Landlords with multiple units: how do you keep routine maintenance from slipping?

Question

I self-manage a small portfolio and the hardest part of preventative maintenance hasn’t been remembering what to do — it’s coordinating people.

Specifically:

• Vendors operate on schedules, tenants operate on availability
• Routine servicing (filters, HVAC, inspections) easily slips when no one “owns” the coordination
• Vendor info, service dates, and unit details end up scattered
• Calendars exist, but they don’t reflect what’s actually happening at the unit level

Vendors operate on schedules, tenants operate on availability

Routine servicing (filters, HVAC, inspections) easily slips when no one “owns” the coordination

Vendor info, service dates, and unit details end up scattered

Calendars exist, but they don’t reflect what’s actually happening at the unit level

I ended up building a tool for myself that centralizes:

• Properties and units
• Vendors and the services they provide
• Equipment tied to each unit
• A shared maintenance calendar that reflects routine servicing, not just repairs

Properties and units

Vendors and the services they provide

Equipment tied to each unit

A shared maintenance calendar that reflects routine servicing, not just repairs

It’s essentially finished, and before rolling it out further I’m looking for a few landlords who already care about preventative maintenance to pressure-test the workflow:

• Does this actually reduce back-and-forth?
• What would you not track this way?
• Where does coordination still break down?

Does this actually reduce back-and-forth?

What would you not track this way?

Where does coordination still break down?

If anyone here actively manages vendors and routine servicing and is open to blunt feedback testing, I’m happy to share access privately.

Sean Anderson · Answer

Hi Tom,

Couldn't agree more. I didn't necessarily need to build my own, and I probably could've dived a bit deeper into current products to find the right fit, but I doubt I'd find what would work best for me. I only have two properties and plan on adding a third, but I wanted to build something that caters to smaller landlords and portfolios.

But even with two properties i have a termite bond, septic warranty, lawn maintenance, someone who sprays my lawn, pest control, a maintenance person to swap filters and check drains, etc. I don't trust tenants to do it on their own and all my stuff is brand new.

To echo what you said i hated all the back and forth and scattered contacts. I dont need a payment tracker i needed a vendor, tasks, calendar, organization tool that links to tenants and properties. I just published my app/saas at

Tom Rofe · Answer

This is one of those things that gets way messier as you scale up. With a couple units I could keep it all in my head, but once I hit 5+ it became a nightmare trying to remember which HVAC got serviced when, or which plumber was the good one for that specific property.

Honestly what's helped me most is just being more proactive about it - setting calendar reminders way ahead of time so I'm not scrambling last minute. The vendor info problem is real though, I used to have contacts scattered across texts, emails, random notes... total mess.

Curious about the tool you built - what made you decide to build your own vs using something off the shelf? Always interested to see how other landlords are solving this stuff.