How often to update a realtor vendor list
Go through every vendor on your list at least once a year, and look again right away when a client complains, a license lapses or a vendor stops returning calls. Once a year is our suggestion, not a rule, so pick a month and keep to it. Put the date you last checked each vendor next to their name.
How often should you update your vendor list?
Go through the whole list once a year, and look at a single vendor again the day one of three things happens. No law or board sets this schedule; it's simply often enough to catch a changed phone number before a client does. Put the pass on your calendar for a slow month, like January.
Three things shouldn't wait for the yearly pass. When one of them happens, look at that vendor the same day:
- A client tells you a job went badly or the vendor never showed up.
- You find the vendor's license is inactive or missing on the state lookup.
- A client tells you the vendor didn't call them back.
What do you check on the yearly pass?
Call or text each vendor, and confirm the number and email still reach the right person. Ask whether they still take small jobs, because a contractor who grew into big remodels may not want your client's leaky faucet anymore. Then look up each license again and read what your clients said since the last pass.
- In Oregon, search the license on the Construction Contractors Board's site. In Washington, use the Department of Labor and Industries' verify tool. Here's how to check a contractor license in Oregon and Washington.
- Read the outcomes your clients reported. If you don't record them yet, here's how to track which vendor referrals worked out.
- Write today's date in the last-checked column of your vendor list template.
How do you keep a contractor list updated for clients?
Keep one master copy, edit only that copy, and send your clients a link to it. A PDF you already sent stays on their phones exactly as it was the day you sent it, so a vendor you removed in May is still on it in September. A link shows them the list as it is today.
A link also means you don't send a new file every time a phone number changes. There's more on this in sending a link instead of a PDF.
When should you remove a vendor from your list?
Take a vendor off when their license lapses, when two of your clients tell you their calls went unreturned, or when a job went wrong and the vendor didn't make it right. Talk to the vendor first if you can, because one bad job sometimes has a reason you haven't heard.
For that conversation, and the one with your client, see what to do after a bad vendor referral. Removing a name from your own copy doesn't reach the clients who already have the old one, which is one more reason to send a link.
Sources
- Oregon Construction Contractors Board: home page and license search
- Washington Department of Labor and Industries: Verify a contractor, tradesperson or business
Proferral rechecks Oregon and Washington licenses
For providers licensed in Oregon or Washington, Proferral checks the license against the state roster every night, and on Pro you get an email when a license on your list changes. Anywhere else, the license recheck on your yearly pass is still yours to do by hand, and so are the phone calls.
It's free, no credit card needed, and you're never charged unless you choose Pro.