Landlording - Service Providers

[Hai G.]

Hello all, first time posting here on BP.  

I own a rental property and am managing it myself.  My tenants have been wonderful so far and I haven't had to spend much time on it, but when a service call does happen, I often find myself not knowing which service provider to connect with.  I've used someone on Yelp for a couple of appliance fixes and a family friend who helped with an electrical problem, those have been fine but there isn't a system in place to easily route problems to solutions.

My question is, for DIY landlords out there, how do you assemble a list of service providers when you first became a landlord (e.g. handyman, plumber, electrician, etc)?  Do you go off of referral?  Yelp?  What process has worked well for handling service requests?

Thanks!

[Joe Bertolino]

For my SFR's I buy warranties with BPG. Tenant can call directly, schedule service, get updates and pay the $65 service call. I have had great luck with BPG including them getting an HVAC guy to a home within 12 hours during a heatwave. For apartments I have a handyman that takes a shot at it and then farms it out if it is above his technical abilities but he can usually get it done.