Hi, there! Joe White here from Grow Property Management, your trusted property management company in Philadelphia.
I had phone call with a prospective property owner who was looking into our property management services. She had one major concern: she wanted to handle her own repairs or at least use her own contractor, and our company doesn’t allow that. I understood where she was coming from – maybe she has a contractor she trusts or she’s trying to save money, but I had to explain why our policy exists. Not all property management companies are the same, and some will allow owners to manage repairs themselves. But our company prefers to handle repairs in-house, and there are good reasons for that.
We don’t explicitly forbid owners from doing repairs, but we do prefer to manage them ourselves. The main reason is trust. Since 2008, we’ve gone through countless contractors—fired many, kept a few – and over time, we’ve built a network of contractors we know we can trust 100%. We’ve learned the hard way which contractors cut corners, don’t show up, or cause more problems than they solve. The ones we use now are reliable, professional, and have earned our confidence. When one of our contractors goes into a unit and tells us what’s wrong, we believe them because we’ve already vetted them thoroughly.
Another reason we prefer using our own contractors is the quality and timeliness of the work. When a tenant reports an issue – like a broken toilet – we know it’s going to get fixed quickly and correctly. There’s no guessing or waiting. But if a property owner brings in someone we don’t know, there are too many uncertainties. Will they show up on time? Will they do the work properly? Will they delay the repair? And if they can’t fix it, now we’re behind schedule and have to send in someone else. Meanwhile, the tenant is stuck waiting – sometimes for something critical like a toilet or kitchen sink. These aren’t small inconveniences; they affect habitability.
There’s also the trust factor inside the tenant’s home. Since we started, we’ve never had a tenant accuse one of our contractors of theft or misconduct. Not once. The only time we ever had an incident was when one trusted contractor left his tool bag in a duplex hallway and it was possibly taken by another contractor we had just started working with. That was our red flag, and we never used that new contractor again. Our goal is to protect both the property and the tenant, and we can’t guarantee that if we don’t know who’s entering the unit.
Lastly, there’s the financial and tax angle. One benefit of owning rental properties is the tax deductions on expenses. When the property management company handles the repairs, everything is documented and included in your end-of-year tax reports. If you do the repairs yourself or hire someone outside the system, those expenses might be missed when it comes time to file. It’s not just about the repair getting done – it’s also about making sure you’re getting the full tax benefit of owning a rental.
So while I understand the desire to save money or work with someone you know, there are legitimate reasons why many property management companies – including ours – want to manage the repair process from start to finish. That said, if this is a priority for you, it’s worth knowing that some companies, even here in Philadelphia, are more flexible. There’s another reputable management company I know that will allow owners to use their own repair solutions.
I’m just a humble property management company owner in Philadelphia trying to help people make smart rental property decisions. I always want to be transparent about how we work and why, so that investors can make the best choices for their properties.
As always, happy rental property investing.
