A lot of St. Louis property managers neglect to screen their vendors and contractors. We think this is a mistake. When we send someone into your investment property to make a repair or diagnose a maintenance problem, we want to make sure they’re professional and reputable. We want to know they’ll treat your tenants well and provide us with a price that’s affordable and competitive.
At Amoso Properties, we screen our maintenance contractors as carefully as we screen our tenants.
Today, we’re talking about how to choose the best maintenance vendors and contractors for your St. Louis rental property.
Avoid Liability: Work with Licensed and Insured Professionals
It’s tempting to ask your brother to fix the drywall or to call a freelance painter who you met at the hardware store when you need your home re-painted. It might seem like you’re saving money, but it opens you up to a lot of liability and risk. It can end up being more expensive than you imagine.
While a handyman can easily take care of re-setting a garbage disposal or fixing a broken window screen, we recommend that you only hire licensed and insured professionals when you need maintenance done at your rental property. It ensures a high standard of workmanship, and it allows you to hold your vendors accountable for the repairs they make. Most importantly, it protects you against liability.
Consider this scenario: an uninsured worker is on a ladder repairing your roof and gets electrocuted by a nearby wire. Who is held responsible for medical bills, loss of income, and other damages? Quite possibly, you’ll be responsible. There will be a lawsuit, and you’ll suddenly realize that paying a professional roofer would have been much better for everyone. Don’t take chances. Ask to see a vendor’s proof of licensure and worker’s compensation insurance.
Screening St. Louis Maintenance Vendors and Contractors
You screen your tenants carefully because you want to protect your property. This is the same reason to screen your vendors and contractors. These professionals represent you when they’re dealing with your tenants, so if they’re rude or dangerous or unpleasant, your tenants will have an unfavorable impression of how you handle maintenance and repairs.
Talk to current and former customers and investigate their online reviews. Visit their website and see if they have any guarantees. Take your time getting to know your potential vendors and make sure you and your property will be a priority for them, whether you have a routine repair or an emergency.
Look for fair and reasonable pricing as well. Some contractors will bill you for whatever they want, without providing an estimate, itemized lists of charges, or a guarantee that their work is done to your standards. We don’t believe you should cut corners when it comes to maintenance, but we also don’t think you need to pay outrageous sums of money for basic preventative maintenance and routine repairs.
Consider Professional St. Louis Property Management
Working with a professional St. Louis property management company comes with a number of benefits, including the access to high quality vendors. Management companies have a lot of advantages over individual landlords. We provide a larger volume of business to vendors and contractors, so we can usually negotiate lower rates, which we pass onto our owners.
We also know that your needs come first; when we need a plumber or an electrician or a cleaner or a landscaper, we don’t have to wait in line or compete with other customers for their time. We work with vendors who are responsive, great at what they do, and fairly priced. We do all the license and insurance checking for you.
We’d be happy to discuss the importance of good maintenance contractors further. Contact us at Amoso Properties for more information on how we manage and maintain your St. Louis investment property.
