Ways to handle tenant maintenance when self-managing?

Question

What are the best ways to handle tenant maintenance, emergency and non-emergency, without hiring staff, doing repairs yourself, or being on call 24/7/365?

My husband and I have @10 units (single family and duplex) that we are thinking of self-managing. Property management companies in our area will do it all for 10% of rents, but we believe we can handle turnovers by hiring subs, and handle leasing and rental operations ourselves, so we would prefer to find a way to save that 10%. We used to do it all but we had more properties which supported keeping a handyman and property manager on staff.

Wondering how other owner/managers with just a few properties handle this?

Thought about finding one or two handyman services in the area who offer emergency services, but wondered about issues regarding access. I'd love to be able to leave keys in the contractor's possession so that if neither the tenant, my husband, or myself could meet them they could access the property. Is this legal? Advisable? Unwise?

Any other suggestions?

Alex S. · Answer

I use sub contractors for work on the need basis, if I can’t do it myself.

Sandy J. · Answer

Thank you all for these tips so far; many great ideas. We owned and managed property in the past before selling some and placing these others with a management company. We were fortunate to afford at least one maintenance person who we trusted with keys, and one manager who could meet workers. We can't afford that now with less properties.

I would absolutely prefer that myself or my husband be present if the tenant is not, and maybe if they are. I can see many ways where tenants could make a repair request more complicated. For example, if they are anything like my mother they will talk to them until a 30 minute job takes half a day, lol. And I really wouldn't feel comfortable entrusting keys to someone unless I was absolutely sure I could trust them and that's a rare thing.

My concern is that we may have some unforeseen circumstance prevent us from meeting a contractor - we live in a rural area only minutes from the city center but because it is rural we have been inconvenienced by heavy snows and even had a bridge over a creek collapse stranding us for days. However; if it is an absolute emergency (busted water pipe, no heat below freezing), the tenant will most likely be there and I can arrange an emergency service call by phone.

Thank you all! Hope this post helps others as well.

Thomas S. · Answer

Never allow a contractor access without either you or the tenant present. To do so is a disaster waiting to happen. If something happens you will be held responsible.

In all my years of self managing I have come to learn that there are very few actual "emergencies". Aside form a burst water line or no furnace in the winter most repairs can wait till I get there on my own time.

I do not trust tennats to interface with contractors so will normally arrange to be there on site .. depends entirely on the problem but I do 99.9% of all repairs myself.

Kyle J. · Answer

I do some repairs myself, but when I don't want to (or can't) I simply select a repair person/company and either have them contact the tenant or have the tenant contact them.  I leave the scheduling of the actual work between them.  No reason for me to be the middleman when it's easier for them just to talk directly and schedule it themselves.

I don't go to the house to meet the repair person.  I expect the tenant to do that since they're the ones who live there.

Once at the house, the repair person calls me with a diagnosis and estimate, and then I authorize it and the work gets underway.  Once it's done, the repair person just calls me back and I usually give them a credit card number over the phone, or occasionally I'll mail them a check if they don't accept credit cards.

I can generally handle the whole repair right from my cell phone no matter where I'm at.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Set up a Google Voice number that is specifically for emergencies. Tenant calls, they hear a reminder that it is only for emergencies, they leave a message, and you are notified immediately that a message is waiting. Determine if it's a true emergency and then handle it.

Max T. · Answer

When a tenant contacts me about a non-emergency maintenance request I diagnose it over FaceTime or in person when possible. If it is something I can and want to fix I schedule it for the following weekend. But usually I'm not interested in doing it myself anymore so I contact the appropriate subcontractor. I let them know that my tenant at XYZ Main Street will be contacting them. Then I provide the tenant with the contractor's contact information. I let those two parties coordinate the scheduling. The tenant updates me when a date has been set. The contractor updates me for final approval of whatever needs to be done. Then when the contractor contacts me for payment, I confirm with the tenant that the job has been done well.  A few phone calls or text messages. Not bad.

Hubert Kim · Answer

I would consider looking for contractors, subcontractors or handymen as needed. It may be difficult with trial and error until you find the right people, but I'm not sure you have a better alternative.

At least until you absolutely know you have the right people, I would not suggest giving keys to anyone, especially if they are not licensed and insured. In this case, you may consider giving them access to a combination lock box on site that houses the key to the property only if absolutely necessary.

That said, you state you have 10 units or properties. Although you may not be able to hire a handyman full-time, would it be worth considering hiring someone to work for you 1 day per week on a regular basis? A weekly list of repairs or maintenance items can be assigned. If this works out, you might be able to go further and possibly negotiate emergency calls on a per-call basis.

Hope any of this helps.

Ways to handle tenant maintenance when self-managing?

Most Popular Reply