Complete Guide for Property Maintenance

Written by: Eric Davis

Maintenance is a significant part of running a successful rental business. As a property manager, you must keep your rental property as pristine as possible. One of the ways to grow your rental company is to ensure that your repair expenses are held to the minimum. You can avoid major repairs if you have a good maintenance schedule. A well-maintained property will also give your tenants better living conditions, promoting a better tenant-landlord relationship.

In short, maintaining your property is one of the keys to making your rental business a success.

The picture shows a house and tools that are used in maintenance.

There are many more reasons why it’s important to have a great property maintenance system in place. The most obvious is minimizing the risk of accidents caused by a damaged or ill-repaired house to you, your staff, and your renters.

Here are the added benefits of owning a well-maintained property:

Increased property value: A well-maintained property can retain or grow its value. Every little damage or unrepaired part of your property lowers the value of your home, and sometimes it adds up that the value of the building is almost zero. Many first-time homebuyers think a house will continue to increase in value regardless of its condition. That is not true; there are cases where a building has a negative value while the land it is situated on frequently increases its market price. How would you feel about buying a poorly prepared property that would cost you more to fix than to build a new structure? This scenario can easily be avoided if you continuously maintain or even improve the condition of your house by having a set maintenance schedule.

Happy tenants: Poor maintenance of the property, the buildings, and the furniture/appliances can lead to unhappy tenants. This scenario may cause them to violate the conditions of your lease. Plan on how you will address the areas where the tenants are the least satisfied and remember that even though the upgrades will cost you some money now, they will more than compensate for themselves later with happy customers and longer-lasting leases. Find out what your tenants feel before investing a lot of time in something you think is important but that your tenants may not find to be that important.

Reduce major repair work: Most major property damage starts with small, insignificant, untreated problems. A small electrical problem can turn into a short circuit in your house that requires a new wiring system. A loose pipe connection can burst your plumbing which could cause water damage to your property or peeling paint which may cause mold growth. A watchful eye and a good maintenance calendar can cut off all potential problems before they even start.

Since a well-maintained property has a good market value, you can directly benefit by getting a better rent. When you satisfy tenants’ needs, you also benefit from lesser turnover and decreased risk of being penalized for neglecting to uphold the terms of the lease.

The Best Method for Offering Top-Notch Property Maintenance Services

Maintenance services must incorporate the following:

List regular maintenance tasks that you can perform monthly, seasonal, or annual, like this coming winter. You must ensure that your HVAC is properly maintained, or the roof is free of debris before it snows. Regular maintenance can increase the life of expensive equipment like boilers, and you can also avoid urgent repairs in the middle of winter that will cost more. As a property manager, you or your staff might also spot maintenance issues that require immediate attention, such as ice on pathways. To maintain your property’s security and your tenants’ satisfaction, you need a way to communicate, handle, and monitor maintenance issues.

This photo shows that a property manager must have a To Do list for maintenance.

Your business has nothing to lose if you periodically check your rental. Property managers can also gain a lot since they can prove their value to their employers and improve their rapport with tenants by giving both renters and owners the rewards of excellent care.
This strategy will only work if a property manager can interact with customers and vendors, manage work orders, set aside money for projects and supplies, and keep up with his schedule. It’s important to ensure that all maintenance requests are taken care of regardless of size. However, a good property manager must always know which request needs urgent attention so they can focus on the most important task that they need to complete. That is why we need to:

Respond to Tenant Requests

Tenants are free to call at any time with routine or urgent maintenance requests. Examples could range from something simple like replacing light bulbs to urgent issues with leaking or clogged plumbing. You might receive bids via email, phone, or text; some requests will undoubtedly occur outside regular business hours.

If you can, let them know that you would like to assist. Make it known that you are aware of the circumstances of the request. Don’t guarantee you will take care of things before considering the request. Inform the tenant that you are aware of his needs and that you’ll try your best to be of assistance. They can be requesting too much of you in terms of your time or your money.
You don’t want the tenant to rely on you for too much if anything at all. Never mislead your tenant or even apologize for something you didn’t do wrong. Your tenant may end up believing that your services are somehow deficient due to this. Inform them if any laws, rules, or policies relating to health care prevent you from carrying out their request. Tenants won’t argue with you if you make them aware of the legal obligations and safety precautions you must maintain.
A maintenance management system is necessary to guarantee tenants’ satisfaction by providing a convenient means of communication. Additionally, tenants require reassurance that someone is listening to them and resolving their issues. Some property managers find that taking care of phone calls to report and inquire about issues takes more time than just doing the repairs themselves.
The best property maintenance software enables renters to submit requests and monitor their progress online. According to recent surveys, clients desire to serve themselves more and more. Dealing with maintenance issues is easier and much more convenient for your renters when self-serve options are available. If your hands are tied and you cannot provide them the service that they want, you must:

