If you manage rental properties, investment homes, or a portfolio of units across Southwest Florida, your fence contractor relationships either make your life easier or turn into a problem every other month. Here's what we'd look for if we were hiring ourselves.

1. Florida licensed and insured. Verified.

Not "we think we are." Actually licensed. Ask for the license number and verify it on the Florida DBPR website. Ask for a current certificate of insurance naming your management company as additional insured. A contractor who can't produce either in an hour is a contractor you don't want on a tenant's property.

True Fence Florida is state-licensed, BBB A+ accredited, and can produce a COI with your specific language the same week you ask.

2. Same-day response during business hours

Rentals generate fence issues at busy moments: post-storm, after a mover hit a gate, when a tenant calls about a loose panel. You need a contractor who picks up during business hours.

We reply Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm Eastern. If we can't reply that day, we don't take on more work than we can support.

3. A payment structure that doesn't leave you negotiating

Payment terms where the contractor pressures for 70 percent up front or demands cash-only are red flags. Reputable contractors use standard industry terms.

Our terms are the same for every project, residential and portfolio: 50 percent at contract signing, 50 percent at substantial completion. We don't offer net-30 or extended billing. If that doesn't work for your cash flow on a larger project, we'll walk through Wells Fargo Outdoor Solutions 0 percent financing during the estimate.

4. Permit and HOA handling included, not extra

If your contractor says "you pull the permit" or "HOA's your problem," move on. A competent contractor pulls the permit under their own license and prepares the HOA application package for you.

Every True Fence Florida install includes both. We pull the city or county permit under our license. We prepare a submission-ready HOA package (site plan, spec sheet, drawing, color sample) that you submit to your HOA board.

5. Coverage that matches your portfolio

Your rentals aren't all on the same street. A contractor who only works Cape Coral can't help when a tenant in Naples calls.

We cover the Southwest Florida corridor from Bradenton down to Naples with the same crew and the same standards. If your portfolio spreads from Venice to Marco Island, we're already working that footprint.

6. Warranty that's clear, written, and enforceable

"Lifetime warranty" claims without a written document are worthless. A real warranty is:

In writing
Specific about what's covered and excluded
Time-limited (1 year for workmanship is industry standard; lifetime is usually a manufacturer material warranty, not a contractor labor warranty)
Contains a claim process and a response timeline

Our warranty is 1-year workmanship from substantial completion, plus the full manufacturer material warranty (vinyl lifetime, aluminum multi-decade, composite per supplier).

7. One point of contact, not a call center

Portfolio clients eat calls. You don't have time to explain who you are every time you call.

The Trujillo family runs True Fence Florida directly. You get a direct line. Same person for every property in your portfolio, every call.

8. A track record you can check

Look at Google reviews, BBB, actual portfolio photos. Ask the contractor for references from property-manager clients specifically if that's your use case.

We have 137 five-star Google reviews and our portfolio lives publicly on trusty.app/companies/true-fence.

What you don't need to ask for (because most contractors will refuse)

Custom SLA agreements. Most residential fence contractors don't write custom service-level agreements. What you want instead: a contractor who's reliably same-day responsive as standard practice.

Guaranteed callback rates. Nobody honest will guarantee zero callbacks. What you want: a warranty that actually covers the callbacks that happen, and a response policy that doesn't take 3 weeks to send a crew back.

Ready to try us on one property?

If you're shopping for a SWFL fence contractor for your portfolio, start with one property. We'll handle it like every install: same-day response, written quote, permit + HOA handled, 50/50 payment, 1-year workmanship warranty. See how it goes. Book an estimate on any property in our Southwest Florida service area.

Our full portfolio-client page covers the specifics.

What property managers should look for in a SWFL fence contractor.