Property management in Coeur d’Alene has a plethora of challenges and obstacles along your journey to being a successful landlord. Let not maintenance problems be one of those obstacles. With a little planning and some smart decisions, taking good care of your property won’t require significant extra effort and drain you money to constantly upkeep. Instead, it will just take some new habits and a few changes to the way you are already doing things. Here are 4 ways Real Property Management Coeur d’Alene can keep maintenance costs low and tenant satisfaction high.
1. Budget. Budget. Budget.
The worst thing you can do as an investment property owner is to be caught unprepared for an emergency or maintenance request. Set aside some money every month for inevitable issues so that when something does come up, you will be prepared. Additionally, by using those fund to pay for repairs and maintenance, you can keep your costs low by keeping payments like this off an interest accruing credit card. As a rule of thumb it is advised that one sets aside 1% of the property value per month. For example if you have a property valued at $197,000 then a monthly maintenance savings should be $197 per month.
2. Know your Law and Order
Sending someone to fix a problem at one of your properties sounds easy. However, there are some repairs that require a licensed professional with credentials. Having a repairs done by an unlicensed professional can be against some federal or state laws. Furthermore, most maintenance repairs require documentation of the communication between the landlord and tenant in order to avoid lawsuits. Be sure you know the rules and regulations before you dive into anything!
3. Answer the phone
When your tenant calls, pick up the phone – no matter when it is. Having an open communication with your tenant allows the tenants to freedom to communicate with you at the onset of a problem, and if you respond promptly to your maintenance requests, you’ll have happy tenants. Even better, you’ll have the opportunity to take care of any problem before they become larger issues. That means a well-kept property that will attract quality tenants for years to come.
4. Get ready for a show
When you switch tenants, it’s a good idea to do a more in depth inspection so that you can fix any problems that could be stopped from turning into expensive maintenance repairs. That means light fixtures need to be switched out, along with filters, a detailed clean—carpets, windows, etc.—as well as maintenance on all of the utilities and HVAC. Regular turnover maintenance can go a long way in making sure your home is in the best possible condition.
Those are our tips to assist in keeping your property management costs low.
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