Maintenance. It can be a pain but it is something that you have to account for when it comes up.
Loan officers claim that landlords should account for annual maintenance expenses to be about 1.5x the monthly rent.
If you are someone that owns rental property, you may be just starting to figure out how to account for maintenance expenses. What do you do to maintain your property?
Here are five tips that you can use.
1. Conduct Routine Inspections
The first thing that you can do to maintain your property is to conduct routine inspections. This can help avoid minor issues from becoming bigger problems down the road.
Going this route is a guarantee that nothing will come at you by surprise. You are also operating in a more safe manner which should help you when it comes to managing the building for your tenants.
2. Set Aside Money for Maintenance Expenses
The next thing that you can do to maintain your property is set aside money for maintenance expenses. If you have to, keep it in a separate bank account.
Why should you do this? Because the truth is that maintenance expenses are likely to come up at random. It is hard to predict when something in your building is going to need to be fixed.
The best thing that you can do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best. With that in mind, set aside that money as an emergency fund using the estimated expenses above.
3. Manage Pest Control
One of the biggest problems you may face when it comes to maintaining a rental apartment is pest control. Let's be honest, most people do not want bugs in their homes and they are going to look to the landlord to handle this problem.
While this is not always the fault of the landlord, it is best to give yourself the least exposure possible. There are about three million sightings of rodents in American homes per year, so this is likely to come up for you.
What you can do here is get pest control before someone moves in and if you feel obligated, maybe have regular checkups every few months.
4. Hire Professionals
You may be tempted to save money by fixing minor repairs yourself. However, if you do not know what you are doing, this could potentially cause you more expenses and more headaches.
Hire professionals like landscapers, plumbers, and electricians to help keep your property up to code.
5. Standardize Materials
If you decide to take on repairs yourself, there is one thing that you can do to help yourself if you own multiple buildings that are similar. This is to standardize your materials.
You should buy materials that can work for as many scenarios. This could mean buying the same color of paint, and using the same type of hammer, wrench, screwdriver, and more.
Keep Up With Your Rental Property
These are just five tips that you can use when it comes to the maintenance of your rental property. Hire professionals if you do not know what you are doing, have them do routine inspections, or at least standardize materials to save time and money.
Do you need help with property maintenance? Message us today with your questions.
