From collecting rent to making repairs As a property manager you are in the middle of a lot when managing all aspects of your company’s operations. In the case of single-family or multifamily homes, it’s crucial to keep your property in good condition in order to keep the value of your property up, and keep your residents safe and happy.

In this article, we’ll discuss why preventative maintenance for your property is crucial, offer helpful suggestions, and explain how to streamline your processes to ensure a an exceptional customer service.

Why preventative maintenance for your property is crucial

It’s no secret that maintenance is however, keeping on top of it is difficult It’s therefore essential that you have an preventative maintenance plan. Maintenance can be easily neglected if you don’t have plans in place and the results could be costly, and possibly hazardous.

A preventative maintenance plan could aid in reducing the risk of hazards that could be a threat like accidents resulting from falling building materials or fires caused by poorly installed lighting, as well as avoiding expensive issues such as a leaky roof or a burst pipe. Every property manager doesn’t want to be accused of negligence in the courtroom, have to face rising insurance costs, or suffer from bad media coverage and negative reviews. To prevent serious issues it’s important to be on top of maintenance and take preventative steps.

In addition to reducing the chance of injury to property for yourself, your employees customers, employees, and residents having a maintenance management program is an important competitive advantage in keeping and attracting residents.

Here are some more reasons to establish a preventative property maintenance program:

• Property value increases: A well-maintained property can hold its value or even increase in value, while an absence of maintenance can reduce its value in the market and rent costs.

• Residents who are satisfied: The lack of maintenance on the buildings, appliances, and common areas can result in unhappy residents, which can lead in negative feedback, an increase in turnover, and a rise in vacant.

• Cost reduction: An efficient property maintenance plan can to save money by limiting risk, increasing the lifespan of equipment and appliances and allowing your staff to concentrate on delivering higher quality of service.

• Less surprise: You already have plenty of work. With an preventative maintenance program in place, you will be able to prevent unexpected issues with maintenance that could cost your company lots of time and money, and also create stress for your staff and your residents.

Three of the most important areas of a strategy for maintenance

The most important factor to ensuring effective, efficient and effective property management is to have an effective plan in place. If you have a strategy in place or are planning to create one, here are three key areas to concentrate on.

1.) Transparency and communication

Communication is essential to your property management company’s processes, particularly in relation to maintenance. There must be transparent communication channels and transparency to your maintenance workflows just like your homeowners owners, vendors, and residents.

Consistent and clear communication is required throughout the process, from responding quickly on the first request by the renter and updating the status of the repair, to discussing the cost with the owner and coordinating repairs together with the resident and the vendor.

2.) Workflows and task management

Maintenance operations are full of moving parts. It’s crucial that the tasks are carried out in a certain order and that the lag is as low as possible. Utilizing a system that is automated workflows and task control rather than having to manually input information or keep track of processes could aid in keeping tasks in order.

3.) Feedback and follow-up

As well as managing and communicating tasks efficiently In addition, you must be on the lookout for and checking in with the residents to ensure that they’re happy with their experience in maintaining. This shows you care, and could stop someone from posting an unfavourable review due to an unpleasant experience. With the help of feedback from residents, you will also gain important information about your vendor’s performance, and find ways to improve your process.

Strategies to reduce the maintenance of a property after residents leave

If a tenant lived in an apartment for a single year or for a long time and then moved out, they always have the cost of maintenance. Making your units turn as quickly as you can is essential to the bottom line and if you do not know all the details of the required repairs for each unit, or the status of every work order it becomes very difficult to achieve efficiency. To simplify procedures and speed up the process of turning units You should consider implementing technologies that give you greater control and oversight of the unit turning process.

Within Elite Exterior Property Manager to reduce the amount of time that a unit remains empty and to reduce the time a unit is vacant, the unit turn Board organizes and records all of the tasks required to prepare the unit to accommodate a new resident. If a resident provides notice to leave, a unit turns is automatically generated in Elite Exterior which allows your team to start planning it for the next occupant. Every turn board activity can be tracked, and changes are made and accessible from any place, enhancing visibility of the vendor and team as well as lessening the need for personal contact.

