Good tenants are looking for well-maintained homes, which means you have to pay attention to the condition of your investment – both for your own ROI and to ensure you’re providing the safe, habitable, and attractive rental home that qualified residents are hoping to find.
Emergency repairs are expensive. If you want to avoid them, you need to stay on top of routine repairs and most importantly – preventative maintenance issues.
Preventative maintenance is important for a lot of reasons. It protects the condition of your asset as well as its rental value. It retains tenants.
Even better – it keeps your repair costs down. Simple problems are often easy to fix and inexpensive. The problems that you leave alone for a few weeks or months will only cost you more and become more challenging to fix.
We have a few tips on how to utilize preventative maintenance strategies to keep your repair costs down when you’re renting out a Summerville investment property.
Service your Heating and Cooling Systems Annually
The weather in Summerville is typically pretty pleasant for most of the year, but our summers are hot and humid. You can expect tenants to use air conditioning throughout the summer and even in the spring and fall. You can also expect your tenants to need the heat during the winter. Our seasonal temperatures means that your rental property’s heating and cooling system will be well-used and must be maintained.
The HVAC is one of the most expensive systems in your Summerville rental home, so you want to make sure it’s running as efficiently and effectively as it can. Preventative maintenance is going to help keep your repair costs down.
Have a technician come out to your property annually or twice a year, between each season, to inspect and clean the HVAC. This will ensure that any problems are detected early. You’ll know your tenants are unlikely to complain about their air conditioning not working in the middle of July. It will also increase the life expectancy of your system.
Avoid Water Damage: Be Preventative with Plumbing and Leaks
Always look for leaks. Every preventative maintenance inspection, turnover process, and visit to the property should include a quick check for water.
Plumbing can create major maintenance expenses in rental properties. Inspect your water heater at least once a year and flush the tank. Test the pressure relief valve, and look for any evidence of rust or corrosion. Check for leaks and look at the intake screen.
Pay attention to even minor leaks and look for standing water or lack of drainage. Clean out the gutters seasonally, and make sure they are pointing away from the property so there’s no chance of water getting inside and causing mold. Clear any branches, dirt, leaves, or grass off your roof.
Seasonal Preventative Maintenance Issues
Cleaning the furnace, inspecting the roof and the gutters, looking for leaks, and winterizing your property should all be part of your seasonal and preventative maintenance plans. Taking care of these things once or twice a year will ensure you don’t suddenly have to make major and expensive repairs.
We’ve found that a comprehensive seasonal preventative maintenance checklist items should include:
- Pest control
- Flushing irrigation systems
- Pressure washing the outside of your home
- Conducting safety and habitability checks (smoke detectors, exterior lighting, etc.).
- Cleaning out the gutters.
- Cleaning out the dryer vents.
- Paying attention to landscaping and trimming branches away from the home.
You won’t necessarily do these things every time the weather changes. But, be prepared to inspect the home and find out if they’re needed.
Preventative maintenance allows you to be proactive instead of reactive, and we make it a big part of our Summerville property management plans. If you have any questions or need any help, please contact us at ROG Coastal Property Management.