Rental properties go through more wear and tear than normal residential properties.
If you're a property investor, maintaining your rental investment is going to be essential in your ability to extract the most out of it. Do it right and you'll find more desirable tenants, tenant retention will go up, and the property will have a greater ROI.
Make errors with rental property maintenance and you'll spend more on repairs and struggle to keep quality tenants around. To properly maintain a property, you need to know what these errors are, so keep reading and we'll tell you the 6 most common errors with rental property maintenance and how to avoid them.
1. Not Doing Regular Property Inspections
One of the hallmarks of rental property management is inspecting your rentals on a regular basis. Anytime you have a new tenant, you should be doing a move-in inspection. When they move out, you should be doing a move-out inspection.
During a move-in inspection, you'll go through the entire rental unit to make note of any existing damage. When the tenant moves out, you'll do the same inspection and take any new damage out of their damage deposit. You can also do intermittent inspections during the tenancy, you just need to give notice.
2. Not Having a Property Maintenance Routine
If you're going to manage expenses at your property, you should have a maintenance routine. Things like HVAC maintenance, gutter cleaning, and mowing the lawn should all be done on a regular basis to ensure you don't have to spend more than you want on major repairs.
Make sure you respond to tenant maintenance requests promptly. The longer you leave maintenance issues, the more expensive they'll be.
3. Not Collecting a Damage Deposit
Almost every state allows you to collect a damage deposit from your tenants. Doing this protects you in the event that they damage the property while deciding not to could end up costing you a lot in repairs.
4. Not Screening Tenants
If you don't do a thorough screening process on new tenants, you're leaving yourself incredibly vulnerable. You should always have potential tenants fill out applications and sign off on background checks.
You need to do this to preserve your investment property. If you allow delinquent tenants into your property, you could end up losing money due to property damage, not to mention having to go through the eviction process.
5. Not Making Essential Rental Property Repairs
When you know that you've got to repair something, whether it's an appliance or a hole in the roof, it's best to just get it over with. Something that might cost a few hundred dollars could easily end up costing a few thousand when it goes ignored.
6. Not Getting Professional Help
Whether you've got one property or a dozen, it can be tricky to stay on top of maintenance. Trying to do it all yourself just isn't feasible and your investments will suffer as a result.
Your best bet is to hire a full-service property manager to handle everything from cleaning rental properties to dealing with large-scale repairs. Doing this allows you to be hands-off with your investment property.
Avoid Errors With Rental Property Maintenance
Avoid these errors with rental property maintenance and your investments will pay huge dividends. The key to keeping property maintenance costs down is giving each of your properties regular attention and dealing with issues as they arise.
If you don't have time to give your property the attention it deserves, you need a property management service. At Aksarben Property Management, we can handle everything from tenant screening and evictions to repairs and grounds maintenance. Contact us to arrange a consultation for your Nebraska rental property today.
