{"id":132343,"date":"2020-12-19T09:00:15","date_gmt":"2020-12-19T16:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/?p=132343"},"modified":"2024-02-13T17:00:08","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T00:00:08","slug":"finding-maintenance-worker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/finding-maintenance-worker","title":{"rendered":"How Savvy Landlords Find Maintenance Professionals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm?e=BIGPOC4380368502&amp;light=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the middle of the night and your phone rings. You wake up in a panic, wondering what tragedy has happened. Then you hear a distraught tenant on the other end of the line saying that the toilet is clogged, or the AC has stopped working.<\/p>\n<p>This is a minor issue if you only have one or two properties. But when you are a landlord of multiple units, these maintenance issues can start to take up your time. Any time spent on maintenance will take time away from the more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/typical-day-to-day-life-landlord-explained\" target=\"_blank\">enjoyable aspects of being a landlord<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of the number of units you have, your time is valuable. For this reason, savvy landlords hire maintenance professionals. However, you need to find contractors or tradespeople who will do an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/save-money-maintenance-repairs-renters\" target=\"_blank\">excellent job at a reasonable price<\/a>. After all, you need the maintenance issue resolved the first time around, not after multiple visits.<\/p>\n<p>Specific jobs require a professional contractor\u2014certified contractors must deal with significant plumbing incidents, gas leaks, or electrical faults. On the other hand, there are numerous jobs that you may not have the skills to repair but don&#8217;t require a professional contractor.<\/p>\n<h2>Common Maintenance Issues<\/h2>\n<p>For example, some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/must-do-rental-maintenance\" target=\"_blank\">common maintenance issues<\/a> in rental units include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>No heating<\/li>\n<li>No hot water<\/li>\n<li>Electrical fuse replacements<\/li>\n<li>Leaking faucets<\/li>\n<li>Clogged drains<\/li>\n<li>Broken garbage disposals<\/li>\n<li>HVAC maintenance (malfunctions and filter replacements)<\/li>\n<li>Minor wall repairs\/drywall<\/li>\n<li>Painting<\/li>\n<li>Changing locks<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Depending on what\u2019s happened, some maintenance issues are emergency repairs and need immediate attention. However, other repairs are not as urgent, and you can schedule them within a week. Either way, it\u2019s unlikely that you will have time to carry them all out yourself.<\/p>\n<p>The problem is that your tenant reasonably expects you to resolve all maintenance issues within an appropriate time.<\/p>\n<p>The time you take to fix maintenance issues affects your reputation as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/steps-awesome-landlord\" target=\"_blank\">trusted landlord<\/a>. There two reasons for this.<\/p>\n<p>First, this is essential for your relationship with your tenants and your reputation as an excellent landlord. Second, if you don\u2019t take care of the smaller issues when they arise, they will eventually turn into more significant problems that will cost more money. Additionally, your tenants aren\u2019t going to be happy, and you don\u2019t want the reputation of a \u201cslumlord.\u201d Hence the importance of hiring the right maintenance professionals.<\/p>\n<h2>Why Should You Hire a Professional?<\/h2>\n<p>Aside from keeping your properties in top condition and your tenants happy, there are pitfalls to not having a network of maintenance professionals. When something crops up, and you don\u2019t have someone to do the job, you will need to start looking for a contractor.<\/p>\n<p>Suppose you don\u2019t have any relationships with contractors. In that case, you risk hiring someone who may do a lousy job or overcharge you. The other risk is that there isn\u2019t a contractor available to carry out your repairs, and the problems last for an unnecessarily long time.<\/p>\n<p>By taking the time to hire the right maintenance professional, you will save yourself time and money\u2014not to mention establish a great relationship with someone who is incredibly handy.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Related:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/2014-11-14-landlords-ultimate-34-step-property-management-checklist\" target=\"_blank\">The Landlord\u2019s Ultimate 34-Step Property Management Checklist<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Finding the One<\/h2>\n<p>How do you find the right professional to work with?<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s have a look at five things to bear in mind when hiring maintenance professionals.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What are their skills? <\/strong>\u2014 When looking for a maintenance professional, it\u2019s really a case of someone who is a \u201cJack of all trades, master of none.\u201d They should have the skills to complete a wide range of repairs, not just be able to do one or two things exceptionally well.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Have they worked with multiple units? <\/strong>\u2014 Someone who is responsible for 10, 20, or even 50 properties must have the skills of the trade. However, they also need to be excellent at time management and prioritization.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Do they live nearby?