Take Care of the Essentials: Useful Property Maintenance Tips

There’s a lot of behind the scenes work to being a property manager. Whether you do it yourself, have help from property managers like Luigi Liscio, Alto Properties CEO, or you hire contractors, one of your main goals is keeping your property safe and in good condition for your tenants.

Every property owner should be ready for the time their rental needs something fixed or replaced.  Air conditioners don’t always work properly, the roof may spring a leak, or the toilet in Unit 101 won’t stop running. Whatever the case, the best way to go about avoiding or limiting costs incurred by maintenance problems is by staying on top of needed property upkeep and maintenance.

Here are some easy ways to approach maintaining your rental property so that it can stay functional and invite tenants in for the long haul.

Schedule regular checkups:

When it comes to maintenance on major items like your properties’ HVAC system, put the time and money into caring for it.  Furthermore, schedule yearly checkups and be proactive about replacing parts and systems as they age.  Likewise, have your properties’ roof examined for any leaks or problems with missing shingles. Your primary focus should be preventing any major issues from happening in the first place. No matter if you’re involved personally in the day-to-day maintenance of the rental, such as Alto Properties’ Luigi Liscio, you should always remain vigilant to protect your investment.

Document everything:

Prior to welcoming a new tenant into your property, make sure you go over the space with a fine-tooth comb. Then, have them fill out a document about the condition of the apartment or home. You can do this easily by creating a move-in/move out checklist. Ask them to take pictures of anything that you may have missed. Also, when a new tenant moves in, be sure to let them know what condition you expect the property to be in shall they leave. 

Create a schedule:

Again, it is important to catch problems before they occur.  Another thing you can do as a property manager or landlord is create a maintenance schedule.  For instance, perhaps every spring you schedule a pest control service to come to your property to spray the perimeter for insects.  Or, maybe in early fall you have it on the schedule to hire a furnace repair company to service your heating units.  As the owner, you should also examine the property every few months to look at all areas of the home. Nothing lasts forever, so plan ahead to fix the items when needed.

Standardize everything:

If you own multiple buildings, then it is probably best to keep things like paint, hardware and appliances standardized across the board.  This way, when something needs replacing, you don’t have to remember which apartment had which paint color, and so on.

Make it a home:

Every time a new tenant moves in, you should consider using that opportunity to renovate and modernize the unit.  This shows your new tenant that you are willing to go above and beyond and that you care and want the tenant/landlord relationship to be a positive experience.

As a landlord, if you’re on top of your game, when an unforeseen event does occur, you’ll be ready to take action.