The Importance of Maintenance on Your Rental Property
One of the top reasons why tenants renew a lease is because maintenance is handled as a top priority. One of the reasons why tenants do not renew a tease is because maintenance issues aren’t addressed or left outstanding.
As an investor with rental property, you want to consider maintenance to be the utmost important. This is not only important to keep your tenants happy but it is important to maintain your property value.
There are two types of maintenance to consider
Tenant Repairs
There is always going to be natural wear and tear on a property. The key is to identify what repairs your tenants should be charged for. As the landlord, you should consider what your tenants should be charged for. If your tenant breaks a window or is consistently clogging your drains, you could consider charging your tenant. When creating a lease agreement for a new tenant, you can consider including this information. If your tenants are clear from the get go what they are responsible for, the likelihood of them taking better care of your property is higher. Make sure you are being fair and reasonable when considering charging your tenants.
Preventative Maintenance
Mid year lease inspections are always advised. This is a great way to find out what repairs might have been missed. At this time, you can also identify any preventative maintenance to avoid larger problems down the road. Your tenants might have been too busy to mention small repairs that during this inspection, they can address in the moment. Delayed maintenance on issues can wind up costing a lot more money as the condition gets worse if not properly handled over several months.
Having the Right People is Key
As a landlord, you want to make sure that you have a reliable handy man, maintenance team or property manager to handle maintenance issues on your property quickly and efficiently. You might think that handling issues yourself here and there is sufficient, but you want to make sure that the maintenance performed on your property is being done by an expert. Hiring an expert will ensure that all repairs are long lasting and not just a temporary fix. The last thing you want is a repair to go wrong which leaves your property damaged and your tenant requesting you put them up in a hotel.