Texas engineer builds successful handyman franchise

Following on from my other posts on some of our successful handyman franchisees allow me to introduce Dave Mauldin. Dave had spent most of his career in information technology with Texas Instruments and Compaq before becoming a House Medic Franchisee. House Medic is our sister company that we use in some States as an alternative to House Doctors.

Texas Engineer runs home repair business in Austin

Dave who has made a successful transition to become a House Medic Franchisee now offers Austin residents professional handyman services, home repairs and home improvement services.
Dave was born and raised in Texas and after his successful corporate career he took an early retirement package and is now building a team of professional handymen who work on busy homeowners to do lists. Dave thinks that the need for professional handymen is obvious. Our population and our properties are aging.
He admits that when he started looking for a business he didn’t even know that a franchise in home repairs existed. House Medic handyman service is growing nationally by giving people like Dave the opportunity to get into business for themselves.
Dave says that he bought his House Medic because of the growing market and the professional model. He immediately hired a professional CSR, a great guy he has known for years, Markus. Dave's handymen are experienced, insured and screened and then trained to provide excellent customer service. His customers are then confident that the work performed on their home will be completed to the highest standard.
Dave will tell you that he felt all of his skill sets were a great match with House Medic. The culture in House Medic is to follow through with what is promised and not to let people down. Dave is building credibility in his business, with that approach, with support of his community and neighbors. He is building a company that people in his community can trust to do what they say.

Do you think Dave's approach to business is the right one?

6.4 % Home Value Increase Good For Home Repairs

The third quarter Zillow Real Estate Market Report shows the U.S. Zillow Home Value Index standing at $163,000 as of the end of the third quarter. This is a good pace for the market and good for home repairs, home improvements and a handyman franchise.

Home value pace good for home improvements

Report shows the home value index up by 6.4 percent  year-over-year and up 1.2 percent from the end of the second quarter, but unchanged from August. This is a good pace for recovery and keeps us out of the boom and bust cycle. This new pace of home value appreciation has even brought a number of markets back from the edge of entering possible bubble territory again. This pace is good for handyman services and home improvements. When people are confident that we have a growth that we can sustain they invest in their properties.

A steady annual sustained growth is what we want. People get nervous quickly now if we grow too fast. It may seem strange to say but sometimes its better if the pace of home value growth in some markets slows down. Remember what happened when increasing home values got out of control before. The data shows some markets like California for example have already touched on the edge of bubble market territory again and expensive metro areas that experienced relatively modest declines during the crash have already shown very robust gains during the recovery.
Across the country as recently as July, all of the top 30 metro areas showed positive monthly appreciation, with none exhibiting a monthly pace slower than one percent month-over-month.

People need to feel that we can sustain our growth. Confidence effects our economy more than some realize. It certainly effects the level of activity in the home improvement market. When people feel things are heading in the right direction they spend more on home remodeling projects. I believe we have come off the bottom and are at a sustainable level of growth in home values that should now continue for sometime as people become more confident with their decisions to buy and sell.

What do you think?

General Contractor Builds Handyman Franchise

Justin Bates has been in the Construction industry for 15 years. He even owned his own construction business doing residential homebuilding, additions, and other large projects. He is a licensed general contractor..So why did he decide to become a salt lake handyman and buy a home improvement franchise.

From general contractor to professional handyman

Justin shared with us why he decided with all of his industry experience to buy a House Doctors franchise. "It was the House Doctors Brand and culture that attracted me. I was looking for a proven business model that would cater to smaller jobs and a Brand that I felt was poised for growth. I found it with House Doctors. House Doctors is growing nationwide and one of the reasons for that I feel is the culture of continuously pushing for excellence, sticking to our word, maintaining a high degree of professionalism, and always doing what we say we are going to do. I feel homeowners are searching for a company that they can trust today. This is a growing market but very few companies in it are actually licensed or accredited to do the work. When you’re letting someone into your home to do a job, you need to know that they are competent in performing the work and that they are someone that you can trust."

