Maintenance plays a vital role in the landlord's public reputation when offering their properties to potential tenants. When landlords practice quality property maintenance, they increase the marketability of their properties. Accordingly, this must be followed by all landlords.
By practicing quality property maintenance, the landlord understands what to maintain and fix to avoid inconveniences to potential tenants and retain the asset's value. If the property’s maintenance is not practiced effectively, it can cause the property’s value to depreciate.
In this guide, you will be given the most necessary tasks for efficient rental property maintenance:
Tenant Screening
Tenant screening is included here in this guide because the landlord must know that the tenants occupying their unit will take care of it. They do this by checking their rental history, credit scores, occupation, and even criminal history to check whether the tenant is responsible. This is also important due to other tenants’ safety and to lessen the chances of vandalism and property neglect.
Maintenance Clauses
Before offering the lease agreement to the tenant, ensure it has a maintenance clause that instructs tenants to be more careful on the property. They should know they can be liable for damages and should be increasingly proactive in taking care of the property.
In addition, when the property has appliances such as a stove, refrigerator, or air conditioning unit inside, you must include them in the maintenance clause. Make sure they are communicated timelines for rental inspections as well.
Rental Inspections
One of the most important things a landlord must do is preventative maintenance by personally visiting the property or hiring professionals to check if everything is well-kept and functional. If damages occur such as leaky pipes or electrical system damage, the landlord may call for the services of a professional or directly fix damages on the property themselves. This can prevent potential dangers such as fires and even high water bills for the tenant's safety as well as peace of mind for the landlord.
Pest Control
Besides checking the physical aspects, the landlord must also check the property for evidence of pests such as rodents, flies, bed bugs, and termites that may cause damage. These pests increase the risk of spreading disease and weaken the foundations of your property. By hiring pest control services that check and exterminate pests, you can ensure the property is safe from them. This will save the face value of the property, both interior and exterior, and also provide your tenants with security.
Contract Qualified Vendors
Landlords must carefully choose services from repair contractors like plumbers, electricians, carpenters, roofing specialists, and air-conditioning technicians. These contractors should have the right qualifications such as a license to operate, being properly trained, and being able to provide around-the-clock response services.
To look for qualified people, you must check places like their website, social media page, and Yelp for reviews to determine what type of vendors they are and the quality of the service delivered to their previous clients.
Keep All Receipts
The landlord must keep receipts from services rendered by maintenance workers and specialists. This includes the receipts of appliances replaced by tenants due to accidental damages. By doing this, the landlord can audit the expenses for tracking and budgeting.
This also helps the landlord with tax deductions, as maintenance expenses are tax-deductible. Keeping receipts ensures the landlord can claim eligible deductions. Keeping receipts and auditing may also influence the decision of the landlord for better budgeting with future maintenance and unexpected repairs. It can even influence rate adjustments as the landlord can justify rent increases if maintenance costs rise significantly.
Lastly, this serves as evidence for dispute resolution. If there is a misunderstanding between the tenant and the landlord about rising rents, the landlord has evidence supporting the recent rate adjustments.
Invest in Superior Quality
One thing that landlords often overlook is investing in superior quality materials such as electrical circuits, faucets, and roofs. They can be expensive at first but are cheaper in the long term. Better materials save you money by reducing your energy costs and reducing the frequency of needed repairs.
They can even save the tenant's life. By investing in inferior-quality materials, the landlord and tenant may put themselves at risk due to dangers from faulty builds. For example, faulty wirings or substandard circuits can potentially cause house fires.
Always Be Proactive
Communication is the key between the landlord and tenant. It can be done via different mediums such as calls, text, email, and even social media. If there are damages that need fixing, the tenant should be able to communicate quickly with the landlord. The landlord can then enlist the services of a qualified contractor who can solve the issue and leave the landlord and tenant without worries.
Find Maintenance Solutions That Work
Discover how SCUDO transforms property maintenance into a cornerstone of success for landlords. Our comprehensive approach ensures your properties retain their value while enhancing tenant satisfaction. We offer quality repairs at competitive prices, protect your home day and night including weekends and holidays, and provide accurate billing to keep track of your investment. With prompt responses, we safeguard your property and keep your tenants happy. SCUDO fosters strong landlord-tenant relationships through meticulous record-keeping and proactive, engaging communication.
Are you prepared to advance with your property investment? Contact SCUDO right now to find out how we can assist you; don't hesitate!
