EP 33: Building a Network of Reliable Contractors: The Key to Hassle-Free Property Management

In this episode of the Property Investors Handbook, host Adam Bell is joined by Colleen Sutherland from Sutherland's Property Management Group to discuss the importance of building a dependable network of contractors for successful property management. Colleen shares her expert insights on how to vet contractors, the essential qualities to look for, and the process of handling maintenance requests effectively. Whether you’re a seasoned property manager or just starting out, this episode is packed with practical tips on ensuring your properties are well-maintained and compliant with tenancy laws. 

What is The Property Investors Handbook With Colleen Sutherland?

Discover the secrets of successful property management and investing on "The Property Investors Handbook" podcast. Join Colleen Sutherland as she shares expert insights and strategies for acquiring, managing, and maximising returns on real estate investments. Whether you're a beginner or seasoned investor, this podcast is your essential guide to navigating the world of property investment. Tune in and unlock the keys to financial success in real estate.

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  Hello everyone and welcome back to the Property Investors Handbook. Today we're talking about building a network of reliable contractors as an essential for any successful property management. Now Colleen Sutherland is here again from Sutherland's Property Management Group to share how she's built her network and how you can do the same.

Colleen, welcome to the podcast. Thanks, Adam. Now, Colleen, why is having a reliable network of contractors critical , for property management?

Part of what we do is manage the property and all its flaws. For want of a better word, but, we need to have, good electricians, good plumbers, good handyman carpenters and that sort of thing to make sure that the property is always well maintained.

So under tenancy legislation, we are required to have the property in good order during the tenancy as it was at the start of the tenancy.

Sure. So let's talk through those contractors that you'd have on your list. So You said electrician,

plumbers,

plumbers,

And handyman. They're the main, they're the main three.

Yes. But then you've got, you know, carpet layers, painters, engineers, all that sort of stuff.

Okay. Now you've been in the game. Well, you've owned and been running your own agency for 20 years as we discussed in a couple of episodes back. But, so how did you build your network of contractors? How did it all start?

I guess there's been a lot of, Trial and error. That's it. That's the only way isn't it?

Yeah, there has been but there is a criteria that they need to meet and it is that they are licensed and that they are registered. Right. They have a, insurance so that if anything does go wrong we've always got their license and their insurance to fall back on.

So the trial and error would be, we're giving this person a go, and then they don't meet our standards. And we have a minimum set of standards, which is probably what you would have at home, but there is a minimum set of standards and we're very strict on those standards.

Sure, to make sure you get, quality service at a How do you weigh up service versus price?

Usually when you've got a good contractor, they understand how real estate or property management departments work. And it's not necessarily the cheapest one, but we do need to be price competitive. Or they need to be price competitive and they need to, be reliable and, then offer a guarantee on their work.

Okay, fantastic. So how do you vet your contractors then?

So, firstly, they need to be able to work within the parameters of property management. So, they can't go off and fix everything they see at that property because the tenant goes, well, while you're here, fix this, and this. They have to know that they're not to do that.

Often, we have to get, landlord's approval on the maintenance. amount that we spend. So, yeah, they have to know how to work for property managers and understand the rules and regulations as well on them, um, for what they do. And then they have to be able to offer a guarantee on their work so that if something has gone wrong, and it could be little or it could be huge, they have to be able to offer the guarantee and go back and fix whatever it is they didn't.

Yeah, they didn't do it in the first instance.

Maybe talk me through the process of how a maintenance request, you know, starts and finishes. So using one of your contractors. So I'm a tenant. I've got a leaky tap. I've got a, actually I've got, I had one the other day, my oven was suddenly wasn't working.

Talk me through the process. I suddenly I get home, my oven's not working.

Okay. So we will ask you to do a couple of, okay. Troubleshooting points before we send out an electrician. So, is it just your oven that's flicked off, or do you have a number of appliances that aren't working? So we can work out whether it's a power point or, a faulty something.

Because if it's one of your appliances that's tripping this, safety switch. And the electrician goes out there and says, Oh, it's a fridge. You'll have to be responsible for that bill. But yeah, so there's a troubleshooting, element there to start with. And then we do look at the history of the maintenance on that oven.

So if we've sent, a tradie out there quite a few times to fix that oven, is it worth continuing to repair? Or do we, write it off and get a new one. So, It's not just a matter of shooting off a work order and go and look at that oven. It's a matter of process and looking at history, looking at, you know, troubleshooting and all that sort of stuff.

