MANAGEMENT: 6 Tips For Selecting The Perfect Contractor For Your Property

Lucid project plans and frequent communication are the keys to successful project completions.

Whether you're planning extensive building repairs or a whole new housing development, chances are you'll need to hire a contractor for your properties at some point.

But hiring and managing contractors is different from hiring and managing your staff. Contractors have different motivations and perspectives -- and different laws they must follow. Housing management expert Kevin Aguanno offers these tips to help you choose--and manage--the best person for the job:

Tip #1: Analyze Your Needs -- And  The Skills They'll Require

Although finding situations where you want to hire a contractor is easy, it's also easy to select the wrong contractor. The most important step you can take to reduce this risk is to analyze your contracting needs and plan your requirements in advance.

Determine what your absolute needs are, and then decide what other skills and qualities would be nice to have. Itemize the skills and qualities into these two categories: first priority and second. This way, you'll be better able to assess the fit of each potential contractor and know on which items you'll be able to compromise.

Tip #2: Choose Industry Experts Over  Long-Term Experience

Although a contractor may have earned your trust from a past project experience, trust can also stem fro......