Wise to do business with your tenants?
Hi, I'm a newbie landlord. I bought 2 tenant occupied units that need some work. I have a few contractors that I would like to establish a working relationship with and had them do some bids for the roof and a fence. Bids look pretty good.
The snafu... Both of my tenants work for roofing/fencing companies. They have both offered their services and have asked me to consider them.
My intuition says NOT to mix business with tenants. Plus, for the long term, I really want to establish good rapport with the contractors I've worked with in the past.
The curve ball... One of the tenants gave me an ultimatum saying if I don't use his father's roofing business to do the repairs I'll have to find a new tenant. I responded essentially saying I'm not going to play favorites choosing you over the other tenant for this work... I also said I have the freedom to chose whoever I want to do the repairs. He seemed to back down for now...
Tips, advice, wisdom? Any would be greatly appreciated.
Andy