How to Hire a Property Maintenance Company

Landlords and asset managers understand the cost benefits of cutting maintenance and repair costs by hiring a local property maintenance service firm.

From snow removal to furnace repairs to emergency roofing patches, many of these services they provide help you offload the work you’re not efficient with. From licensing to staffing, they can offer substantial value to any landlord growing their portfolio, while needing comprehensive and efficient services.

And as staffing is a big problem for property management companies again this year, it might be a wise choice to outsource to firm strong in maintenance services.

The Right Mix and Quality of Services

Taking your time to understand what you really need from a best property maintenance firm is a good investment of time. That will translate to profit.

Top maintenance performance is important to homeowners, HOAs and tenants and translates into better ROI. Selecting a good quality property maintenance company or property management company is much the same process as screening and vetting a new employee, only a little more complicated. They do more than cut lawns now, so a wider perspective is called for.

As well, some maintenance service firms may not be reliable, resourceful, skilled enough, progressive and adaptable, hardworking, or able to scale up to manage big portfolios. If they can’t work for the budget you have, you’ll soon be looking again, this time with a backlog of maintenance tickets.

Property Maintenance Tasks

Winter Snow Removal

Before you choose a property maintenance services provider consider the specific duties they offer vs what you actually need.

They may perform routine work such as entryway and hallway cleaning, snow removal, landscaping, tree and hedge trimming, and occasional handyman repairs such as fixing doors and windows, fixing locks, repairing HVAC systems or water heaters, maintaining swimming pools, and performing roof repairs.

There’s no time to micromanage a property services provider with all of this.  The goal is to find, screen and hire one that gives you the confidence they will get things done well. And if they can’t provide certain services, you can hire additional contractors (e.g., HVAC, plumbing, landscaping, etc.)

You’ll be creating either a full-time service contract or part-time or occasional service agreement. And duties for all must be portioned out via your property management software solution for maximum efficiency.

Hiring a Property Maintenance Company Near You

We wanted to provide some ideas and tips on optimizing this search for the right company for you locally. Some local property management companies might offer these services too.

The biggest benefit of this might be you avoid choosing the wrong provider — which could generate big legal, financial and lease losses.

The same dangers are faced by apartment landlords or HOA boards.

To prepare for researching and hiring a property maintenance provider, you really should take a pause and review what services and expertise are essential. With that knowledge, you have a benchmark of priorities to assess potential maintenance service providers.

What Are Your Top Business Priorities?

1. maintain or improve property asset values
2. keep landlords/HOA boards satisfied with good performance
3. keep tenants/homeowners content and happy with reliable service
4. be efficient to lower maintenance costs and reduce workload
5. avoid accidents, mistakes, and poor service

What are the Key Must-Haves in a Maintenance Service?

• competence, stable staffing, and maintenance experience
• ability to manage stress and prioritize work
• ability to manage a budget and observe cost limits
• management experience
• equipment and digital tools
• availability and not too many other customers to service
• skilled management that brings efficiency and responsiveness
• reliable, professional staff who manage situations and people professionally
• have appropriate licenses and certifications to prove competence
• work references for you to interview
• willingness to use your property management software (contractor portal) to respond to maintenance tickets assigned to them
• review online complaints regarding their business (BBB, Yelp)
• can they scale up to service more units?

Achieve Clarity Through This Process

Big Picture: When you’re clear about what services you need and the equipment and skills they must possess, you’re likely to make a good decision.

Never assume they will fit an ideal model of professional maintenance service providers and be a perfect fit. It’s good to know their key strengths and weaknesses as well as their own business model, so you plan to manage them and get the best performance. The fewer illusions you have, the better.

When reviewing their website and marketing materials, get a feel for their stated value proposition and key services, along with the properties they’ve worked on to get a sense of whether your property(s) is a good fit for them. Does what you see ring true for a proficient company?

Contractors just like employees need guidance, so you’ll want to make sure they listen and will follow procedures to avoid lawsuits and accidents (property and building safety).

Other than the ability to do the maintenance work professionally, it’s important to consider attitude toward reliability, thoroughness, commitment to service, and work ethic. Will they do the little extras that happen once in a while or will they ignore them?

Providers You’ll Be Confident In

The property maintenance provider you choose is getting your seal of approval so you’ll want to ensure they’ll perform well. It will come back to your judgment and brand image. That will affect future business.

Learn more about ManageCasa’s Features

Check out our amazing, simplified solution designed for user-friendly operation. Our tools and apps will make your work so much easier.

Upgrade to ManageCasa™ and see how simplified and well-coordinated your maintenance practices will become.

Review these property management companies:  Hawaii Property Managers, Arizona Property Managers, Florida Property Managers, Pennsylvania Property Managers, Illinois Property Managers,  Georgia Property Managers,  Toronto Property Managers and Boston Property Managers.

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