Where to Find Equipment To Borrow/Lease/Purchase for Your Property Repairs/Reno/Cleaning
Recently I lent out some of my own equipment to a buyer after closing, and last night a former client asked me if I had a jointer or if I might know a contractor who had one available to borrow or lease. In the latter example, I reached out to a contractor who I have done more work with than any other in recent history. The contractor, despite being class A (which means they must have a high volume of equipment, one of the requirements for being Class A), didn't have one. After that, I started scouring the internet looking for alternative solutions for them & for other clients of mine in the future. Here are the results of that investigation as well as my recommendations for future clients.
General items to note
Consider a formal equipment lease agreement formal equipment leaif you're not using a source that has one already.
Keep in mind that if you purchase something, new or used, for a good deal, you may be able to sell it for a similar amount or even for a profit after you are done with the job.
Consider safety. Especially if you're a female, it's a good idea to have a male spouse or friend on location with you at the time that you acquire something, unless of course you have taken extra precautions like concealed carry &/or self-defense &/or significant strength training. It happens in Hampton Roads too. Consider this recent post on a local trash and treasure group where it appears that the seller was a catfish:
It's not a bad idea to look for signs of someone selling on social media being a catfish when no reviews are involved. For instance, check them out online to see if they have much info about them, strict privacy settings, and plenty of friends/tags in photos with friends who don't appear to be catfish themselves.
Consider reviews, ideally on multiple sources. For instance, this Jointer/Planer looks pretty good on Walmart with a review average of 4.3:
If you go to Amazon, it's a different story for the same product, at 3/5:
How geographically far you look is significant. With a more obscure item, you might be able to find it, but it could be over 500 miles away, such as this option on the Idle app (one of the additional options on the spreadsheet) I found for a jointer:
Check locations to rent online.
I've created a spreadsheet for that which I recommend checking, but keep in mind that the options will vary by location, as you can see from the spreadsheet when I include locations in Hampton Roads as well as places to check outside of Hampton Roads. Here are some examples with locations inside & outside of SE VA, with images courtesy of each of the respective sites: Home Depot
Reach out to those you know in the industry or friends who have a lot of tools.
Reach out to any contractors that you know first, especially the industry where you need the tools. From there, reach out to those that might engage with contractors quite a bit. Ask if they or someone they know would be willing to let them borrow or rent out whatever tool you need.
Check for new options to purchase.
Check for options to purchase, especially if you've spent hours of searching, you haven't found what you're looking for, and the cost of the equipment doesn't exceed $1k. The option that you would be renting would likely be used, so don't just consider new options. Consider used ones as well. When looking at new options or used options, be sure to check for reviews of the item. It's typically an extra step with used items, but it's definitely worth it.
When looking for new options for purchase, if there are many options including many with poor reviews, you may want to narrow by reviews, such as you can on Amazon.
Finding options to purchase are relatively straightforward, more so than renting. If looking to order something online to be delivered to you, Google isn't a bad place to start. If looking to pick something up, I recommend going to Google Maps, & input in the search field "tools", or even the specific tool that you're looking for to find somewhere that you can pick something up if you don't have time for delivery or the cost of delivery would be high.
Image courtesy Google Maps
Examples of more typical locations within & outside of SE VA to purchase include:
And with limited inventory:
Costco
Dollar General
Sams Club
Walmart
Check for used options to purchase.
Once you find a well rated viable option, use that price, including any shipping if applicable, as a benchmark to try to beat. If it's distant & you need to pick up, you may want to add the cost of travel (including vehicle depreciation, your time, if you'll need to rent a vehicle, etc.) to create that benchmark.
Sometimes even when an item for rent is available, you can get a better deal by purchasing something used, then selling it used on the same platform.
Sometimes you can find new items in places that typically sell used items. If going on a website that sells primarily used items, it may not be a bad idea to set up a search alert, since items can come and go quickly.
Used sites to check include: