I also participate in decisions with my property management companies for the other properties, approving certain repairs, decisions with vendors, etc. 

It's better to address and replace the things you know will be close to or at end of life prior to placing tenants, because you dont have the same luxury of bidding it out and finding a vendor who could install in a reasonable timeframe to accomodate tenants if they were already living there.

Requesting photo evidence or names of vendors used also helps when verifying repairs are made to the correct quality.

I don't really care to see my vendor invoices or background check / credit reports, but I want to make sure that they are not cheating me (e.g. tagging on additional fees to vendor invoices, forgetting to run the full background check).

I'll discuss what my strategy is for the house, and then we'll all discuss our "Haves and Wants", success and failure stories, past and present deals, vendor referrals, strategies for 2016, the current state of the rental and sales markets, and more.

If nothing else they provide excellent networking opportunities where you can be around  like minded people as well as vendors who you will need as you progress.

You will meet other like-minded folks and vendors as well who will be able to share information with you.I'm a small Invester in the Tampa area and am happy to chat with you if you would like as well.Good luck to you.Keith Willey

I meet all sorts of vendors and collect those that I love working with.And best of all, when those sales hit, I get paid to learn.

First, you should instruct any vendor that goes out to the property not to communicate with the tenant any of their findings are what needs to be done to correct the problem they work for you and not the tenant.Also depends what your lease agreement says about plumbing clogs. 

They can connect you with local vendors, but don't do the maintenance/service calls themselves.It really depends on how much work you want to do yourself.