Property maintenance is something both the landlord and the tenant are responsible for. Who’s in charge of what usually depends on the way things are outlined in the lease and the extent of the maintenance needed. Most often, tenants are responsible for tasks such as changing light bulbs and keeping the yard trash-free while landlords tackle more complex maintenance such as appliance and roof repair. If you want to be able to attract new tenants at all times, keeping the place well-maintained is a must and you can learn about different types of property rental services for you and your family, on this website: http://www.electricmela.com
Listed below are five effective ways for doing so.
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Improve communication
Maintaining your property becomes much easier when you and your tenants establish lines of communication. That way, they can inform you of every maintenance issue that comes up and you can work together to come up with a plan for dealing with it. You can decide who’s going to be in charge of it and the way you’ll get the job done. For example, you can decide together on a repairman you’re going to call in and who’ll be tasked with paying them. Luckily, with all the smartphones and social media platforms available, communicating with your tenants has never been easier.
Perform inspections
Another smart thing you can do is schedule regular inspections that’ll allow you to make sure nothing needs fixing. Taking a closer look at things such as plumbing and appliances gives you a chance to detect any issues before they turn into a bigger and more expensive issue. Talk to your tenants and agree on a date when you’ll come by and inspect everything together. However, you should expect the unexpected even if everything is routinely checked. Also, try to make a maintenance schedule in order to save time and money in the long run and increase the value of your property.
Use property management software
Technology keeps improving and some of the new solutions out there have been specifically designed to make landlords’ lives much easier. One of the best things you can do is invest in property management software that allows you to store all the information about your rentals on the cloud. That way, you don’t have to worry about losing important info and you can access it no matter where you are. Another benefit is that sending information to your tenants becomes much easier. With that in mind, adding property management software by Rockend into your arsenal makes a lot of sense.
Remember that everything has an expiration date
Even when maintained on a regular basis, things such as appliances, flooring, pipes, and even paint has an expiration date. Therefore, when deciding on the maintenance task you’re going to tackle next, make sure you take into consideration the age and condition of the thing you plan to repair. This, together with the number of times that specific item has been repaired can tell you whether repairing it again makes sense. Sometimes, it may be a better idea to just invest in a new thing and avoid having to repair it again in a few months.
Be prepared
As mentioned above, you never know what can go wrong when it comes to your rentals. From leaky pipes to power outages, there are so many potential problems for you and your tenants to deal with. The worst part of it is that issues like this tend to come up when you’re busy and dealing with them becomes even more difficult. This is why it’s a good idea to be prepared to act on it as quickly as possible. Find local electricians and plumbers you can trust and always keep their number at hand. You can even make sure your tenants have their numbers as well and call them in when you’re not available.
Maintaining a rental property isn’t as easy as it sometimes seems and things get even tougher when you have multiple properties to take care of. However, it’s all about having a plan in place and knowing what to do when something comes up. Keep all the things covered in this post in mind and you can be assured managing recurring property maintenance will become much easier.
