Have a Maintenance Plan.
Have a Maintenance Plan
Not Staying on top of needed maintenance and repairs is one of the most shortsighted and costly mistakes that landlords can make. It is easiest to stay on top when one has a good maintenance plan in place. It is impoirtant to stay on top for a number of reasons.
First, the best tenants will not want to live in badly maintained property. Accordingly, badly maintained units attract less qualified applicants.
Second, if the property is not kept in good repair and the problems are not repaired during a vacancy, the new tenants will start out having a bad experience. Furthermore, the fewer defects for a property when a tenant can have when the tenant moves out.
Third, many types of maintenance items that are not taken care of when initially discovered, or within a short time thereafter, not only become worse as time passes, but can eventually be the cause of other problems that are substantially more costly to correct.
Fourth, without a plan, you have less control over your expenses. Emergency (unplanned) repairs will usually be more costly in terms of money, stress, and tenant dissatisfaction.
Fifth, failure to take care of repairs, particularly those related to health or safety can result in withholding of rent, a government inspection, and/or citations with fines.
Types of Maintenance
We like to divide the tasks that should be part of a maintenance plan into eight categories.
Emergency – This maintenance must be resolved within a very short time in order to minimize harm to individuals or prevent further property damage. In order to minimize the implact of many types of emergencies, it is a good idea to provide tenants with basic information including location of utility shut-off valves and switches, instructions on how to turn off utilities, and when such action might become necessary. Also, since even the best maintained properties can experience unexpected problems, a good idea is to be prepared ahead of time with a list of contractors and tradespersons who can be called to handle maintenance problems during and after regular business hours. The do-it-yourself landlord is best prepared with a ready tool box kept in his vehicle.
Deferred – This is maintenance, which, while not necessary critical, should have been done long ago. A policy of deferred maintenance will likely result in higher cost for labor and materials, including for collateral damage, when work must finally be done as emergency maintenance.
Preventive – Maintenance preformed on a regular schedule, as a result of a regularly scheduled inspection, or noticed during a visit to the unit for other purposes can prevent or minimize costs of emergency repairs or replacements. Preventive maintenance also extends the operating life if the building and its systems and usually saves money in the long run. By having a schedule for inspection and for repair of any items found, the landlord can avoid minor problems becoming major (think expensive) repairs.
Corrective – This is maintenance that gets the property back to good working order when there has been a breakdown or malfunction. Preventive maintenance significantly reduces the need for corrective maintenance.
Custodial – This is routine upkeep of the property. for many single-family properties, routine maintenance responsibilities are transferred to te tenant by the landlord’s lease agreement.
Cosmetic – Unsightly repairs and maintenance are noticed by the type of tenant that you would like to have in your unit. Tenants who don’t care about such “cosmetics” are more likely not to care about how they treat your property. Paying a little more to have drywall properly repaired by someone with adequate ability and other issues of a cosmetic nature will make it maore likely that you will attract good tenants.
Upgrades – Upgrading your property can mean improving the quality of your tenants and your cash flow. Improvements such as new light fixtures, better floor and window coverings, or additional amenities make a property more desirable to the type of tenant you want and may bring significantly higher rents. One example of and upgrade that usually both reduces long term expense and increases rents is replacement of vinyl flooring with ceramic tile flooring.
Renovation or Rehab – Unlike the TV home improvement show where it seems that renovations and rehabs happen quickly and effortlessly, in the real world they can take a long time and involve a great deal of work, particularly if you’re trying to do it yourself while holding down a day job. If one is not careful, they can also cost a lot more than expected. Major work is not always cost effective, partcularly in the short term.
In Summary
The positive benefits of good property maintenance are (1) better tenants who pay their rent on time and take good care of your property, (2) increased tenant satisfaction that can lead to longer tenancies, (3) improved landlord-tenant relations, reducing stress, (4) higher rents, (5) less likelihood of regulatory complaints, (6) less worry about governmental inspections, and (7) reduced vacancy costs.
Tenants who are content with their rental units usually don’t move unless required by external circumstances. One of the ways to keep good tenants is to be diligent in providing good maintenance.