Angie’s List: Any Good? |
16 Comments |
Longtime readers know that while I live near San Francisco, my wife and I own rental properties in Boston. We didn't set out to buy them as an income stream. She owned her place before she met me. I bought my place soon after we started dating. While neither one of us intended to move to San Francisco, my wife's career stood to significantly benefit from relocation.
As you may have heard, it's not a good time to sell homes. Having bought out homes in 4 and 7 years ago at near market highs, there wasn't a lot of money to be made by selling. In fact, my condo would sell for about $20,000 less than what I paid for it. As such, we decided to keep the properties and instead rent them out. My theory is that in 30 years, we'll have no mortgage and a nice income stream - even if things look "break even" today.
Unfortunately being a landlord 3000 miles away isn't easy. While we've been blessed with good tenants, the place is going to need maintenance from time to time. Bath tubs don't caulk themselves. It's not very economical for me to fly back, so I'm in the search of a good handyman in the Boston Metro West area.
This is when I saw an ad for Angie's List. I'm already a huge fan of Craig's List, so why not give Angie a shot? When I got to Angie's website, though, there was a surprise. It wasn't a free service like say 1-800-Dentist as I suspected. You have to pay monthly fees to be a member and find a handyman. The first month they even hit you with set-up/activation fee. I've joined a lot of websites in my time, and I can't imagine what set-up/activation they have to do. It seems clear to me that this is a way to get someone to spend around $25 up front when they just want the name of a handyman (as in my case).
I'm not against paying for something, but give me a demo or something so I can see what the service does and how it works. Let me know how many handymen are in the area that I want. My wife's place is close to Worcester, MA which is a good hour from Boston. Angie's List's Boston community may or may not be helpful in that case. They should at least tell me that up front.
To Angie's List credit, they offer a 110% price protection... if you are not satisfied you get your money back... and then 10% on top of that. However, I'm always skeptical of those deals. It seems like there would be a lot of hoops to go through and if they decide not give you your money back, are you going to hire a lawyer to recoup your $25? Of course not. It's much easier to keep the $25 in your wallet until you know what you are buying.
I'm starting to think that Angie's List isn't very helpful and that I should look other places for my handyman. Before I give up, I thought I'd put the question out here. Do you use Angie's List? Where do you find a good handyman if word of mouth fails (as it has for me)? Perhaps Craig's List is the answer for this too?
This post deals with:angie's list, bath tubs, boston metro west, handyman, handymen, income stream, landlord, mortgage, Relocation, rental properties
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Tipd16 Responses to “Angie’s List: Any Good?”
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I am in a similar situation – rented out my house when I moved in with my soon to be wife. Although we don’t live far and I don’t mind doing small things like replacing a toilet lever I don’t have time for anything major. I use servicemagic.com – no fees, you describe the job, get 3 matches right away, can check out their ratings, etc.
Regards,
Lev
I use Angie’s List and I’ll swear by it. It’s completely worth the money you’ll save, and the hassle of finding a reliable service provider. It has a very loyal following and a very detailed rating process. I found my home inspector, my termite inspector, and my hardwood installers all through Angie’s List. It’s the first place I start looking before calling for estimates. Of course you still want to get references, etc.
I’m glad to see that comment from Tom. I’ve looked at Angie’s List in the past as well but never used it because of the fee.
I’ve always had good success with ConstructionDeal.com. It’s free and you can choose how many calls you want.
i have never used angies list. i always use the better business bureau, you may want to at least cross reference that. i start with registered members, then get a couple of quotes.
at least you know if someone has been a member for a decade, they may not be the absolute cheapest, but they will do what they say.
Craigslist may be cheaper alternative than angieslist, but angie has an affiliate program that pays out $50.
Sweet! I didn’t know that.
Here in the UK, the easiest way to be an absent landlord is to go to a local estate agent and ask them to rent out the property for you. They then take care of all the problems from handymen to finding new tenants when your current ones leave.
There is, of course, a price to be payed for this service, but for a lot of people it’s worth it for the peace of mind they get.
We have that option in US as well. That price makes the property not so profitable any more.
In the grand scheme of things, $25 is a drop in the bucket – especially if you’re getting a significant amount of work done. By skimping and hiring a less proven contractor, you’re sort of rolling the dice…twenty-sided ones.
I hired a contractor that I found on Angie’s List last year to do my kitchen backsplash, and he did an absolutely phenomenal job and came in under his initial quote.
Ordinarily, I’m 100% against registration and setup fees, but in this case, when you’re in a pinch and can’t get a recommendation from a friend or coworker, I’d definitely recommend Angie’s List.
The cost of our repairs (at this point) has been really minimal, so there’s a chance that we end up sending more on Angie’s List than actual contractors in a year.
I’ve had very good luck with Angie’s List. I’ve used them to find handymen to fix some wood rot on my house and install if vinyl flooring in my basement. I’ve used them to find a tree trimmer, chimney cleaner and a PC tech to fix a computer problem. Worth the subscription price, especially to avoid the potential hassle of a botched job by a shady company. Plus if a company does screw up, you can leave a negative review for them to warn others.
I’ve used Angie’s List for just over a year now, and with the coupons that a lot of repair companies offer, I end up breaking even.
I’ve also found that a lot of the mediocre people I’ve had work on my house have generally mediocre reviews on the site, so it really helps me pin down people who will do exceptional work at a reasonable price.
I have found Angie’s List to be the most unreliable company there is. It’s NOT TRUE that they refund your money. Once you join it’s almost impossible to cancel — look at their website: there is NO WAY to cancel online. It has been reported that when you call to cancel, you are kept on HOLD for a very long time. I guess they hope you get tired of waiting.
ONE MORE THING: THEY DO GET PAID BY CONTRACTORS AS WELL AS THEY CHARGE THEM TO STAY ON TOP OF THE LIST. THEY DO NOT VERIFY THE ACCURACY OF THE PEOPLE WHO RATE A COMPANY OR WHAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP THEY HAVE WITH THAT COMPANY. THE NEW YORK TIME HAS CALLED THEM “NOTHING MORE THAN A GLORIFIED YELLOW PAGES”…..
Sorry for writing in all caps……I hope that this simply tells you how passionately negative
I feel about this outfit. I hate to see people getting blatantly and arrogantly ripped off because, in my opinion and experience, Angie’s List sucks.
nice… but i don’t know about it. i have never used Angie’s list. At least you know if someone has been a member for a decade, they may not be the absolute cheapest, but they will do what they say.
My opinion is not etched in stone yet.
I’ve moved from neutral, to thinking it may be a farce. But one advantage I can see with a fee, is that it adds a commitment hurdle, which may be good. I’d wager that people who are willing to pay a bit of money each month are probably more reliable than average.
So far, I’ve been reviewed once there, and the review is accurate. Not because the review is good and I like it, but because the review matches the references listed at my own website’s background page – many of which are from professionals. And referrals from similar professionals hold a lot of weight.
I think the greater value in Angie’s list will build as reviews multiply. That will show trends, and trends tend to erase the ambiguity of mere opinion.
Cheers,
MDV
Oregon