Iowa Real Estate Investor

As a property owner, you will always have junk appliances coming and going.

Here are 8 tips on what to do with them.

1. Normal Garbage Collection-
Appliances must have 7 (seven) City of Des Moines $5.00 large bulk item stickers attached to them. ($35.00)
Examples of such appliances are: refrigerators, air-conditioners, freezers, stoves, clothes dryers, clothes washers, water heaters, dehumidifiers, dishwashers, furnaces, microwave ovens, and kitchen ranges. Please call the Public Works Department 24 hour Customer Service, 283-4950, to schedule appliance pickup.
Stickers can be purchased at Hy-Vee, Dahls, and City Hall. If you only have one appliance and are in a hurry this is not a bad deal, however after reading the rest of this post, you will see it’s a RIPOFF compared to the rest!

2. Craigslist- Oh how I love thee!  OK, there are a couple ways to post these on craigslist. If your appliances still work you can sell them for $25-$100  and let the buyers come pick them up.  If they are crap, post them as a FREE item and you will be surprised by the response. I have done this many times, the only thing I would say is to try and have the appliance outside or in your garage so that you don’t have to let this random person all through your house when they pick it up.

3. Recycle- Here is one you probably didn’t know. You can drop your appliances off at Alter Metal Recycling for FREE!

Alter Metal Recycling
1801 E Euclid Ave Des Moines,
IA 50313-4731 - (515) 265-7377

4. Stick the appliance on the curb without $35 in stickers.

I called the city to ask what the fine was for dumping appliances on the curb with a FREE sign on them.

They said if you get caught and they haul them away, the charge is around $150. RIPOFF

Neighborhood Inspections
515-283-4997

If you did want to take a chance, I would suggest sticking them out Friday after 5pm and bringing them back in Sunday night if no one has taken them yet.

5. City Dump- All Appliances have to be taken to the Metro East Landfill.
The charge is $10 per appliance.

Metro East Landfill
12181 University Avenue NE
Mitchellville, Iowa 50169

Phone: 515-967-2076

Hours
Monday – Friday: 6:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Saturday: 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
From 4/4/2009 to 10/31/2009, Saturday hours will be extended from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

6. Des Moines Habitat for Humanity ReStore- If your appliances work and you are just buying new, you can donate them to the Habitat ReStore. This is a great way to help out a good cause and also get  a tax write off!

Greater DSM Habitat for Humanity ReStore
PO Box 716
2341 Second Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50303
515-309-0224

7. Fun- Create a Halloween outfit for your kids. Look at all the money we saved!

8. Junk Hauling Company- You can find these junk hauling and rubbish removal companies in the newspaper and online. They are good at going into your basement and other hard to reach places and bringing the appliances out for you.  The downside is they charge the most of all of these options.  Most have a minimum fee to come to your house of $70-$100.  However if you can’t do it yourself, I would recommend using them.  Also if you manage or own and apartment complex and need 40 appliances moved at once, I would call a company like this first!

OK, so these are my 8 ways, if you have other ways don’t just sit back and doing nothing. Let me know what they are by leaving a comment below, and I will make sure to keep this post updated!