Sunday, September 24, 2017

3 Property Maintenance Pointers for Landlords



There are many aspects to managing a rental property and a lot of organisation needs to be done in order to ensure things run smoothly from start to finish. Whether it’s screening tenants, finding suitable landlord insurance and getting your property in good condition as per your legal obligations, this can be a process that takes time and effort. This is particularly the case for older properties, where there may be the need for repairs and in many cases ongoing maintenance. In this post, we’ve compiled a few helpful maintenance tips that you should keep in mind.



Establish a Good Relationship with Your Tenant



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Honest communication between yourself and the tenant is one of the most important things when it comes to ensuring a healthy ongoing relationship. It is always important as far as ensuring that you are up-to-date with the status of your property. If they notice or cause, or think that something is in need of repair, you need to know.


A smart tenant will let you know, as it is in their best interests to do so, but there are that may simply not know what to look for. You can provide basic information to your tenant to ensure they have a general idea of when you need to be contacted and most importantly, what they need to do in order to keep the home in good shape and running for longer. Often, first-time renters may not be aware of these things and it’s up to you to educate them.


Regular Inspections



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While they can be inconvenient for some tenants, you have a right to inspect the property at regular intervals. The frequency and notice that needs to be given for this inspection should be stipulated in the tenancy agreement and can vary on a case to case basis. Regular inspections are one of the best ways to check for damage, potential corrosion, leaking, etc. that may be harder to spot for the tenant and thus they may not even be aware of it. As well as thoroughly inspecting the property after a tenant moves out and before a tenant moves out, inspections are also very necessary and can help you deal with repairs more quickly.



Factor Repairs into Your Financial Considerations


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While this won’t necessarily help you maintain the wellbeing of your property, this is no less important. There is a tendency for less experienced landlords to underestimate how much repairs in the future can factor into over profit, so make sure you don’t overlook this. It can be instrumental in determining your profitability in the long run and can help you make more informed decisions. Another very important consideration is to avoid putting off repairs that are pending. Nine times out of ten, this ends up costing you more money as it may well worsen and require more work in order to be properly repaired. This is exactly why you need to budget for these repairs that may be required in the future. When you’re prepared and aren’t caught by surprise, you’re more likely to deal with the issue quickly rather than having to get the money together or simply putting it off.


This article has mentioned a few property maintenance tips that can help make your job easier as a landlord. Keep them in mind going forward and you’ll be a lot better off. If you need to discuss your landlord insurance policy or you’re looking for more general, feel free to give the team at SGUA a call today for a discussion about landlord insurance policy. Keep an eye on our blog for more helpful maintenance tips in the near future.