Maintenance tips for landlords
Maintenance Tips for Landlords
Marketing your rental property can be time-consuming and costly. You need to first attract the attention of tenants in your area, take time to show the property and draw up contracts once a tenancy has been agreed. Achieving a first-class finish in your rental property can help attract the right kind of tenant, and most importantly, keep them. However, as a landlord, you should always be on the lookout for ways to reduce maintenance costs in the future.
Know Your Obligations
It is vital that landlords familiarise themselves with the new Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act in order to ensure that they are operating within the parameters of the law.
Conduct Regular Inspections
Regular inspections not only give you an indication of any areas of the property that require attention before they become a big and costly issue but will also encourage your tenants to take care of the property. Look out for issues such as damp and lack of ventilation.
Keep Records
As a landlord, you are liable for any faults in safety equipment within the property. Therefore, it is prudent to carry out regular inspections and maintenance of fire alarms, smoke detectors, and carbon monoxide detectors. You need to ensure that you keep accurate and up to date records of all inspections and any repairs that have taken place. A record book is vital when it comes to an insurance claim
Always Use Qualified Professionals
Employ the services of high end qualified professionals like urban-propertymaintenance.com to carry out all maintenance work to ensure that this is finished to a good standard. Using one reputable company that specialises in different areas of maintenance work also makes it easier for accounting and overseeing the work than dealing with lots of different tradesmen.
Always Ensure Workings Are Accessible for Repairs
When renovating a bathroom, ensure that cisterns and shower units are not concealed behind walls or tiles but can still be accessed when it comes to repairs. Concealing workings makes any repairs very costly in the future. Also, in the bathroom, it is important to make sure that you examine shower caulking and grout between tiles regularly as any cracks or holes can allow water to leak through and damage the surrounding walls or floor.
Winter-Proof the Property
Ahead of winter, ensure all gutters and downpipes are clear, so water runs away from the property. Confirm there are no loose tiles on the roof and that brickwork and pointing are all in good order. You need to make sure that you have the boiler serviced and the radiators bled, too.
Use a Washable Paint
There is an excellent range of washable paints on the market today that can be great for bathrooms and kitchens as well as high traffic areas such as hallways. Being able to wipe down the walls can save you a lot of money in redecorating.
By following these simple maintenance tasks, you can catch small problems before they become big costly repairs. Remember that the property is also your asset, so you want to protect that while also offering a safe and comfortable living environment for your tenants.
