Property management companies are contractors who typically work in the real estate industry. It could be residential, commercial, industrial & special properties. But what does a property manager or contractor do?
A property management company repairs, maintains & supervises properties on behalf of the landlords and tenants.
From floor tile installation to roof repair and everything in between, property maintenance contractors can be involved in many different types of work.
What to expect from a property maintenance company?
The table below shows the list of tasks that you can expect from a property management company.
| Tenants |
| Rent collection |
| Finding tenants |
| Screening tenants |
| Tenant disputes |
| Create lease agreement |
| Marketing |
| Marketing properties |
| Advertising vacancies |
| Capture professional photographs for promotion |
| Ad placement across reputable online platforms |
| Maintanence |
| New roof installation |
| Roof replacement & repair |
| Prepare vacant units |
| Property inspection |
| Door and window restoration |
| Tile and Grout Work |
| Vinyl Siding |
| Renovations & remodeling |
| Handyman related |
| Painting |
| Carpentry |
| Electric work |
| Plumbing |
| Drywall Repair |
| General repairs |
| Appliance Installation |
| Furniture Assembly |
| Gutter Maintenance |
| Pressure Washing |
| HVAC Repairs |
| Landscaping and Yard/Lawn care |
| Home Safety Installations |
| Deck and Patio Maintenance |
These are the most common responsibilities of a property maintenance company. However, not all the companies do everything that I mentioned above. So you need to ask the maintenance company.
Types of property management companies
As you saw in the previous table, there are a variety of property management tasks. This list of tasks falls into different groups or categories such as handyman, real estate, electrical, marketing, etc. In the same vein, companies also have diversification. There are 4 types of property maintenance companies:
- Residential
- Commercial
- Industrial
- Special purpose
A single company may not have the ability or provide services to all 4 sectors. However, some companies can serve multiple sectors. On the other hand, a few companies are specialized in one sector. So if you’re a perfectionist and want outstanding services, you need to vet contractors carefully.
How to find a good property maintenance company for your specific needs?
As you may already guessed all companies or contractors are not equal. Even some could be bad. Now the question is how you can go through the vetting process and pick the right one.
There are numerous things you can look for. Also, you have to use your intuition in some cases. However, here are some of the common & main aspects that you should look for in the vetting process:
- Experience: How many years they have been working?
- Size of the company: How many people are working on their team?
- Feedback: Reviews from authentic sources like Trustpilot, Google Maps, etc.
- Portfolio: Past work samples in the same niche that you need help with.
- Rate: Calculate the cost of working with a certain contractor.
- Website: look at their website which will give you an idea about their seriousness & reputation.
Finding the right contractor can be hard sometimes especially if you are on a tight budget. But it’s worth spending some time on the vetting process.
A good contractor can save you time and will help you to focus on your business. Also, you don’t have to hold their hands and walk them through every single aspect of the day-to-day work. On the other hand, an inexperienced & irresponsible contractor can increase your headache.
Do you need to hire a property maintenance company?
Hiring a property maintenance company or contractor can be expensive. So if you have a very small amount of work and if you can handle it properly, you don’t need to hire someone.
But if you spend most of your time maintaining your properties, you definitely need to hire a contractor. Also, if you don’t have proper experience handling those tasks, it’s worth hiring a contractor who will do the job on behalf of you.
Below is the list of common cases when it’s worth hiring a contractor as a landlord:
- If you have to deal with multiple tenants and if you have many rental apartments.
- When you have to spend a huge time on maintenance.
- If you can earn more by spending the time on other businesses or stuff.
- If you don’t have experience with creating legal contracts, advertising, and other technical aspects.
- If your living location is far from the rental locations.
Hiring a property maintenance company is not worth it for everyone. Except for the reasons I mentioned in the above list, think twice before you hire someone. You may adapt to learning new things and performing all the maintenance tasks. But it’s time-consuming and hard. And it may cause you to lose focus on the main tasks where your time matters. So it would be a great decision to hire a contractor who can save you time, effort & money.
Before you hire a property management company, your first instinct should be to calculate the cost. If you need inspiration, see how much a property management company charges. This will give you a clear idea and after reading the article, you will able to calculate the cost to hire a maintenance contractor.
Wrap up
Property maintenance companies help landlords, industrialists & real estate businesses. It’s not only repairing their properties but also legal & technical aspects. There are four types of property maintenance companies that I explained in this post.
There are a few different types of scenarios when you need to hire a contractor. I mentioned these situations and also explained the vetting process for hiring the right candidate.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments.