Sure. I love that troubleshooting piece there. It's not something I thought of though. I thought the first thing you were going to say is no, you put in a maintenance request. We, Talk to you about what's wrong. We get, we talk to our contractor and he agrees to come out and do it. But, I do love that.

Try to find the problem and get rid of it from, talking on the phone first before we actually engage someone.

As yes, before we engage someone. And then when we've engaged someone, he's not going to go out there and, fix it and send me a huge bill. And I'll see the bill and go, why did you fix that? I could have got a new one for that and started the warranty again.

So that's part of having the contractors, of reliability and honesty and, and then price point.

So, where we've got some lights working, some PowerPoints, only some PowerPoints across the house aren't working. I don't know what's going on. I'll have a quick look at the box. It has tripped out. The main switch goes back on.

Some things start working again, others don't. Have another look at the box, I don't know what's going on here. I go to my property manager and take a photo of your box, send it through, I'll get in touch with someone. Get a call from the electrician, he said, I've got the photo of the box here, can you go down to the box, there's one switch that isn't off, but it's not quite locked back up, that's all it was, can you lock that into place?

Everything goes, everything starts working. But

did you find out what tripped the switch in the first place? Nope. Okay.

Don't know. Don't know. But everything's worked, everything's worked since, but I guess that's why troubleshoot because, and that got to the electrician, that wasn't the, the property manager who worked that out, but it was good enough that they had a good enough contractor that.

Didn't make a, could have looked at that and says, I know what I'm going to do here, but I could still go out and get the call out fee and all of that just to go. Yeah. So really cool. Really cool. All right. Do you have any tips for negotiating rates with, with contractors?

The only tip that I can say is that you'll get the volume of the work that we send, you know, whether it's to the plumber, ordinarily we have one.

And then if he gets overloaded, I have to get two. There's not a lot of negotiation in rates because I want him to work for me. So when I ring him and it's urgent, I want you to be able to go to that, to my job. So say it's a hot water unit and he's got to know that under the residential tendencies act.

hot water unit repairs, an emergency repair. So he's then got to down tools on this job to go to that job. So it's a matter of, negotiating, yes, I'll pay your rate, but you need to be available for me. Right. And do you have an

agreement on that? Is there a signed agreement to say, hang on, if there is one of these, you need to down tools wherever you're at and head straight over?

Well,

not necessarily that agreement, but there is a, an agreement that it's called a contractor agreement. So that's where I take all his, licence and insurance and details like that. So that. I have it on file, as I do with landlords, that we've got it there if need be.

Sure.

There's no, not necessarily an agreement as in you're down tools.

It'll be i've said to you, you're going to get the volume of our work, but I need this back from you. So there is that agreement. Sure,

sure. How would you handle that uncomfortable situation when a contractor's work might not be up to your expectations?

See, I'm not bothered by that because I'd treat it as if I had to pay it.

So it'd be, I'm not paying that. You need to go back there and Sure. Fix this or tidy that up. Some contractors we had would just go and do the job and go and there is a massive mess and the tenant gets home and goes, oh my God, he is left this, but I wanna get a cleaner and I want this. So that then becomes part of, you need to be able to clean up after yourself when you finish the job.

Yep. So, and yeah, so you need to. Guaranteed to me that you'll go back and you'll fix whatever it needs to be fixed

Sure, how often do you review or or update your contractor list

every year

every year?

Yeah,

okay Yeah, and what's the process for doing that?

Well, because we have to get their insurance every year because it's only for 12 months Yep, that's an opportunity for us to go.

Look I do like your work, but you're not reliable or It takes you too long to get to a job, so we do have a chat to them every year and ordinarily we've kept the same one. So I've had my electrician, easy as electrical, for, I'm going to say 13, 14 years. Cause

they've been good?

They've been so good.

He's very polite to talk to. He doesn't treat me like the dumb blonde or, you know, the female I'm talking to a dumb sheila here or something. He's very respectful, and he's respectful of the tenant and the property. He's very good at prices and he's very good at turning up when we need him to turn up.

Fantastic. So there's a big tip for any electrician, any, business. Tradies out there. That's what, that's what you look for. Yes, because we need

them to make our job. Our job's hard. Maintenance forms a huge part of what we do. So we need to be able to work with a team who works with us.

Sure. Alright, well look, that pretty much wraps up our discussion on developing a network of reliable contractors. Thanks again, Colleen. Now for those managing properties, remember a solid contractor network is a key to handling your maintenance efficiently, like you've just said. Visit Sutherland's Property Management Group online spmg.

com. au for further information and join us next time for more property management tips. I will see you then. Colleen, thanks for coming in. Thanks Adam.