<\/strong> \u2014 Make sure that your maintenance technician lives close enough to your properties to be able to respond to urgent issues quickly. If necessary, you may need two or more repair people if you\u2019ve got rental units spread out throughout the city.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Are they able to work alone?<\/strong> \u2014 Besides being able to manage their own schedule, it is better that you look for a maintenance professional who has experience working independently. The contractor should be self-motivated and use their initiative to carry out their responsibilities without relying on you all the time.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Can you trust them?<\/strong> \u2014 This isn\u2019t something that you can always judge in the interview stage\u2014which is one reason to give them a trial period first. But you should gain an understanding of their ethics as well as their customer service skills. After all, they will be dealing with your tenants\u2014therefore, they&#8217;ll be the face of your rental company. Not only this, but you will also have to hand over the master key for each of your units.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How to Hire a Maintenance Professional<\/h2>\n<p>Hiring a maintenance professional is like hiring any other skilled worker, and you can\u2019t rush each stage. It makes more sense to get it right the first time than to have problems and start the process again.<\/p>\n<h3>1. Research<\/h3>\n<p>There are two traditional routes that you can go down to find maintenance professionals. Your local classified ads and newspapers may have professionals looking for employment. Still, you are likely to have more success looking online. You can also post ads on employment websites such as Craigslist. If you post job vacancies, be sure to respond to all of the candidates that meet your requirements to increase your chances of finding the best professional.<\/p>\n<p>Another great way to find potential maintenance professionals is to ask people in your property management network. There is an excellent chance that they will know of skilled workers in the industry you can contact. Also, there is a little more security when you get recommendations from someone you know.<\/p>\n<h3>2. Initial Interviews<\/h3>\n<p>Hopefully you will have a long list of potential candidates. So rather than meeting with all of them, arrange a short phone or video meeting to get a better idea of who they are. This will give you a chance to find out about their experience and qualifications and explain the job in more detail.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Final Interviews<\/h3>\n<p>Once you have three or four ideal candidates, you can arrange a face-to-face meeting. In this second interview, you will have more time to get to know the person better and learn more about their communication skills and work ethic.<\/p>\n<h3>4. References<\/h3>\n<p>Checking their references is essential to confirm that what the candidate has told you is accurate. Of course, references may not always be entirely true. But confirming them gives further insights into your potential maintenance professional.<\/p>\n<h3>5. Trial Period<\/h3>\n<p>A trial period doesn\u2019t have to be a bad thing, and it is more than likely that you will strike up a great working relationship in this period. However, it is sensible to have a shorter set time to make sure you are both happy before committing to a more extended contract.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/2012-12-10-landlord-maintenance-emergency\" target=\"_blank\"><em>When Is a Landlord\u2019s Maintenance Emergency Truly An Emergency?<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Keeping properties maintained to a high standard is one of the best ways to build your reputation as an excellent landlord. Property maintenance requires getting the right people to do the right jobs. After you establish your network of trusted maintenance professionals, ensure that you communicate with them clearly about any necessary maintenance work.<\/p>\n<p>Many savvy landlords use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/surprising-advantages-property-management-apps\" target=\"_blank\">property management apps<\/a> to manage maintenance requests. Tenants can flag maintenance issues through the app and send you videos or pictures of the problem. You can then contact your maintenance professional via the app to assign the work, monitor the progress, and even make payments when the work is complete.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/webinars\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-91217 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/blog_ads-01.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"85\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/blog_ads-01.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/blog_ads-01-300x36.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>What do you look for when hiring a maintenance professional?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us how you &#8220;found a guy&#8221; in the comments.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At some point in your landlord career, you&#8217;re going to get woken up at midnight by an exploding faucet. Who are you going to call?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":612767,"featured_media":90127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7400,7119],"tags":[7144,4938,5970,1418,2413,5137],"class_list":["post-132343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-building-team","category-biggerpockets-daily","tag-emergency-maintenance","tag-maintaining-rental-properties","tag-preventative-maintenance","tag-property-management","tag-property-management-software","tag-rental-property-management"],"acf":[],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/612767"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}