The National Association of Remodeling (NARI) stats show less people moving and more fixing up their homes so home improvements is in a high growth mode. The need for professional companies in the smaller job market is strong but a lot of people still have had bad experiences when being let down by a contractor or handyman. That's where House Doctors is different. The House Doctors handymen are trained to provide excellent customer service and are insured and scheduled to turn up on time.

The House Doctors model is definitely working for Justin. He's growing a business by building a team of technicians who work on small jobs on home to-do lists, and all the way up to larger projects. He is becoming known as the go to guy for a Salt Lake City deck  Justin is now a preferred installer for TimberTech decks.
His business is booming and with the support of his Salt Lake City customers his franchise is now one of the fastest growing in the network. He is continuing to expand by introducing more products and services like bathroom remodeling to Salt Lake City.

Great news for remodeling, less foreclosure activity

While all of our eyes were focused on the goings on with our Government a small fact seems to have been overlooked. September was the 36th consecutive month with an annual decrease in U.S. foreclosure activity, a downward trend that started in October 2010. This is great news for a handyman and remodeling business and the home improvement market in general.

Lower foreclosure activity good news for remodeling market

National Mortgage Professional reports that RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for September shows foreclosure filings such as default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, were reported on 131,232 U.S. properties in September, a 27 percent decrease from a year ago. This is great news for the handyman and home improvement market. Even if people are not planning on selling their home anytime soon they may be interested in repairing and improving it. First and foremost less foreclosures is great to see for it is a decrease in the personal heartache and suffering of those who go through the foreclosure process. Secondly with less foreclosures everyone feels better about from having less poorly maintained properties in a neighborhood

At House Doctors we have just launched our new website to take advantage of the growing home improvement market and this reduction in foreclosures will just add to an already booming niche.
September numbers helped drop third quarter foreclosure activity to the lowest quarterly level since the second quarter of 2007. There were a total of 376,931 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in the third quarter of 2013, down seven percent from the previous quarter and down 29 percent from the third quarter of 2012. This is the biggest annual decrease since the second quarter of 2011.
Let's face it less foreclosures usually means less crime, higher home values and less competition when you come to sell. This all leads to a healthier housing market, more home improvements, and a stronger economy.
U.S. foreclosure starts in the third quarter were at a seven-year low. A total of 174,366 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process for the first time during the quarter, down 13 percent from the previous quarter and down 39 percent from a year ago to the lowest level since the second quarter of 2006.

Handyman services made easy with technology

With improvements in communication, and other technological innovations and the advent of social media House Doctors aims to use the latest advances in technology to help make handyman services and home improvements easier for our customers. We have just launched our new website that is more inviting, easier to navigate, displays our products and services better and improves the process for our customers when they need to find a location and request service

Successful House Doctors site launch

All site launches don't go well. Last week the other major site launched by the Government didn't perform well. I'm glad to say ours was very successful. We have almost doubled our daily visits already.
The successful launch of the House Doctors website is just the first of a number of new initiatives that House Doctors Corporate is working on that will benefit the franchisees and the Brand in the future. Like a number of leading companies we are finding ways to use new technology to improve our systems and procedures.
Think about it we are in the business of helping people and making their lives easier. We maintain and improve their homes. We offer services that can simplify lives. We plan to use technology to help make the process of using us as seamless as possible. Hiring a handyman or contractor that you can rely on has been difficult in the past. Through our new website it's now easy for homeowners to find a trusted, reliable handyman or remodeler.
But our use of latest technology doesn't stop there. At House Doctors our franchisees use the latest on line scheduling software, smartphones and mobile presentation devices, to offer our customers the best home improvement customer experience in the market today.
Technology continues to increasingly impact our lives every day. Think about when you wake up to your alarm, then check your schedule, read your email or text, check the weather, traffic, flights, leave a message, and use your camera and your apps...and all of that from your phone!

In the business world, like House Doctors, many leading companies are introducing the new technology to help them better serve their customers.

Handyman services can help reduce falls

A growing market for a professional handyman company is making simple modifications to homes to make them safer and to help reduce the number of falls. As National Fall Awareness Week ends, numbers show that one third of seniors who are over the age of 65 and one half who are over the age of 80 will fall each year resulting in much pain and suffering and medical costs exceeding $27 billion annually.

