Knowing how you’re going to maintain your rental property is an important part of owning one. You don’t want to be caught off-guard when a tenant reports a plumbing leak or a new roof needs to be put on. Having access to a preferred vendor list is important, and one of the benefits of working with a professional Kansas City property management company.
To protect yourself and your property, make sure you’re always working with licensed and insured vendors and contractors. Otherwise, you’re opening yourself up to a lot of liability and a lot of potential risk.
Licensed Vendors and Work Quality
When your Northland rental property needs a repair, you want the problem fixed correctly the first time. Having vendors return to the property over and over again only costs you more and frustrates your tenants. Licensed vendors will know what they’re doing. They’ll hold themselves to high standards, which means you get a higher quality of work.
A professional plumber, electrician, painter, roofer, or other repair person will have the experience and the expertise required to complete the repair correctly and maintain your home. If something goes wrong or the issue isn’t completely resolved, they’ll come back to check on their work and make sure they find a solution. Licensed vendors and contractors need to keep their customers happy. They’re going to stand by their work and avoid cutting corners.
Unlicensed Work Can Lead to Lawsuits
Here’s an example of why licensed vendors and contractors are so important.
Maybe you need the exterior of your rental house painted. Instead of hiring a licensed and insured painter, you agree to hire some unknown person off the internet because it’s cheaper.
If that unknown party falls off a ladder and breaks an arm or a leg or a neck, you’re going to be responsible for his medical bills. You can also be sued for a variety of other things, and the $200 you may have saved on the paint job will quickly become a $10,000 expense.
It’s not worth the risk. Don’t hire anyone who doesn’t have adequate liability and worker’s compensation insurance. Ask for proof before you hire a company or a vendor.
Respecting Your Kansas City Tenants
You also owe it to your tenant to send high quality, professional workers over to the property. Tenants rightly expect that the people coming into their homes are licensed, professional, and insured vendors who take their work seriously.
Using the right vendors also shows your tenants that you care about the property and their needs. This will help with tenant satisfaction and improve your tenant retention rates.
Trying to save a little bit of money on maintenance and repairs by hiring unprofessional and unlicensed vendors is a terrible and potentially risky idea.
At Donley Carver, we work with an entire team of vendors and contractors who we trust and admire. Our tenants respond well to these professionals, too. If you’re not sure where to find great vendors and contractors in the Kansas City area, contact us at Donley Carver Investment Properties. We can share some referrals and talk about how to help.