Rental property maintenance is rarely a landlord’s favorite topic. When repairs are necessary at your property, they almost always cost more than you’re expecting, and it seems they also take longer to complete than you anticipated. It doesn’t have to be that way. As professional property managers, we’ve been handling maintenance issues for investors and landlords in and around Long Beach for years. We have it down to a pretty efficient science, and today we’re sharing some of the things you can do to increase the quality of work you’re receiving and reduce the maintenance bills you’re paying.
Investing in Good Maintenance is Critical
Handling maintenance issues proactively and professionally is important for two reasons. First, it ensures your asset continues to increase in value. Second, it ensures your tenants are satisfied and willing to stay in place for another year or two.
When you’re looking for maintenance workers and vendors, be sure to insist they are licensed and certified. You want high quality work that will not require you to fix the same thing in a month or two. You also want to protect yourself from liability. If you decide to hire an unlicensed roofer or window cleaner in order to save a few dollars and that worker falls off a ladder, you could be held responsible for medical bills. Don’t take that chance. Invest in contractors who have the necessary licenses, carry adequate insurance, and can stand behind the quality of their work.
Develop a Preferred Vendor List
When you have a preferred vendor list, you’ll be able to call upon qualified, reliable contractors who know your property and understand your needs. This may take a while to compile, but it’s a good idea to have every possible maintenance need covered. You’ll need a plumber and an electrician and a roofer and a cleaning company and an HVAC tech – the list goes on. In fact, it’s a good idea to have more than one company or contractor in each maintenance category in case your preferred vendor isn’t available.
We recommend that you establish these mutually beneficial relationships before you need maintenance help. You don’t want to start looking for a plumber at 3:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve when you have a tenant reporting that a leak is flooding your property. Talk about pricing and make sure you’ll be able to collect quotes before any work is approved or completed. You’ll always want to get multiple estimates, but don’t waste too much time comparing the cost. Your tenants expect their repair needs to happen quickly, and you need to act fast.
An Affordable and Reliable Option: Work with Professional Property Managers
Property managers in Long Beach and the surrounding areas are pretty automated and precise when it comes to handling maintenance and repairs on rental property. With innovative software systems, we’re able to collect maintenance requests online from tenants and then immediately dispatch the proper vendors. We can also negotiate lower rates with the companies we use because of the volume of work we provide them. When you partner with a professional management company, you don’t have to worry about emergency phone calls and worker liability. It’s all expertly handled for you.
We’d be happy to talk to you more about accessing high-quality and affordable maintenance in your Long Beach rental property. Please contact us at CMC Realty.