Maintenance is an essential part of managing a rental property. Regularly performing maintenance can save landlords a lot of money in the long run, but it also comes with expenses. Luckily, there are a few ways you can keep rental property costs low without sacrificing quality.
How to Minimize Rental Property Maintenance Costs
As the popular saying goes, “You have to spend money to make money.” This mantra also applies to rental property management. While renting out a property is a great way to earn income, you also need to spend money on things like advertising, screening, and maintenance.
Truthfully, advertising and screening costs are negotiable expenses. But, maintenance costs are something no landlord can avoid. In fact, according to the law, landlords must provide their tenants with a habitable home or else face liability.
Sometimes, though, rental property expenses can be expensive. And it is this very idea that scares away a lot of owners from renting out their property. Fortunately, there are a number of tips you can utilize to minimize rental property maintenance costs.
1. Conduct Regular Property Inspections
Many landlords make the mistake of neglecting their rental property. They go on for days, months, and years without performing inspections.
But, regular property inspections alone can already help you minimize costs. By examining the condition of your unit, you can identify minor issues and prevent them from snowballing.
Make sure to prepare a rental property maintenance checklist so that you won’t miss any items. Even seemingly inconsequential items or equipment can cost you tons of money in repairs.
2. Practice Preventive Maintenance
Preventive maintenance goes hand-in-hand with regular inspections. Make a habit of conducting preventive maintenance when you examine the condition of your rental property.
Test out your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, check that the locks are working well, see if your HVAC system is functioning properly, and look for any leaks or water damage anywhere. This also applies to your landscaping and roof. See if your gutters need cleaning or if any trees require pruning. Clear debris from the lawn or any open spaces.
Remember that preventive maintenance can save you from rental property repair and extend the lifespan of your assets. Performing this regularly can significantly reduce your expenses in the long term.
3. Aim to Save Energy
If you want to conserve water and save energy, make sure to invest in energy-efficient products. Even simple things like energy-efficient showerheads, toilets, and lighting can have an impact on your wallet. There are also many appliances that use significantly less power compared to others. If you want to save money on heating, consider insulating the property.
4. Budget for Future Expenses
Far too many landlords fixate on the now. And while it is important to consider your current expenses, you should also account for future costs. Your assets depreciate and will eventually need major repairs or replacements. When that time comes, you want to be ready.
5. Screen Tenants Thoroughly
All landlords know that there are good and bad tenants. Good tenants pay their rent on time and take care of the unit, while bad tenants do the exact opposite.
You naturally want to avoid renting out your property to a bad tenant. And a surefire way to weed out the bad tenants from the good is to conduct a proper screening.
Tenant screening is an integral part of your landlord duties, but many choose to skip over this step. If you want to end up with a quality tenant, make sure to perform comprehensive checks on their background and history. Ask for references and call up their previous landlords personally. This will give you an idea of how the tenant behaves and whether or not they have damaged properties in the past.
6. Take Maintenance Requests Seriously
When a tenant submits a maintenance request, make sure to act on it as soon as you can. If they are complaining about something, it would do you good to check it out and perform maintenance at once. This way, you can prevent the issue from worsening and save yourself thousands of dollars in repairs.
7. Plan for Inventory
If you do some of the maintenance work yourself, you obviously need supplies. Make sure to keep your inventory adequately stocked. You might even want to buy items in bulk since that usually means you get a discount. This is a good approach when it comes to items you most frequently use. After all, you don’t want to delay any maintenance or repair work and risk aggravating the problem just because you ran out of supplies.
8. Improve Workflow
If you have your own rental property maintenance personnel, optimizing workflow is imperative. Make sure you communicate problems in a clear and prompt manner so that your team can resolve them as soon as and as best as they can. There are also several apps that can help you stay on track, save time, and improve productivity.
9. Take Advantage of Software
Rental property maintenance is often tricky to manage because of the bevy of moving parts involved. You have a lot of items and equipment to monitor, a schedule to follow, and several tenants to respond to.
If you want to make rental property maintenance easier, it is a good idea to invest in functional and reliable software. There is a lot of rental property management software that comes with maintenance modules built-in. While it may cost money and take some time to get a handle on, it will surely save you time and money in the long run.
10. Go With Reputable Vendors
Landlords already perform all sorts of duties, so outsourcing to a third party is nothing new. Whether you are hiring a maintenance company or a rental property manager, it is important to properly vet your candidates prior to choosing one.
Reliable vendors accomplish all the tasks required of them in a timely and precise manner. On the other hand, bad vendors will do things haphazardly or delay your requests.
11. Familiarize Yourself With Property Codes
States and local areas have their own property codes that you must follow. Failure to adhere to these codes can result in serious penalties. Make sure to educate yourself on the property codes in your area to avoid consequences. Common violations include the presence of graffiti, improperly parked vehicles, accumulation of snow or debris, poorly maintained greenery, and unsafe structures.
The Right Way to Cut Costs
Rental property maintenance can seem like a tall and expensive order, but it does not have to be that way. As you can see, there are many things you can do to cut back on maintenance costs without compromising quality. All it takes is sufficient effort.
You can lighten your load and save money on maintenance by hiring a property management company. Look for the best one in Florida today using our online directory.
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