Who you work with matters. Those contractors and third-party vendors represent your investment brand and directly affect your rental property, your tenants, and your bottom line. Selecting your vendor partnerships should involve a thorough process. And if done correctly, you’ll find incredible value with those vendors for the long term. Here are six helpful tips and suggestions to ensure you’re finding and negotiating the best agreements and working with the best vendors for your investment business.
1. Taking a Closer Look at Your Current Roster
Sit down with the data and service offerings of your current vendors. Plumbers, electricians, landscaping companies, software subscriptions, and banking institutions all apply. Look at how much you spend and weigh those costs against the quality of service and bottom-line deliverables. Are your contractors timely and priced fairly? Are there opportunities to renegotiate rates or improve a seasonal schedule? Keep only those vendors who provide value to you. And the remaining list can potentially be replaced.
2. Create Goals & Objectives for New Potential Vendors
Shop around. Ask for referrals and check online reviews. And before you sit down to interview any vendor candidates or request bids, create a list for yourself of goals and deal breakers. Are there price points and budgets to adhere to, or are there key mistakes you’d like to avoid in a new partnership? Use those as a consideration tool when browsing for new vendor partnerships.
3. Consistent Vetting Processes
Before you begin scheduling calls and appointments with new vendors, create a consistent vetting process to help level the playing field. Refine how you evaluate each candidate and develop a series of steps for yourself to avoid missing any key efforts. Ask each the same questions and apply the same initiatives. Once you have a full deck from which to select, you’ll be able to rationally compare providers in a more apples-to-apples view.
4. Ask for Better Rates
It never hurts to ask for better rates. And not asking only means you’ll be paying full price. Remember, you’re engaging these vendors for ongoing work, which has value to them. A home inspector might be willing to give you an annual deal, knowing he or she has seasonal work with you. And when you do move forward with a contract or service agreement, be mindful of the terms. Don’t lock yourself into a more prolonged timeframe so you can revisit this negotiation step more frequently.
5. Don’t Wait to Pull the Plug
If you find yourself in a position in which a vendor has caused damage, become inconsistent, cost you money, or adversely affected your tenants, it’s time to pull the plug on the relationship. Some rental property owners wait too long before ending a vendor agreement. Communication is key to iron out small misunderstandings. But if there is a pattern of setbacks, it’s time to move on and find a better arrangement elsewhere. Waiting too long will only cost you and potentially put you at greater risk for a more catastrophic vendor failure down the road.
6. Rental Property Managers Should Be on Your List
If the prospect of sorting through your expenses and vendors, only to embark on a tedious vetting and renegotiation process, exhausts you, get a rental property manager. Consider working with PMI South Atlanta and then have a deputized professional on your team to handle these vendor agreements and negotiations for you. Staying on top of operations, including third-party partnerships, is a core responsibility of the rental property manager.
If you’re not sure your current vendors are providing the best value, let us help! Contact us today to explore our cost-saving and value-driven approach to finding and hiring the best for your business.