The most essential element of turning a unit is the inspection procedure. If you’re determining how much of a security deposit needs to be returned prior to the move-out, or conducting a final check before relisting the unit, it’s essential that the condition of the unit is documented by taking notes and pictures. Recent improvements to Elite Exterior’s inspections tool which includes template inspections, offline functions and integrated work order creation as well as enhanced capabilities for managing photos enable you to conduct inspections on site in Elite Exterior without a internet connection or connectivity to data. When you connect again the notes, photos along with work orders and other statuses will be synced with Elite Exterior which eliminates double-entry and ensuring your workflows run smoothly.

Benefits of the use of an application for property management and maintenance

There was a time when you had to use a pen and paper to note down important information have long passed. It is now possible to keep your maintenance needs organized and in one spot thanks to maintenance software. Problems can arise during the off hours and need to be dealt with immediately for example, slippery snow on walkways or a significant plumbing leak. With the aid of software integrations for maintenance you can cut down on the amount of errors that result caused by manual processes and employ automated systems to gather the information, track and analyze every request.

Elite Exterior Property Manager makes use of artificial intelligence to let your team to spend much less time managing the maintenance request, and deal with any issues efficiently and quickly. By utilizing Elite Exterior’s Smart Maintenance it is possible to efficiently handle the maintenance requests that arrive regardless of time of the day or nightall on the same platform. Smart Maintenance Smart Maintenance service responds to your requests for service on your behalf via either phone or text messages or via the web portal, ensuring your employees and employees with a wonderful experience.

Seasonal Maintenance Checklist

A great way to stay in control and stay on top of the maintenance on your properties is to make an annual maintenance checklist. Here are some tasks you can add to your checklist and categorized according to property type:

Spring

Multifamily Apartments:

• Verify the extent of damage caused by weather to structures caused by wind, snow and rain. Find out if there is major or serious damage that must be repaired immediately.
• Find a professional to examine and clean your home’s Heating and cooling system for HVAC. Clean all air filters in individual units to extend the system’s longevity and improve effectiveness.
• Find a roof expert certified to check the rooftops on your buildings to find any leaks or damages.

Single-Family Homes and Condos:

• Make sure to check the downspouts and gutters to see if there are any obstructions.
• Examine for mildew and mold inside the building and employ thermal cameras, if necessary to find any hot areas between floors and the walls.

Common Areas:

• Improve the landscaping of your home with new plants or flowers.

Summer

Multifamily Apartments:

• Examine plumbing fixtures and systems, and check for damaged sealants and grout that could cause water damage. Examine communal water fountains and bathrooms for public use as well as private installations.
• Air conditioners that service whether central or window AC and be prepared for repairs and replaces.
• Test C02 and smoke alarms, and recharge fire extinguishers in order to ensure your home’s safety.

Single-Family Homes & Condos:

• Clean gutters and windows so that rain can flow freely.
• Repair gaps in doors, windows and walls in order to decrease the number of pests that are prevalent in summer such as cockroaches and ants.

Common Areas:

• Cut the grass frequently keep the landscaping in good condition, and boost the frequency of watering during the summer months that are hotter. Think about mulching your gardens to conserve water as well as beautify your garden.
• Cut trees back to prevent weak or dying branches from causing damage to property during stormy weather.
• Check the outdoor lighting to adjust settings to allow for longer durations of time. Solar lighting is a great energy efficient option that needs little maintenance once it is installed.
• Pressure wash decks, repair patios and decks and scrub common areas to get rid of dust, dirt or dirt.
• Steam clean communal spaces Tile and furniture, flooring made of wood and carpet.

Fall

Multifamily Apartments:

• Replace the HVAC filters and thoroughly examine the unit, then perform routine maintenance to make sure the heater functions well for the winter months.
• Clean trash bins and replace any trash cans or recycling bins which may have suffered damage during the summer months.
• Conduct annual fire drills as well as check for safety together with the residents of your home.

