Ask any experienced landlord what keeps them up at night, and contractor problems will almost always make the list. The plumber was quoted at $400 and billed $1,200. The handyman who did shoddy work that had to be redone six months later. The roofer who took a deposit and never came back.
Finding reliable contractors is one of the most valuable skills a landlord can develop, and one of the most underrated. A good plumber, electrician, and HVAC technician on your contact list is worth more than almost any other operational asset you can build. Here’s how to find, vet, and keep them.
Where to Find Good Contractors in the First Place
The best contractors are rarely the ones with the biggest ads. They’re usually the ones who are too busy with referrals to need them. That’s where you start.
Ask other landlords: This is the single most reliable source of contractor referrals. Other landlords have already done the vetting, lived through the job, and know whether the contractor showed up on time, charged what they quoted, and did work that held up. Local landlord associations, real estate investor meetups, and online landlord forums (Bigger Pockets is the largest) are all excellent places to ask.
Ask your property manager: If you work with a property manager, even on one property, they maintain active contractor relationships out of necessity. Their recommendations come with real-world volume behind them.
Ask at the supply house: Plumbing supply houses, electrical supply stores, and HVAC distributors sell primarily to licensed tradespeople. The staff there know who the active, professional contractors in the area are and who the flakes are. Walk in, explain you’re a landlord looking for reliable tradespeople, and ask who they’d call. This is an underused but highly effective tactic.
Ask your real estate agent or attorney: Agents and real estate attorneys deal with contractors constantly in inspections, repairs, and transactions. They often have a short list of people they trust.
Online platforms with verified reviews: Angi (formerly Angie’s List), Thumbtack, and HomeAdvisor can be useful starting points, particularly for finding contractors in trades where you don’t have referrals yet. Read reviews carefully, look for volume (a contractor with 80 reviews over three years tells a different story than one with three reviews from last month), and treat the platform as a starting point for your own vetting, not a substitute for it.
Next-door and local Facebook groups: Neighborhood platforms often surface local contractors with real community reputations. The feedback tends to be candid and hyperlocal.
How to Vet, Interview, and Compare Bids
Finding a name is step one. Vetting them before you hire them is step two, and it’s where most landlords cut corners.
Get at least three bids for any significant job: For any repair or project over a few hundred dollars, get multiple bids. This isn’t just about price. When you see three bids for the same job, you learn what the work actually involves, what materials are standard, and what a reasonable price range looks like. The lowest bid isn’t always the right choice, but having context makes you a much better decision-maker.
Ask the right questions during the interview: Before you hire anyone for a significant job, have a brief conversation and ask: How long have you been doing this type of work? Do you have references from landlords or property managers specifically? Will you be doing the work yourself, or subcontracting it? What does your timeline look like for a job like this? What warranty do you offer on your work? How do you handle unexpected issues or cost overruns? The answers themselves matter, but so does the manner. A contractor who is vague about timelines, dismissive of your questions, or uncomfortable discussing their license and insurance is showing you something.
Call the references: This step gets skipped constantly, and it shouldn’t be. Call at least two references, ideally landlords or property owners, and ask: Did they show up when they said they would? Did they charge what they quoted? Did the work hold up? Would you hire them again without hesitation?
Understand what you’re comparing in the bids: Three bids for a roof repair can look dramatically different depending on what each contractor is proposing to do. Before comparing prices, make sure each bid specifies the same scope of work, materials, and responsibilities for cleanup and disposal. A $3,000 bid that includes removing and replacing three layers of shingles with a 30-year architectural product is not the same as a $2,200 bid that proposes patching over the existing surface with builder-grade material. Get it in writing, line by line.
Be wary of the lowest bid: it is sometimes simply the most competitive. More often, it reflects cut corners, inferior materials, unlicensed work, or a contractor who will make up the margin with change orders once they’re already on the job. If one bid is significantly below the others, ask why. The answer will tell you a lot.
Licenses, Insurance, and What to Verify
Verify the license: Most trades require a state license to operate legally. Most states maintain a publicly searchable online database where you can verify a contractor’s license number, current status, and any disciplinary history. Ask the contractor for their license number and look it up. This takes five minutes and filters out a significant percentage of bad actors.
Require proof of general liability insurance: Ask for a certificate of insurance before any work begins. General liability insurance protects you if the contractor damages your property or a third party during the job. A minimum of $1 million per occurrence is standard for most trades. Review the certificate; don’t just accept verbal assurance that they’re covered.
Require workers’ compensation insurance: If a contractor’s employee is injured on your property and the contractor doesn’t carry workers’ comp, you can be held liable. This is not hypothetical; it happens. Workers’ comp coverage protects you from that exposure. Require proof before work starts, especially for jobs involving multiple workers or elevated risk.
Ask to be added as an additional insured: For larger projects, ask the contractor to add you as an additional insured on their liability policy for the duration of the job. This gives you direct protection under their policy if something goes wrong. Many contractors are accustomed to this request and can arrange it quickly.
Get everything in writing: A written contract or detailed work order should specify the scope of work, materials to be used, start date, estimated completion date, payment terms, and warranty. For any job over $500, a handshake deal is not enough. If a contractor refuses to put things in writing, walk away.
Understand lien laws in your state: In most states, if a contractor or supplier is not paid, even if you paid the general contractor in full, they could file a mechanic’s lien against your property. For larger projects, require lien waivers from the contractor and any subcontractors or suppliers as a condition of final payment. A real estate attorney can advise on the specific requirements in your state.
Managing the Contractor Relationship Long-Term
Pay promptly and fairly: Reliable contractors have options. They work for clients who treat them well and pay on time. If you’re known as a landlord who disputes every invoice, delays payment, or nickels-and-dimes on every job, you will find yourself at the bottom of the callback list when you need someone urgently. Pay what was agreed, pay promptly, and tip the scale in their favor when the work genuinely earns it.
Be clear about expectations upfront: Be specific about what you need, the timeline you’re working with, and any constraints (e.g., the tenant is still in the unit, access is limited to certain hours, etc.). Contractors who know what to expect deliver better work on better timelines.
Give them volume when you can: Contractors remember clients who give them consistent, ongoing work. If you have multiple properties, try to concentrate your business with contractors you trust rather than shopping for the lowest bid on every single job. The relationship pays dividends: you move to the front of the queue, you get their honest advice on what needs to be done versus what can wait, and you often get better pricing over time.
Ask for their honest assessment, not just the repair: A good contractor is also an expert on your property. When they’re on-site for a repair, ask if they notice anything else worth your attention. A plumber who spots early signs of a corroded pipe, or an electrician who flags an outdated panel during a minor repair, is giving you information worth far more than the cost of the visit.
Keep a contractor log: For each trade, note the contractor’s name, contact information, license number, the jobs they’ve done for you, and your assessment of their work. Over time, this becomes a valuable reference document, making onboarding a new property manager or transferring properties much smoother.
The Bottom Line
Your contractor network is one of your most important operational assets as a landlord. It takes time to build. There’s no shortcut to finding out who really shows up, does quality work, and charges what they quote. But the investment pays off for years. Start with referrals, do your verification homework, put everything in writing, and treat the contractors who do right by you like the professionals they are.
A reliable plumber at midnight is worth more than almost anything else in your landlord’s toolkit.
Who’s on your must-have contractor list, and how did you find them? Share your recommendations and strategies in the comments below.