Maintenance costs - How to minimize the costs?

[Catherine Tran]

Maintenance costs is the cash flow killer, if it exceeds the budgeted amount. How can we reduce this risk? Should we hire a property manager to cover maintenance or purchase a home warranty plan? My concerns:

1/ Property Manager: what if he simply calls the vendors for every request without screening first? That would be very costly.

2/ Home warranty: what if they are slow to respond to the requests, which affects the tenants satisfaction.

Appreciate your insights.

Catherine