Maintaining your Richmond rental property takes some budgeting, some excellent vendor relationships, and a commitment to keeping your investment in clean, pristine, and updated condition.
It also takes a lot of time.
Maintenance and upkeep affects your property condition, your rental value, and your ability to retain residents. The number one reason tenants give for leaving a rental property is that they are dissatisfied with how their maintenance services are handled.
You need to prioritize the way you handle repairs and replacements and even cleaning and landscaping. If you’re not investing time and resources into your maintenance plan, you’re missing an opportunity to improve and protect the value and the condition of your investment. You’re also chasing away really good residents and inviting extra vacancy and turnover costs.
When you partner with our talented Richmond property management team, you’ll notice we take care of every rental property we manage as if it was our own investment. We pay attention to detail. We prioritize preventative maintenance, we make sure we’re responsive to tenant requests, and we stay one step ahead of the next emergency.
We save you time and money.
Here are some of our best tips on how to maintain your investment property and keep it pristine.
Schedule Regular and Preventative Maintenance Checks
We are attentive to the daily concerns and issues that your tenants have when they’re residing in your property, and if you’re managing your own rental property, you need to be constantly available to your tenants in case something goes wrong. It’s important that you not only respond to the repair issues that they request, but also that you keep a close eye on your rental home to anticipate any potential problems and address them right away.
This preventative and proactive approach does a few important things for you:
It protects your property value.
It reduces the chance of expensive and disruptive emergency maintenance.
It gets out ahead of deferred and unreported maintenance.
It contributes to tenant retention and reduces expensive turnovers and vacancies.
Whether there’s a plumbing problem or a leaky roof, property maintenance can be demanding, and it can also be challenging if the initial problem isn’t something that’s easy to see or diagnose. That pool of water under the sink isn’t a sink problem; it’s a problem with your pipes and/or drains. If the maintenance issues are not addressed promptly, they can get more complicated and potentially result in costly repairs.
To prevent unexpected repairs that can end up costing you a lot of money, it's critical that you create a schedule for regular maintenance inspections and preventative care. During these service visits, you can ensure that the most well-used and expensive systems and functions in your property are working the way you expect them to. These types of check-ups will prevent expensive emergencies and extend the lifespan of things like HVAC systems, appliances, and plumbing fixtures.
Scheduling these checks on an annual or bi-annual basis is an effective maintenance strategy that can help you identify potential issues before they escalate into severe issues. Having your HVAC system inspected before the winter, for example, will ensure that the heat is not a problem for your tenants when the temperatures plummet. Cleaning out the gutters before the potential for tropical rains will help you have peace of mind that water won’t get into the property.
Preventative maintenance keeps your investment in pristine condition and ensures that you aren’t chasing after those surprise repairs. It also keeps your tenants satisfied with where they’re living.
Partner with Your Richmond Tenants on Maintenance
Effective maintenance benefits from a partnership between you and your residents. As the property owner, you’re responsible for maintaining the home, but your tenants are actually living at the property, and they’re going to be the first to know when something is broken or malfunctioning.
You’ll want to reinforce with your residents the importance of reporting maintenance issues as soon as the problem is noticed. You don’t want to deal with any deferred or unreported maintenance; those repairs will always be more complicated and more expensive to handle.
Establish a process for your residents to efficiently and easily report maintenance. Emergencies must be reported right away, and you’ll want your tenants to call you as soon as it’s safe to do so. This will allow you to mitigate any further damage and get an immediate start on the repairs.
For routine repairs that are still important to address but not necessary at fire-or-flood level, we recommend that you ask for those requests to be made in writing. If tenants can put the request in writing, you’ll have a documented list of the work that needs to be done. You’ll be able to establish when the request came in and what you did about it. Invite your tenants to include photos and detailed descriptions when they are sharing whatever the issue happens to be.
Establish Relationships with Vendors and Service Providers
The right plumbers, electricians, roofers, pest control people, and HVAC techs will make a huge difference in the success of your maintenance plans. Put together a preferred list of professionals who can help you with different types of maintenance, whether we’re talking about those preventative services or the upgrades and updates you’ll need to make during turnover periods.
The value of having relationships in place with vendors is that you can count on them when you need them. If there’s an emergency, they’ll be responsive. You won’t find yourself reaching out to a plumber for the first time when you have a water heater leaking all over your second-floor condo in the middle of the night. Good relationships inspire quick action and better pricing.
Working with a Richmond property management partner can be especially beneficial when it comes to vendor relationships. We have excellent relationships in place, and we’re able to negotiate discounted rates because of the volume of work we provide our vendors.
That property management partnership will help you save money and ensure that your property gets the attention it needs.
Update and Upgrade Your Rental Property Regularly
Keep your Richmond rental properties pristine by updating and upgrading on a regular basis. This is especially important when you’re between tenants; the turnover period is an ideal time to make the improvements that will matter when you’re trying to attract a new resident. Investing in updates and cost-effective renovations will enhance the property's appeal and increase its rental value.
The types of improvements you’ll want to make will depend on your property. We recommend you pay attention to:
Fresh paint
Updated flooring, particularly hard surface flooring, which is very popular now
Aesthetic elements such as tile backsplashes and fixtures in the kitchens and bathrooms
Energy-efficient lighting
Updated landscaping
Leverage the curb appeal of your Richmond rental property when you’re making improvements. This will get the attention of prospective residents and allow you to keep the entire image of your property attractive and pristine.
Retaining Tenants with High-Quality Maintenance Service
Customer service is the best way to retain tenants and save money. To provide exceptional customer service, you need to provide a great rental experience, and that includes responsive maintenance. Addressing maintenance challenges not only requires great maintenance policies, good vendor relationships, and careful systems that address even complex issues - it also requires top-notch customer service skills.
We make sure your tenants’ needs and queries are addressed promptly. This is in service to our desire to retain your tenants. We know that when residents are happy, they stay longer, which reduces vacancy rates and ensures a steady income stream for San Francisco rental property owners.
By remaining attentive and proactive to maintenance concerns, you will give tenants an excellent reason to stay in place and renew their lease agreements. This means less vacancy and turnover for you, more consistent cash flow, and higher ROI.
Make sure you’re investing in maintenance and if you do not have the time or the resources, reach out to a Richmond property manager who does.
There are a number of challenges that rental property owners face when it comes to maintaining properties. However, with preventative maintenance services, relationships with contractors and vendors, up-to-date knowledge on updates and upgrades, it’s possible to address those challenges effectively.
Managing your rental property in Richmond requires more than simply creating a lease agreement and collecting rent each month. You need to pay attention to the property’s condition. Effective maintenance strategies that include regular maintenance checks, prompt repair requests, professional cleaning, and frequent updates are critical in ensuring that your property remains functional, safe, and attractive to tenants.
As a real estate investor, taking steps to maintain your property can help you avoid costly repairs, increase your profit margins, and ultimately set you up for success in Richmond's growing rental market.
Contact us at PMI Presidential if you need any help. We provide high-quality customer service to tenants, ensuring they have a comfortable and pristine home to live in. This approach is crucial for both landlords who own the property and tenants who live in them.
