Maintaining rental properties is a tough task if you do not have a water tight vendor management system in place. Managing repairs in properties like toilet facilities, drainage systems, leaky roofs, broken windows, which are in need of repair is ideal than carrying out major re-installation process. It may ease the budget but can lead to problems if reliable set of vendors are not in place. Every property manager wants to keep maintenance costs as low as possible and to do this he/she should know if right amount of materials are being used for repairs at ongoing market price. When you have a reliable vendor mix then property maintenance costs can be kept in check.
Vendors are assets in maintenance
Your vendor team is as important for you as a building contractor’s team of onsite construction specialists that ensure timely delivery of all raw materials. This team can help you as a property maintenance firm to swim successfully through choppy waters of maintenance. Have a team of structural experts and secondary vendors that have knowledge about plumbing, heating and flooring of both old and new buildings and its maintenance. Always maintain a list of vendors that are both bonded and insured and not temporary staff that do substandard work and disappear the next day.
Maintain a backup vendor group according to work category
Choose your backup vendors to ensure that your most important and necessary work does not get stalled when your regular vendor is unable to fit your need into his schedule. When you have vendors by category, you can shop around for better price like regular grocery shopping when a big box retailer gives better prices for some categories unlike your local grocer. A single vendor generally will not be able to carry out all the maintenance tasks, so always have three to four vendors in each category to manage your properties on schedule.
Have a water-tight vendor agreement
Agreements are the most vital part of every vendor management system and when you have multiple properties and maintenance tasks are being carried out on an ongoing basis throughout the year. Have a standard regulation system about your expectations from vendors and draw up an agreement based on it so everyone is on the same page. Your reputation as a property manager depends on top class maintenance and you can lose trust and business with single bad experience.
A balanced vendor group can improve value of your properties under maintenance and also enhance reputation as a reliable property manager.
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