Prolong The Life of Your Rental Property with Preventative Maintenance

Preventative maintenance is routine maintenance done to your property to preserve your investment. It reduces the risk of unexpected maintenance problems that will cost you money.

A safe estimate for a preventative maintenance budget is 1% of your property value, depending on the age of the building. You should expect to continually put money into preventative maintenance to prolong its life.

There are several preventative actions that will benefit your property and potentially save you cash in the future. Here are the three main areas where you should be proactive with property maintenance.

Water the Foundation

The most expensive property repair (and the easiest to prevent) is shifts in the foundation. When temperatures are high and there’s no rain, soil starts to move away from your building. Once the soil moves, the property can move and cracks will appear throughout the structure.

Not only does it affect the aesthetic, it affects your resale value and it’s expensive to repair.

It’s much simpler to prevent shifts by watering the foundation with a regular hose or putting out a sprinkler when the weather is dry.

Replace HVAC Filters

Replacing the air filters regularly is beneficial for the property owner and the resident. The system performs better when the filters are clean and it makes the air cooler.

If you don’t change the filter it collects dirt that your residents can breath in. Dirt also causes the system to run inefficiently and leads to malfunction. Do yourself and tenants a favor by replacing dirty HVAC filters.

Prepare for Cold Weather

Water is the most destructive thing to happen to a property other than fire. Take measures to prepare the pipes at your property from cold weather. Frozen water can expand and burst pipes which requires extensive repairs, especially when it happens indoors. Prevent damage from cold weather by winterizing your sprinklers, untying hoses, covering spigots and leaving water dripping during snowstorms.

Get Your Residents Involved

Weather is unpredictable, so getting your residents involved is helpful when you need to take preventative measures at the last minute. Stay aware of weather patterns that may be detrimental to your property. If you see that the weather will be below freezing notify your residents to protect the pipes. You can explain the tasks in detail through an email blast and mention their accountability if damage occurs as a result of their negligence.

Originally published on the LEAP Property Management blog.