Make ready services and vendors for property managers
Make ready services are the repairs that prepare a rental unit for its next tenant: painting, flooring, plumbing and electrical. Contractor Referral Partners introduces property managers and HOAs to established trade contractors for that work. Tell us the trade and your metro. If we work with a contractor for it there, we introduce you to one. It costs you nothing.
Request an introduction Vendors by trade
Last updated 10 October 2026. Written for property managers, HOA boards and apartment owners. Are you a contractor who wants work from property managers? Start here instead.
The problem
A vacant unit costs rent every day it waits
Most property management vendors are fine on the day you meet them. The test is the Friday a tenant moves out and three units need paint by the first.
Every slow turn adds vacancy days, and nobody sends you an invoice for those.
Property maintenance services, and where a trade contractor fits
Property maintenance companies will take the whole job, and general property maintenance contractors suit small repairs. For the larger trades, most managers still want a contractor of their own, with a name and a number.
Turnovers
Make ready contractors, trade by trade
The trades behind an apartment make ready. We introduce one contractor per trade, for unit turns across your portfolio and for rental property repairs between them.
Painting
Apartment painting contractors who can turn a unit between tenants, and repaint common areas and exteriors.
Flooring
Replacement between tenants, to a standard spec across the portfolio.
Plumbing
Fixtures, water heaters and repipes, and the repairs a move-out inspection finds.
Electrical
Fixtures, panels and the safety items an inspection flags.
HVAC
Change-outs as buildings age, and preventive maintenance each season across the portfolio.
Restoration
Water, mold and storm losses, where the first hours decide the cost.
These are apartment turnover services done by trade contractors. We do not supply cleaners or a general handyman. If rental turnover services to you means one crew for everything, property maintenance services are the better fit.
Larger work
HOA contractors and multifamily contractors
Roofs, repaints, grounds and renovations are decided once and lived with for years. A board funding a capital project from its reserve study needs a bid comparison it can defend. Then it wants one contractor who will still pick up after the check clears.
Roofing
Apartment roofing contractors for repairs, replacements and a name to call after every storm.
Landscaping and trees
HOA landscaping companies and tree crews for contracts that renew each year.
Apartment renovation contractors
The renovation trades one at a time for a unit upgrade, and multifamily renovation contractors for work a building at a time.
Your list
A preferred vendor list that answers the phone
An approved vendor list is easy to write. It is harder to keep one where every number gets picked up.
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One contractor per trade, and a backup
Two for the trades that cause emergencies: plumbing, HVAC, electrical, roofing and restoration.
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Paperwork on file
A certificate of insurance and a W-9 before the first work order, not after. Keep both in a vendor packet, so vendor onboarding takes a day and not a month.
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Rates and limits agreed
Unit prices for a standard turn, a not-to-exceed amount for repairs, and payment terms such as net-30, so nobody waits for approval.
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An after-hours number that works
Test it. Rental property maintenance does not keep office hours, and neither do leaks. Emergency response in a tenant-occupied building cannot wait for Monday.
What you get
What a manager gets from an introduction
Property management contractors are easy to find and hard to keep. These four things are how we make the second part easier.
One contractor, not a list
We introduce one established contractor for the trade you need. You are not handed five names to chase.
A line that gets answered
You get one number for that contractor. If they are on a job, an AI receptionist answers at any hour, takes the details and alerts them.
You hear what happened
You are told when your job is received and when it is scheduled, so you are not left guessing.
No cost to you
No fee, no contract and no obligation to send work. The contractor pays us, not you.
From your request to a bid
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Tell us what you need
The trade, your metro and a line about the project. It takes a minute.
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We introduce you on a call
If we work with a contractor for that trade in your metro, we set up the call. If we do not, we tell you. You speak to the contractor before any job is discussed.
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They bid, and you decide
Contractors we work with are expected to answer within one business day and bid within three. The decision stays yours.
Questions property managers ask
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What are make ready services?
Make ready services are the repairs and cleaning that prepare a rental unit for the next tenant after a move-out. A typical make ready covers painting, flooring, plumbing and electrical fixes, appliances and a final clean. Property managers also call it a unit turn or a turnover. Each vacant day costs rent, so the trades that do the work are judged on speed as much as price.
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How do property managers find vendors?
Property managers find vendors through other managers, their own maintenance staff, supplier counters and local apartment associations. Most keep a preferred vendor list with one or two contractors per trade, each with insurance and a W-9 on file. Contractor Referral Partners adds to that list by introducing a manager to one established contractor for a trade, on a call, at no cost to the manager.
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What should be on a property management vendor list?
A property management vendor list should name at least one contractor per trade, with a backup for the trades that cause emergencies: plumbing, HVAC, electrical, roofing and restoration. For each vendor it should hold a certificate of insurance, a W-9, the agreed rates or not-to-exceed limit, the after-hours number and the payment terms. An approved vendor list is only useful if the numbers on it are answered.
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Do you work with HOAs and multifamily owners?
Yes. Contractor Referral Partners introduces HOA boards, community managers and multifamily owners to established trade contractors, including roofing, painting, landscaping, fencing and concrete. HOA contractors are usually chosen once a year or project by project, so we introduce one contractor for the trade and the board decides. It costs the association nothing.
Request an introduction
Add a contractor to your vendor list
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- For builders and general contractors How to find subcontractors, by trade
- For commercial property Commercial contractors by trade
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