Emergency repairs are expensive, and they’re stressful for both owners and tenants. The best way to avoid these unexpected catastrophes is with a solid and reliable preventative maintenance plan. Your single-family rental home in Albuquerque needs routine inspections, servicing, and maintenance. This will protect you from those emergencies, increase the value of your asset, and contribute to tenant retention.
Deferred maintenance is always more expensive than preventative maintenance, and we’ve got some checklist items today for you to include when you’re thinking about how to maintain your home in a cost-effective manner.
Establish a List of Vendors
You can’t have a good preventative maintenance plan without a great team of vendors. Put together a list of preferred vendors and contractors who know you and your investment property. You’re hoping to avoid those middle-of-the-night emergencies, but if one does occur, you don’t want to be looking for a plumber at 2:00 a.m. You’ll want to have someone reliable and responsive who will answer your call.
Develop working relationships with licensed and insured professionals before you need them, and listen to their advice and recommendations when it comes to caring for your property.
Preventing Plumbing Disasters
Water damage is expensive and difficult to repair. Small leaks are easy to ignore, but they almost always turn into larger leaks that damage floors and walls and require emergency repairs. Eventually, water damage will lead to rot and mold.
Be proactive about preventing them. Anytime you are inspecting your property or taking care of routine maintenance, take a look at the areas under sinks. Check the floors around toilets and tubs to be sure there isn’t any softening. Look for drooping or discolored ceilings and walls. Make sure your tenants understand the urgency of reporting water issues and leaks as soon as possible.
Service your HVAC System
One of the most expensive systems in your rental property is the heating and cooling system. The climate in Albuquerque is hot for a good part of the year, which means our air conditioning works overtime. Your unit needs to be in good shape.
Have your HVAC system inspected and serviced annually. This will ensure it’s working properly, and it will also extend the life of your heating and cooling system. Tenants in single-family homes will appreciate this because it will improve their air quality and keep their energy costs down.
Schedule Seasonal 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 emergency and expensive repairs.
Other seasonal checklist items can include:
- 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 irrigation
Each single-family home will be unique and have its own set of needs. For example, if you have a deck, make sure you’re treating the wood regularly. If there’s a pool, you’ll want to have it cleaned and inspected by a qualified technician.
Preventative maintenance is a major benefit to your rental property, but it takes a lot of time and coordination. You need to pay attention to schedules, work with vendors, and talk to tenants about how to care for the property. An Albuquerque property management company will already have these procedures and plans in place. When you have a property manager taking care of preventative maintenance for you, there’s less for you to worry about.
We know how to make maintenance easier and less expensive. Please contact us at Bruni Karr Rental & Management Agency for more information.