Offer an alternative.
Never outright refuse a specific request from one of your renters. Before you shut them down, try to devise a better solution. Consider a scenario where the tenant’s desire conflicts with the landlord’s regulations. Informing the resident of the owner’s policies and arrangements can help him understand why his request cannot be granted. If the tenant still begs you to think again, take it up with the homeowner or landowner and ask him if an alternative can be made for the tenant or, at least, if they can accommodate the tenant’s request. Giving the resident a choice will show him that the property manager values his business. Once you start your maintenance project, you have to:

Get your personnel ready to handle special requests.
An alert property manager knows that they may handle special client requests and must prepare for them because they provide unique challenges. Suppose some of those request conflicts with the rules outlined in the rental agreement; devise a standard response. Using the uniform response, you can avoid having different staff members offer inconsistent responses to inquiring tenants, which might lead to confusion.

Do not forget that you are in business here. Therefore, maintain your composure and avoid engaging in conflict with the tenant. Train your personnel to handle these demanding circumstances without faltering or cracking.

Plan ahead.
You need to create a schedule and stick to it. Regular maintenance tasks like clearing leaves off the roof in the fall or changing the HVAC filters every few months are a couple of examples. Someone must oversee work orders to ensure these routine chores have been completed on time to maintain the property, keep costly systems operational, guarantee nothing slips through the cracks, and lower the possibility of forgetting something.
Without maintenance tracking software, the property manager can spend time following up with tenants and owners and occasionally talking with them. Thankfully, there are now a lot of apps that deal with tenant inquiries which might also offer calendar functions that let property managers schedule tasks using a calendar.
Applications for scheduling property maintenance will ensure that important dates aren’t missed. Even automatic messages to interested parties are possible.

Manage and Track Expenses
Of course, property managers also must make sure that bills and contractors are paid. The only way to ensure that you can get the cooperation of your vendors and suppliers in an emergency is if they trust you. Those vendors are also running a business, so you have to respect their time and ensure that you fulfill your obligation to them. That being said, ensure that you are getting the best prices with the best quality of work to avoid overpaying and losing money because of unrealistic charges from your vendor or contractor.

Enhancing and Simplifying Property Maintenance
Payments, accepting tenant requests, and scheduling your work are some things you need to take care of to ensure a good maintenance schedule. You can perform all of these tasks manually without using any apps. However, such physical labor consistently consumes time and leaves room for mistakes.
Be kind to yourself and look for a program that automatically performs those tasks for you. There is no justification for you spending time and resources on something that can be completed automatically.
If you’ve managed rental properties before, you are aware of the labor-intensive nature of the job. Providing property maintenance services is just one of many duties associated with property management. That is why you need to maximize your time and not waste any other resources if you can avoid it. Not only your time you can also save money and increase efficiency if you have the right tools to help you perform your job.

Do your research to ensure that you get the correct program or app to help you perform your job optimally. The only requirement that you need is your ability to maximize the use of those apps. Never choose an app that is not user-friendly, you may understand how to use it, but you need to consider your tenants and homeowners in your decision.

The picture shows a house that is being renovated.

By using the correct program, you can:
• Improve your tenant-property manager relationship. Your tenants will appreciate how simple self-serve care requests and tracking are.
• Easily finish your job without even leaving your office.
• How to Provide the Best Services for Property Maintenance
• For owners and investors, maintenance, and remodeling options assist in maintaining property value and lower risks.
• Why Tenant care services keep tenants’ content, allow for rent optimization, lower turnover, and hopefully draw in better tenants.

As soon as you can work more efficiently, everybody involved gains. DPM representatives understand the power of commitment. At our core, we strive to convey reliability and trust to our owners, tenants, and vendors. We are committed to the tasks at hand and consistently go above and beyond what is required in a professional and approachable manner. Call us now at 425-658-7471 or send us an email at info@davispropertymanagement.com.
For more information, please watch the video below: