Routine and emergency maintenance issues are always going to be something that landlords need to respond to at their rental homes. However, there’s more you can do to
keep your maintenance costs low. To protect the condition of your investment home and keep it well-maintained, you need to implement a strategy of preventative maintenance.
What Does Preventative Maintenance Mean?
When we talk about preventative maintenance, we mean keeping everything in satisfactory operating condition. It means keeping the property safe and habitable for your tenants. We have found that minor repairs and small issues will only become larger, more complicated, and more expensive if they’re left untreated. Preventative maintenance will protect your home and your bottom line. It will also protect your turnover and vacancy rates. When tenants know you care about the property and are responsive to their maintenance needs and requests, they’re more willing to stay and renew their leases year after year.
Preventative Maintenance Example: HVAC Systems
The climate in California City is pretty extreme. With dramatically high temperatures in the summer and winter averages that hover around the freezing mark, your rental property’s heating and cooling system will certainly put in some hard work. This is one of the most expensive systems in your home, so you want to make sure it’s running as efficiently and effectively as it can. Preventative maintenance is critical. Have a technician come out to your property twice a year, between each season, to inspect and clean the HVAC. This will ensure that any problems are detected early. You’ll have the peace of mind that your tenants won’t call to complain about their air conditioning not working in the middle of July. You’ll also know that you won’t have to spend thousands of dollars to replace your system when it’s being inspected regularly.
Schedule Seasonal Maintenance Issues
Cleaning the furnace, inspecting the roof and the gutters, looking for leaks, and winterizing your home should all be part of your seasonal and preventative maintenance plans. Taking care of these things once or twice a year will ensure you don’t suddenly have to make major and expensive repairs. Emergencies are always going to happen; you will need to replace a water heater that explodes in the middle of the night at some point. But, if you are ensuring that your property is looked after by qualified professionals from time to time, you won’t have a large number of those emergencies. You’ll be able to plan for when appliances, systems, and roofs need to be replaced. You can put together a budget to address those maintenance items. Preventative maintenance allows you to be proactive instead of reactive.
Maintenance is one of the most expensive things for property owners to manage when they own a rental home.
Working with professional property managers
can help you mitigate damage and save money. If you’d like to talk more about the importance of preventative maintenance, please
contact us
at JBL & Associates. We’d be happy to tell you how we handle all routine, preventative, and emergency repairs at your property.
