Water heater replacement

Company 1) reputable local HVAC +electrical company , flat $1100 including permit. 17 day wait

Company 2) reputable local HVAC company, $1400 not including permit. Only 1-2 days wait

Other places,including bigbox, are similar to company 2 pricing.

Hot water tank is a diy if you have to wait 2 weeks to save $$$. See MYOB’s post 2 people 1 hour simple job if using same tank size and easy access to drain and remove old tank and install new tank with steel supply lines not the flex lines they have black rubber inside that will break loose and clogged faucets at a later date. No way I would pull a permit for this job. Gas hwt run about $500.00 here.

Rent should not be tied to property maintenance and habitability in the first place.

Making someone wait TWO WEEKS (in the middle of winter!) for hot water to save $400 is ridiculous.

As a landlord and plumber, I CAN NOT ALLOW a TENANT IN LOS ANGELES, Santa Monica or West Hollywood to go without HOT WATER for more than 24 hours.

Unfortunately my lease does not have the "repairs take time, no rent proration" clause so I will not be making them wait two weeks.

IS IT OK for me to not pay rent for 2 weeks?

Unless you are just starting or only have one or two units, I would suggest that you need to work on building out your team.

I have a plumber that I've used for close to 20 years now. He knows what I expect in quality, timeliness, and tenant interactions. He gives me a fair price and I give him a fair amount of business. Last night I had a tenant call with water running out of a water heater. I went over and checked that the cutoff was holding and texted my plumber. It will be replaced right after lunch today.

Call a few more places. Two weeks is too long to make them wait. Or I’d give them the option and split the savings with them if they agree to the two week wait. You save $200 and they make $200 for the inconvenience.

last time i bought a 50 gal gas standard wh wholesale supply house it was about $400. here in LA. not that long ago.

what I find curious while waiting at the counter is overhearing the war stories of the LICENSED PLUMBERS about the job they did overcharging some old person, twice or threee times what the job should have been.

they laugh about it and their bosses gladly pay them their commission on the work ticket.

frankly it disgusts me and it outrages me when these guys try that s--t on me.

i'm clear with them up front that i know what i'm looking at and talking about,....and that i know what this stuff costs,...............but none the less,.... sometimes they think they're gonna have some fun seeing if i really know what's going on.

then there's the bait and switch when they're into the job.

------back out the work you've already done,.....pack your s--t up,..... and get the f--k off my property.

Just bought a residential 40 Gal LP water heater from a supply house here in upstate NY

There is an old saying that goes like this: You either have more Time than Money or More Money than Time. Most LL seem to get stuck in the first one (more time) and never get to the 2nd one which is More Money than Time.

KEN--Rent being current is not related to maintaining habitability. Not providing hot water because the rent is behind would be one of the stupidest things a landlords could do; you just gave them a legal defense against your claim for rent.

Our tenant reported to us night before last that she had no hot water (after this power outage during snow storm). Our handyman stopped by there on his way home from a job in Charlottesville and checked on it. Went back yesterday a.m. with an electric heater & installed in couple of hours total. He charged us 100.00! Been working for us since '08.

Little bit interesting ... had a duplex with a well that had pH issues. Could rot out a coil on an electric water heater in 3 months. Soo I bought lime resistent coils and learned how to swap coils within an hour.

BUT the rest of the tank would also rot too quickly. Good news is the GE tanks at HD came with a 5 year warranty. No tank could last 3 years in this place. GE and HD definately lost $$ on me ... must have swapped 5 tanks in each unit under warranty. Doing the work myself (of course).

I've been switching my water heaters in all of my properties from gas to electric. Electric water heaters are so much easier to fix. If it is leaking, then you need a new tank. If it isn't leaking, do some troubleshooting or just buy a complete kit of elements and both thermostats for under $30.00 and change out the parts in an hour.