When you consider vendors to take care of your property maintenance, it’s always important to ensure they are licensed, insured and bonded. I recently heard a story from another property manager in Las Vegas that illustrates that point perfectly. Against his advice, a property owner hired an unlicensed painter to perform work on the house he was rehabbing to put on the rental market. The painter fell off his ladder and sued the property owner. He was injured, so it turned into a big legal dispute. At Ravago Group Property Management, we always recommend using professionals who are licensed, insured and bonded. We only work with vendors who are.
We also have the benefit of long term relationships with our vendors and contractors. When we interview new vendors, we want to make sure they are a good fit for our property management company. It’s important to us that we work with professionals who will prove to be assets to our homes and owners.
Another benefit worth mentioning is the price breaks we get. During the summer, we might call our air conditioning technician 10 or 20 – even 30 times. Then, in the winter we might use the same tech 10 times to check on furnaces or heating systems. We work closely enough that we can negotiate lower prices based on an economy of scale. Owners who just pick someone out of the phone book or off the Internet do not have that benefit. Our pricing is lower because of the volume of work we give our vendors overall.
Appearance is also important to us. We look for vendors who present themselves professionally. We expect clean trucks and polite treatment when it comes to dealing with our tenants. How a vendor presents himself reflects on us, and we have very high standards.
Your licensed, insured and bonded vendors can also provide another set of eyes for the property. When the work is complete, we ask for pictures and a full report. We usually ask how the property looks. Vendors who are on site can report seeing dogs or cars or additional people who don’t belong there.
They can report back to us if anything seems out of the ordinary. Many of our vendors will volunteer information because they know and respect our standards.
Hiring the best vendors is important in keeping your rental property maintained well. If you have any questions or need any help, please contact us at Ravago Group Property Management.
