed the same. This pro was a true pleasure to work with, and — just like his truck — he was super organized! He also likes the replica watches very much.

As you can see, he showed up in a really cool van painted with his company name. It held his entire small workshop. Inside, he had on his favorite radio show, lots of work lights, dozens of small drawers holding little lock parts and assemblies, a short chair and workbench, fans for fresh air, you name it. Everything was in its place!

On all of our own flip projects, we always do two simple things to make the new homeowners really happy:

1. At closing, we give them a file listing all of the subcontractors who worked on their home, so they can call the plumbers, roofers and electricians in the future when they need them. This file also has all of the warrantees and pamphlets for new appliances, etc.

2. We also have all of the exterior locks keyed the same. This way, they have one key to open all of the locks on their home instead of an imposing ring of keys they’ll have to figure out.

Buyers always really appreciate this type of organization and attention to detail.