House Doctors featured in Tips & Quips from the Working World

House Doctors was recently featured in an article in a national blog called Tips & Quips from the Working World, entitled, “Home Handyman Services – How a Home Improvement Franchise Works.” The article discusses what it’s like to be the owner/operator of a professional handyman franchise. It includes interesting and useful information about how the franchise works, daily tasks, ups and downs of the job, and tips for potential handyman franchisees. A portion of the article is included below and can be read in its entirety by clicking here.

Home Handyman Services – How a Home Improvement Franchise Works

Home handyman services can be a profitable, interesting job! Here’s how a home improvement franchise works, plus job tips from a small business owner and operator.

“You have to like what you do,” says John Driesse, who is the franchise owner of House Doctors of North Jersey. “Running a business – not to mention starting one – consumes a lot of your time. There’s always something to do. You’re behind most of the time, and you have to be good at prioritizing things. Everything is important, but some things must be done before others.”

Driesse’s business is part of a large US-based handyman franchise company called House Doctors. Here, this professional handyman describes his job and offers career tips for aspiring small business owners…

Home Handyman Services – What Does a Professional Home Handyman Do?

A professional handyman’s job includes both residential repairs (eg, cleaning gutters, doing carpentry, installing pet doors, remodeling, etc) to commercial repairs (eg, fixing doors and windows, installing new carpets or floors, performing maintenance services, etc).

“Most people are surprised that we respond to their calls quickly, arrive when we say we are going to, and complete the work in a professional manner,” says Driesse. “The ‘professional handyman’ name carries somewhat of a negative connotation, and we’re working hard to change that.”

Owning and operating a home improvement franchise is different than working as a professional handyman.

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House Doctors featured in Washington Examiner

House Doctors was recently featured in an article in The Washington Examiner entitled, “There are still a lot of properties available to rehabilitate – but finding them can be a challenge.” The article discusses the difficulty of finding a “fixer-upper” to live in or fix up and then resell, and gives advice to first-time home buyers looking to avoid bad investments. Hugh Sutherland weighs in as owner/operator of House Doctors in Northern Virginia and an investor in rehab properties, explaining that foreclosures and short sales need love and attention in order to become liveable for families on a budget. He explains the drop in house-flippers and investors like himself, and says that instead, families are moving into these homes. This article will provide some great exposure for House Doctors in metro DC, and should generate some local interest in fixing up homes, and who to call when one wants to take on these kinds of projects. A portion of the article is included below and it can be read in its entirety by clicking here.

There are still a lot of properties available to rehabilitate – but finding them can be a challenge
By: Deborah Huso

Finding a fixer-upper to flip, or to live in for a time and then resell later for a profit, is not as easy as scanning the real estate listings.

“Some properties may fit fixer-upper categories in the buyer’s eye, but not be listed that way by the seller,” said Jonathan Hill, president of RealEstate Business Intelligence in Rockville, a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Regional Information Systems.

The seller or the seller’s agent may want to avoid what they perceive as a negative moniker.

That said, it is not surprising there are more of these properties on the market in the D.C. metro area these days — and that more of them are selling. RBI’s figures from April to September this year show 997 fixer homes sold in the District and surrounding areas, including the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church, Arlington and Fairfax counties in Virginia, and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland. That’s a jump from the 650 to 750 sold during the same periods from 2005 to 2008.

(Read More)

House Doctors featured in Atlanta Home Improvement

House Doctors' Jarid Kossen was recently featured in Atlanta Home Improvement’s Expert Q&A in October. The Q&A is over the topic of winterizing the home and Jarid give’s some tips on how homeowners can do simple things to make sure their home is weatherized for the winter. The article can be seen in PDF format below:

HouseDoctors.AtlantaHomeImprovement.10.01.10