Simple home modifications can help

This subject is close to my heart. I lived through it when my own mum fell when she was later on in life. We need to raise awareness of the simple home modifications available that would help reduce the risk.
The pain and the suffering and then the emotional decisions that you need to make afterwards about the persons safety going forward. National Fall Awareness Week raises awareness for a short time but we need to have this subject up front and center all year round. It's really annoying for example that most falls in the home can be prevented by doing some simple modifications.
In 2013, communities in 47 states and Washington, DC participated in Falls Prevention Awareness Day on Sept. 22, 2013.The National Council for Aging is working hard to raise awareness and prevent falls by uniting professionals, older adults, caregivers, and family members to play a part in getting people talking about the issue.
As far as a professional handyman company is concerned, the fact that more than a third of falls happen while bathing or showering, and more than 14 percent happen while using a toilet means something as simple as having grab bars fitted or installing a walk in tub in your bathroom can dramatically lower the risk of falling. All work that a professional handyman company can do.
Our franchisees in House Doctors for example have their technicians working on modifying homes to make them safer by adding grab bars and installing walk in tubs monthly.

Please let me know if this is an important issue for you.

Strong remodeling spending brings handyman franchise growth

House Doctors, our handyman and home improvement franchise, is growing at an unprecedented rate as a study from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University shows that the general strengthening in the housing market over the past 18 months is translating into increasing spending on remodeling.

Latest remodeling activity data and information 

The latest data from the leading indicator of remodeling activity (LIRA) continues to show improving spending trends that are solid and on an upward slope. Projections also show a continued strengthening of the market through the end of this year and into the first quarter of 2014.
The LIRA is released by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University in the third week after each quarter’s closing. The LIRA is a comprehensive study of the factors influencing the growth and changing characteristics of housing renovation and repair activity in the United States. The next LIRA release date is October 17, 2013.

Latest handyman and home improvement franchise data and information

At House Doctors we are seeing the fastest growth in years. Four new franchisees recently came through training for openings in Tennessee, Connecticut, Ohio and Michigan. Another six are already scheduled to come on board in the next couple of months and a number of others are already in the pipeline. Homeowners are more comfortable investing in their properties right now as consumer confidence returns and the growth in sales of existing homes increases. Continuing strengthening in the economy is leading to increasing spending levels on renovations and upgrades.

The growth in home sales and the rapid and steady growth in property modifications and maintenance we are seeing is providing more opportunities for our franchisees. Our model meets all of the requirements of busy professionals and aging boomers who need home repairs and home improvements done."

For more than 15 years we have brought homeowners and commercial property owners high standards of customer service, reliability, and quality workmanship. Every one of our locations is independently owned and operated. Today, we continue to expand throughout the United States by offering franchise opportunities

House Doctors handyman and home improvement services

At House Doctors professional handyman franchise we have a whole house approach when offering handyman services to our customers. While our franchisees have technicians working on their customers to do lists we are more than just a handyman company. Many of our franchisees build decks, remodel bathrooms and kitchens and finish basements. This post contains a list of more of the services a House Doctors handyman home improvement franchise business would offer.

Actual Jobs Completed By House Doctors

Drywall, Bathroom upgrades, Closet & garage organizers, Flooring, Window replacement, Whole house Fans, Lights, Faucets, Gutters, Driveways,Repair drywall,Window repair,Repair floor,Repair walls, Replace tile, Fix steps, Change faucet, Grout/Caulk, Repair door, Siding, Replace window, Fix hinges, Mailboxes, Hauling, Cleaning, Yard work, Power washing, Installing products, Building products, Shelving, Closets, Railings, Counters, Molding, Clean out garage, Move furniture
Baby-proofing, Door replacement, Decks, Porches, awnings ,Patios, Basements, Kitchen upgrades, Ramps, Pet doors, Tiling, Assembly, Gutter cleaning, Painting, and much much more...

For more information visit www.housedoctors.com