Four Essential Items for a Rental Property Maintenance and Repair Plan

Landlords who are putting together a rental property maintenance and repair plan must include four essential items. Utilizing a plan to maintain North Carolina rental property not only helps protect your real estate investment but can also help you attract and retain high-quality tenants. If you plan to hire a property management company, make sure to ask them how they address rental property maintenance and repair issues.

Rental Property Seasonal Maintenance Plan

The changing seasons present a host of challenges for landlords. Every rental property maintenance and repair plan should include a checklist of preventative maintenance tasks for each season. Taking the time to plan ahead and put that plan into action will prevent costly issues down the road.

Ultimately, tenants should also be involved in the seasonal maintenance plan. They should be responsible for certain preventative maintenance tasks, such as helping to prevent frozen pipes and changing air filters. They can also inform landlords of issues before they turn into significant problems (e.g. debris clogging gutters or a squirrel nest in the chimney).

Professional Service Providers for Maintenance and Repairs

Forming strong professional relationships with high-quality, reliable and licensed service providers is an essential step in making sure that your rental property maintenance and repair plan is going to work properly. Landlords should never cut corners when it comes to protecting their investment properties, and that means working with the area’s best service providers. If the quality of work is not up to par, you will end up paying more in the long run.

If tenant retention is your goal, as it should be, then having a team of reliable, professional service providers will help you accomplish this aim. Service providers should show up as promised and on time. They should also respect the tenant’s privacy and clean up after performing the necessary work. Taking these simple steps will ensure a smooth repair process and help keep your tenants happy.

Conduct Regular Rental Property Inspections

Another essential part of a landlord’s maintenance and repair plan is the rental property inspection. A drive-by inspection of your rental home is not sufficient. Landlords should take the time to actually walk through the property on a regular basis.

What should you look for during a rental property inspection? First, you want to look for visible damage which has not been reported and needs to be addressed. Secondly, keep your eyes open for any safety issues like non-functioning smoke detectors. Finally, while you are on the premises, look for signs of any lease violations such as smoking in the rental home.

System for Tenant Maintenance and Repair Requests

Every maintenance and repair plan must include an efficient and convenient system for tenants to report problems and make maintenance requests. In today’s modern, always-connected world, landlords should offer an online tenant portal that can be accessed 24/7. Once a maintenance request is submitted by the tenant, a notice should be automatically sent to the landlord or property manager.

In the case of emergencies, tenants should understand which emergencies require an immediate call to 911. They should also have a way to report emergencies 24/7, to you or your property management company. An efficient system for maintenance requests will speed up the repair process and improve the tenant retention rate.

A rental property maintenance and repair plan is vital to your success as a rental real estate investor. Without a plan in place, landlords are only inviting costly issues which will cause headaches and eat away at your bottom line. Want to find out how Red Door Company works to protect your rental properties in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill? Contact us today to learn how we can save you time and money, protect your real estate investment and grow your bottom line.