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Christine's Blog: Maintenance Disappointments (4/22/08)
Christine discusses her maintenance expectations and finding trustworthy service providers.
Hi Everyone!
Hope all is going well for you and your rentals. For me, I kind of feel like it's the calm before the storm. Things have tapered off a bit for inquiries, but I know in another week or two it'll start to pick up again.
A couple of weeks ago, my husband made a trip to our cabins to do some much needed maintenance. He stained the decks, had some trees cut down, and did a whole bunch of minor tweaks around the cabins. One thing we noticed was our maintenance people had not done some of the things that we had paid for, which they assured us were done. Needless to say they were fired.
While we'll never find anyone who will do as good of a job as we do (our standards will always be higher!) there are people who will do a good job. Finding a good maintenance person is tough, but not impossible. They do exist. And sometimes they might do a good job for a while and then for whatever reason become complacent. It is not uncommon for vacation rental owners to switch maintenance people every 2-3 years.
The bottom line: keep your antenna up, trust your instincts, don't assume anything, check your bills, and remember, no matter how much you get to know and like your service providers, this is a business. Their work [done well or done poorly] is a reflection of you and your home when the renters arrive.
If you suspect that you service providers (housekeepers, maintenance staff, property manager) is not doing the work to your expectations, address it now before the busy season is upon us.
Happy Renting,
Christine
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