Rental Property Vendors: How to Find and Manage the Best

There are many responsibilities that landlords have to their rental properties, and many of those are centered around managing more than just your tenants. There is a wide variety of professionals that landlords need to work with in order to keep their properties in tip-top shape, and there are certain management tactics that landlords need to use in order to make these relationships as successful as possible.

What Is a Rental Property Vendor?

Rental property vendors are independent contractors that landlords hire to complete specific tasks around the property. These tasks could include repairing exterior damage to the home, completing landscaping work, fixing plumbing issues, making electrical repairs, and more. 

In order to make their job as easy as possible, landlords generally want to keep the same vendors for the same tasks on call so they don’t have to go through the process of finding new companies every time they need a job done. That is why it is important to find the right rental property vendors early on and maintain your working relationships with them as well as you can from your end.  

How to Find the Best Rental Property Vendors

Not sure how to find high-quality vendors who will keep your rental property in its best shape? The best way to start is by asking other landlords in your area for their recommendations. This is especially true if you notice that another landlord’s property has particularly good landscaping or another exterior marker that their rental property vendors have been doing a great job. 

Other landlords will be able to tell you plainly about the pros and cons they’ve experienced when working with one vendor or another. Additionally, if you know the landlord well, you can ask about pricing to make sure that if you do reach out to a certain rental property vendor, you’re quoted a fair amount for the work you’re asking for. 

Aside from reputation through word of mouth, it can be reassuring to know whether a rental property vendor has been in business for years or has just entered the industry. Newer companies can be just as effective as older ones, but it’s hard to beat the sense of comfort that years of experience on the job can provide. If your rental property is in an area new to you, you can look up outside reviews from google or yelp.

How to Properly Manage Relationships Between Landlords and Rental Property Vendors

Once you’ve found rental property vendors for the jobs around your property, it’s important to keep those relationships productive and positive by fulfilling your end of the deal. 

If you aren’t being an effective boss for your rental property vendors, you’re much more likely to run into issues down the line. Let’s take a look at a few ways you can set yourself and your vendors up for success and a long-term business partnership.

Set Clear Expectations

Even though the vendor you’ve chosen to fulfill a specific need on your property has expertise and hands-on experience in that line of work, every property is different. This means that their responsibilities on your rental property might look very different than their responsibilities on another. 

Never assume that your rental property vendor knows exactly what to do just because they’ve been hired for the same job by a different landlord. Make sure your vendor clearly knows what is expected of them, including what tasks they should complete, how they should interact with renters, and how often they’ll be expected to show up for work.

Have Good Communication

Proper communication between landlords and their rental property vendors doesn’t have to look one specific way, but it’s important to establish your preferred methods of communication early on in your business relationship. That way, you’ll always be able to reach each other in a timely manner when necessary. 

Some vendors need to be available for emergency work, and an open line of communication can be crucial in those situations.

Make Sure They’re Properly Licensed

Before hiring your vendor, make sure you see proof that they are licensed and insured in your state. That way, you’ll be able to avoid the issue of liability in the event of an accident. You’ll also be able to hold your vendors accountable if you have an issue with their work or decorum.