How much to pay a neighbor for electrical help

[MossRoad]

I helped my brother one summer renovate his home... he offered a $100 a day which was OK... ended up working 10-12 hour days, 7 days a week there for about 8 weeks... with my tools, trailer, etc... he puts 3k in my bank account... younger brother, first house, money is tight... etc. so OK

The kicker was 5 months later his tax guy sends me a 1099.... REALLY

The home was transformed for very little... new electric service, totally new kitchen for less than 2k in materials... found things that had been ordered and not picked up and scored big on Lino rem I put done and Sears Outlet closing for appliances.

The home has sold several times over the years and my kitchen and bath and furnace are still there... only the counter tops have been changed to granite...

When I asked what's the deal... he said you don't want to do anything illegal do you?

Federal Pacific is saturated here... the panels are everywhere. A lot do get changed out but it isn't required by the building department...

You got your brother to thank for that.

My mechanic lives across the street from us. If he works on a car at his house, he only accepts cash and no receipts. Just charges me labor and no mark-up on parts. If there's something he can't do at home, he'll take it to his shop. Then it's full rate on labor, mark-up on parts, receipts, etc... as that's his business.

Work at his shop has warranty, etc...

Work at his house, no warranty, although he puts the parts in my name, so the part is warranted, just not the work.

 

[MossRoad]

OP here - just to tie a ribbon around it - I dropped by and gave my electrician friend an envelope with $500 cash and later he texted me a thanks. So, I think the advice here was good - he seems happy, not insulted either way. We live in a cluster of four houses down a private road in farm country, so it is good to be tight with the neighbors. I'm sure that one way or another is was a good investment.

Good for you. Sounds like you've got an electrician you can trust. Now find a retired auto-mechanic. :laughing:

 

[RNeumann]

OP here - just to tie a ribbon around it - I dropped by and gave my electrician friend an envelope with $500 cash and later he texted me a thanks. So, I think the advice here was good - he seems happy, not insulted either way. We live in a cluster of four houses down a private road in farm country, so it is good to be tight with the neighbors. I'm sure that one way or another is was a good investment.

Thanks for sharing the outcome. Inspected and signed off panel and a happy neighbor.

 

[newbury]

OP here - just to tie a ribbon around it - I dropped by and gave my electrician friend an envelope with $500 cash and later he texted me a thanks. So, I think the advice here was good - he seems happy, not insulted either way. We live in a cluster of four houses down a private road in farm country, so it is good to be tight with the neighbors. I'm sure that one way or another is was a good investment.

Thanks for the wrap up. Did you point out your little HF thread?

 

[shooterdon]

An electrician does not make even $50/hr. What a contractor charges includes all sorts of costs. Plus this is cash on the side....he will pay no taxes

Short story.....I tried to help out a neighbor who is in the cement business and needed extra money. He is a laborer. I had the work quoted by a contractor and the cost was $14k. My neighbor needed some guys from his crew as the job was sizable. They quoted me the same price as the contractor. When I asked him why, he said they figured $75/hr for their time. But I knew they made $16/hr before taxes. I was willing to pay them $30/hr....cash....which is more than double their take home pay. That was unacceptable. They wound up not doing the work. Some people are greedy....some people are stupid....some people are poor for a good reason.

A side job means tax free money. It is not valued at the going contractor rate in my opinion.

 

[mark02tj]

I helped my brother one summer renovate his home... he offered a $100 a day which was OK... ended up working 10-12 hour days, 7 days a week there for about 8 weeks... with my tools, trailer, etc... he puts 3k in my bank account... younger brother, first house, money is tight... etc. so OK

The kicker was 5 months later his tax guy sends me a 1099.... REALLY

Your brother needs to get a new tax guy... or you need to get a new brother! :laughing:

But seriously, I wonder why the tax guy insisted on giving you a 1099. Your brother couldn't deduct your labor if you were working on his personally owned and occupied house. There's no business purpose for it. If the reason was only to document his basis in the house when he went to sell it, that's kind of bullcrap too. In all of the years that I did taxes for a living I never once saw someone get audited to justify the basis in a personal residence. You may have different circumstances in California with the way your real estate market goes up and down, but here in the Midwest you aren't going to see appreciation in most personal residences that are going to send you into a taxable position when you go to sell it (since you can exclude the gain up to $xxxxx).

===============

Had to laugh about the person that posted about their neighbor wanting "overtime rates" for helping on a Saturday.

 

[CobyRupert]

===============

Had to laugh about the person that posted about their neighbor wanting "overtime rates" for helping on a Saturday.

Yeah, did he already work 40 hours for his neighbor earlier? :laughing:

Like Shooterdon said:

Some people are greedy....some people are stupid....some people are poor for a good reason.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Like I said, all my Electrician bosses. They liked their money. I'm sure non of them would have turned down 500 bucks either. What can I say?

I'm about to head over to the neighbor to revisit the stray voltage issue. Should I be charging for travel time as well?

 

[woody]

A few years ago I had a neighbor ask me what I would charge to change out an old fuse box and replace it with a new breaker box, jokingly I said oh a couple hundred if you supply the box and breakers. when the job was done he handed me two hundred and I said no I was just kidding and with a serious look on his face he said I wasn't so I took the money and I still have a good neighbor and friend. I have been back several times and repaired electrical things for him but did not charge for it and he is good with it but he was not going to let me work that long and hard without pay.

 

[09112]

I would put the onus back on him. Have him give you a price that is not "friend/neighbor" related. I hate when friends/accquaintenances do that to me so I just reverse it. If the bill he gives you even seems to be high, pay it, and thank him. The good thing is you never had to go looking for a man you could not trust.