Property maintenance is one of the most taxing jobs faced by a landlord. Not only must problems be dealt with in a swift manner, they need to be done so in a way that prevents further reoccurrences, keeping your property (and its tenants) safe.
Let’s face it; we don’t all have the time or skills necessary to enact regular maintenance, leading it necessary to appoint designated tradesmen to the job either on a retained or ad-hoc basis.
Whether your property’s upkeep has begun eating into your other responsibilities, or if you just plain want someone to handle it all for you, keep reading to learn how to find good tradesmen for your rental properties.
Whether you use online forums or speak to nearby letting agents, your first port of call when finding a reputable tradesman is to build a sample pool of opinions.
Chances are, there may be multiple tradesmen servicing a given area, which can lead to a lot of repeat business around your properties. So, if you know of any landlords nearby or have a letting agent in close proximity, consider reaching out to them about who they use, what they pay, and what their experiences are like.
After you’ve built up a general understanding based on the opinions of others, it’s time to do some research of your own.
Search engines should be your starting point, as they’ll give you a mixture of results both national and local. While doing this, be sure to check up on any reviews on sites like Google or Trustpilot, and make a note of any tradesmen with low ratings to avoid. Speaking of reviews, be sure to read a big enough amount to get a general picture of their work over a variety of places and remember, not all tradesmen are perfect.
After filtering out the tradesmen with lower reviews, the time has come to start reaching out to your options.
Give them a call and ask if they can come to your property to assess the damage. While there, ask for their opinions on the sort of fixes that would be carried out, and compare findings among each individual.
While at this stage you may feel ready enough to proceed with your choices, we recommend taking a second to double-check any licenses or certifications that are necessary to your job.
For boiler installers, check the Corgi register and see if any results are returned; plumbers can be checked on the WaterSafe database, and general tradesmen can usually be found on Trust Mark. While belonging to these databases doesn’t necessarily guarantee high-quality work, it is a good indication that this person’s prior work has been deemed up to the expected standards held by their industry.
If your tradesman has passed your prior checks, the only thing left to do is enquire about their rates.
Some may operate on a retainer, with their services being available as and when they’re needed, while others will only work on a job-by-job basis. Both of these have their pros and cons; retainers may be useful for someone with a larger property portfolio, while ad-hoc agreements can work out better for smaller ones.
Whatever quotes you get back, we still recommend comparing them to the options you have left, before ultimately deciding which one works best for you.
When it comes to questions, there are a select few things you should ask as standard. Such things include:
These questions should give you enough information to both gauge the builder’s competency levels and provide a greater understanding of what a successful relationship with them will entail.
Being a landlord can be tough. Not only must you maintain properties, but it’s crucial to keep a positive relationship with your tenants – not to mention the difficulty that comes with managing your finances.
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