Maintenance issues and the costs involved in rental property maintenance are big issues for owners and investors who are trying to keep costs low. The most common questions we get on this topic are – do owners have to use our vendors, and do we mark-up maintenance costs? We’ll answer those questions today.
The Importance of Preferred Vendors
At Realty Solutions, we do not mark-up our maintenance costs. Owners are required to pay the invoice that the vendors and contractors submit to us. We won’t add a service charge.
We do have a list of preferred vendors that we typically try to stick with for three important reasons:
- They provide special pricing for our clients. Often, the vendors we work with provide us with special discounts or reduced prices because we provide them with a large volume of work. Those savings are passed directly on to our clients, so you pay less with our vendors than you would with other vendors.
- Response time is critical. Our vendors are not in-house. We use outside vendors and contractors, so we know that they have other jobs and other clients they need to serve. However, our great relationship with these preferred vendors means they put us first, and will respond to our calls and issues before some of their other jobs. This can be particularly important when your tenant calls with an emergency.
- Our vendors provide extra eyes and ears on your property. The relationship we have with these vendors is built on trust. We continue to use them, and they continue to do great work for us. Another benefit to this relationship is that they understand our properties, and they’re aware of things that may need attention. While at the home, they might notice something that needs to be fixed, even if a request has not been submitted by the tenant. They’ll let our team know if something doesn’t look right, and we can respond right away.
Working with our preferred vendors simplifies the maintenance and repair process at your rental property.
Using Your Vendors for Rental Maintenance
Sometimes, owners will want to use their own vendors. We will honor your relationships with any contractors and vendors. We’ll reach out to that vendor, and collect all the information we need. We’ll also talk about our maintenance process and the procedures we follow. There are work orders and steps to responding to an issue at your property, which we are managing. Once we have introduced ourselves to your vendors and established a connection, we will use that company for all of your relevant needs going forward.
If you have any additional questions regarding the maintenance process and the vendors we use, please contact us at Realty Solutions.