Single-Family Homes & Condos:

• Examine the roofs of every building for obstructions, leaks and wear and wear and.
• Clear the chimney. examine the flue, and check the fire screen and grate to ensure that you are prepared for winter weather.
• Cleanse the downspouts and gutters to get rid of any dirt or other debris.

Common Areas:

• Refresh your container gardens and flower beds with plants that are able to stand up to colder temperatures.
• Get rid of your property’s Dead leaves, dead weeds and branches.
• Turn off the blower and switch off the sprinklers and irrigation systems.

Winter

Multifamily Apartments:

• Repair or replace any malfunctioning HVAC systems to avoid problems as the weather gets warmer.
• Check vacant units frequently to make sure that there isn’t snow getting on the balconies or bursting pipes in bathrooms.
• If your house is equipped with natural gas, make sure you maintain and clean the furnaces.

Single-Family Homes & Condos:

• Clean out the gutters and take care to deal with any issues that may be affecting the roof.
• Examine the batteries in carbon monoxide and smoke detectors.
• Insulate the water pipes around the doors and windows to stop their freezing.

Common Areas:

• Make sure you have salt on hand for driveways and walkways, as well as gasoline for snow blowers.
• Clean the paths of ice and snow and salty surfaces to ensure that residents are secure.
• Correctly winterize your pools, based the location of your pool, which might involve winterizing your pipes or draining the pool completely.
• Keep the trees trimmed and maintained in a timely manner to prevent the possibility of damage in the winter storm.

How do you hire the best maintenance technician

Instead of hiring a contractor each when something needs to be repaired and having to monitor all of your properties, it’s generally more economical to engage a maintenance worker. Employing a person you trust will make your job easier, and save you money, and help ensure that your buildings continue to operate smoothly. Here are some helpful tips to hire the best maintenance technician that won’t break the budget:

Define responsibility

The first step is to create a an exhaustive list of the duties you’d like for your technician in charge of maintenance to manage. A lot of these are general in nature, but it’s essential to take into consideration the specific needs of your property in order to make sure that the technician you select is competent. For example in the event that your property has an old boiler employ someone who has worked using similar systems.

Being as precise as you can regarding the specific responsibilities and issues of managing your properties will help you find the most qualified employee. In addition hiring a technician with specific experience relevant to your specific needs reduces the cost of training and also time.

Advertisement and interview

Once you’ve created an outline of your responsibilities make a job ad and make an interview list of questions you can ask applicants. Advertisements you make available online should be inclusive of any specific requirements for the job so that you don’t have to waste time interviewing candidates who don’t fit the requirements for the position. If you’re recommended to potential candidates by a person you trust Make them aware of the particular difficulties you do not want to omit any step simply because someone has come to you with a referral.

If you’ve got a number of applicants, you should review your entire list of questions during the process of interviewing. Try to make the interview as specific and as practical as is possible by presenting specific scenarios that could be encountered in your properties. The ideal situation is that your maintenance technician is able to handle your properties without asking your approval for every single aspect, therefore making sure they are able to make decisions in the process of interviewing is crucial.

Qualities to be looking for

It is important to choose an individual with the appropriate abilities and expertise to meet the needs of your property and a person who you trust to make logical, well-thought-out choices. The more accountability and autonomy you feel a candidate will manage, the more responsibility can be removed from your hands. This will help you save money, as you’ll not need to pay to hire expensive contractors whenever emergency maintenance problems occur.

Final thoughts

Maintenance is an essential aspect of every property manager’s work. If you put a priority on regular maintenance, you’ll be able to reduce risk, lower expenses, ensure that your residents are content, and improve their value for your property. The use of a property management with mobile tools for maintenance integrated like online maintenance request and work orders will allow you to address issues swiftly and assist you in keeping your property in top condition. For more tips on how you can optimize the efficiency of your maintenance Download our free guide below. https://eliteexteriors.co.nz/services/property-maintenance/