As Australia faces the worst material shortage in almost 50 years, coupled with the serious labor shortage and surging demand for property, the thing that has come to the forefront of my mind is one of the most important yet undervalued parts of a real estate agency - subcontractors.
Subcontractors don’t get enough acknowledgment for the service they provide to the industry. A regularly overlooked cog in the machine we call the Real Estate Industry, they are the backbone of any property management team or the ace up the sleeve for sales agents alike. They are one of the most crucial assets and a determining factor for success, that is why it is paramount when selecting the right subcontractors to work with.
A good subcontractor understands the industry and actively works to align with an agency's values from a customer experience standpoint. Whether it is completing work before the sale of a property, repair and maintenance work to a rental property, or completing all relevant work needed when onboarding a new rental property for the market, it is important that an agency's subcontractors understand the processes involved.
Over the past 19 years Century 21 Aaron Moon Realty has created strong relationships with our subcontractors, or preferred suppliers, and has been refining and developing a strong list for our clients. Our preferred suppliers understand that they are dealing with one of the largest assets a person will own in their lifetime and treat it with the same respect. Strong in their comprehension of our internal processes, as a client of Century 21 Aaron Moon Realty you can rest assured our preferred suppliers are:
Safety Minded
Safety always comes first. Working with professional subcontractors to carry out work on our properties mitigates the level of risk and liability associated with residential property maintenance. We communicate to our owners regularly the importance of keeping their properties maintained to a high standard. They can be assured the subcontractors we use will follow the Australian Safety Standard in their chosen trade.
Qualified
When onboarding our contractors they are required to provide all of their licensing information, including their insurances and any other relevant documentation required with their selected field, eg. QBCCC license. Ensuring all our tradespeople are qualified mitigates the owner's liability. It also guarantees their landlord or home insurance on the property remains intact. One of the biggest mistakes owners make is carrying out their own repairs or using unqualified tradespeople as it may deem the owner's insurance void.
Quality
We are strong believers that there is value in paying the right amount of money when completing maintenance to your property - there is an old saying that “If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys''. If price is a determining factor when selecting your trades you have to understand that the level of workmanship may not be to the same standard, or same scope, as that of the more expensive option. We will always ensure that there are multiple options available to our clients when selecting the right quote. We also like to maintain transparency to our contractors by communicating the same scope of work to ensure like-for-like quotes. Using tradespeople outside of our preferred supplies can leave the owner open to a level of risk as our company has less control and understanding of their abilities to deliver quality work.
Reliability
Our preferred suppliers understand that the real estate industry is high paced with maintenance needing to be completed in a timely manner. All of our preferred suppliers are strong in communication and transparency in being able to deliver work with regard to the turn-around needed. Our preferred suppliers take ownership of the work they deliver providing warranties to their workmanship and products - another risk owners take when using contractors outside of our preferred suppliers. If a contractor is used that does not warrant their workmanship, a repair could become more costly than completing it correctly the first time.
One of the key aspects of the relationship-building process is ensuring the subcontractors are paid for their work in a timely manner. This is a strong trust builder between Agency and contractor and something Century 21 Aaron Moon Realty is constantly striving to achieve. Our office understands that there is value in retaining strong and long-term relationships with our subcontractors and that both parties benefit mutually. The team at Century 21 Aaron Moon Realty has been collaboratively working with our subcontractors to evolve and build our working relationships to ensure all stakeholders involved receive a high-quality service. Overall we work together with the same goal, to ensure we are optimising strong capital growth for our client's investment.