The vendors you work with are essential to the proper functioning and safety of your Santa Rosa rental property. You may need to call upon a plumber for an emergency leak or an HVAC technician to perform seasonal inspections and preventative maintenance.
It’s not always easy to find reliable and affordable vendors and contractors who can be available when you need them. Working with a professional Santa Rosa property management team can help; we have relationships in place with excellent local repair people, and they provide high quality work at cost-effective prices.
If you’re managing on your own, you’ll have to create your own list of preferred vendors. Here are a few ideas for how you can pick the right vendor for your Santa Rosa investment.
Decide What Kind of Help You Need
Establishing relationships early is important. You don’t want to be looking for an electrician over a holiday weekend when your tenants can’t get a single outlet to work. Having someone who knows you and your property will help you respond to maintenance issues promptly.
At the very least, you’ll need to contract with plumbers, electricians, landscapers, cleaners, roofers, HVAC technicians, and other professionals. These vendors and contractors will help you respond to emergencies, keep your property well-maintained, and assist during turnover periods when you’re getting the home ready for a new tenant.
It may be helpful to have a handyman who can make quick, simple repairs as well. Installing a new shower head, for example, does not require a licensed plumber.
Hire Licensed and Insured Santa Rosa Vendors
Maybe you’re happy to fix things by yourself, or you call on your friends and family members to tinker around with pipes and drywall when something needs to be repaired at your own home. That’s not a great idea for your rental property, however. 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.
We recommend that you only hire licensed and insured professionals when you need work done at your Santa Rosa investment property. Minor repairs can be handled by a handyman or even by yourself if you can get there quickly. Sometimes, you can walk a tenant through what’s required to reset a garbage disposal or change an air filter. But, when there’s complex work involved, you want to ensure a high standard of workmanship. You need vendors who will treat your property and your tenants with respect.
Most importantly, you need protection against liability. If an unlicensed worker who you happened to meet at the hardware store falls off a ladder or injures themselves while working at your rental property, you could be held liable for their medical care as well as other damages. It’s not a risk worth taking.
Screening Santa Rosa Maintenance Workers
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.
Working with a professional Santa Rosa property management company comes with a number of benefits, including the access to high quality vendors. If you have any questions about finding a great vendor or you’d like to learn more about our management services, please contact us at Prestige Real Estate & Property Management. We manage homes in Sonoma County, including Santa Rosa, Windsor, Sebastopol, Petaluma, and Rohnert Park.
