Are you ready for winter? If yes, it’s time to prepare before you rent your apartment to new tenants or start fielding maintenance requests from your current tenants. As a landlord or property manager, you have both specific and general responsibilities when it comes to all aspects of your apartment rental properties. These responsibilities are usually detailed in a lease or rental agreement, or they may be more general agreements between you and your tenants to maintain the property regularly. Talking about property maintenance, there are lots of areas and issues to take into consideration. From changing smoke alarm batteries to outside painting and everything in between, the level of maintenance shared by you and your apartment rental tenants is negotiable.
What isn’t debatable is the support expected to not harm or burden your condo leaseholders or cause yourself more expenses over the long haul in replacing or fixing neglected equipment. Below are nine maintenance tips to assist you in starting the apartment maintenance cycle this season:
1. Change the batteries on your smoke detectors.
This issue could save lives. Since our smoke cautions are consistently on, it’s easy to disregard them after some time. That is the reason it’s essential to place in new batteries two times per year; a few landlords and property managers plan this maintenance during the time change in the spring and fall to enable them to recollect. Keep in mind, if the batteries get excessively low, smoke cautions are intended to radiate an uproarious, irritating tweeting sound, which could mean your occupants are reaching you in the night to fix the issue, so it’s smarter to be proactive. At the point when the following snowstorm or warm wave moves around, you’ll be happy you did.
2. Test the heating and air-conditioning before your tenants need them.
If you’re doing some maintenance around your apartments anyway, it’s a good idea to test both the heating and the air-conditioning before your tenants need them. A few seconds of testing the heat and A/C before your tenants need them could save you time and trouble. It’s also a good idea to vacuum and clean the vents and change any filters on these units as well.
3. Conduct roof and gutter checks.
Maintenance on an apartment’s roof and gutters can be dirty but it can also save you more money and trouble over time. Everything from sun exposure to excess moisture or foliage build-up can compromise the lifespan of a roof. Assessing these issues during a roof inspection and maintenance session can help solve these problems well in advance of a massive, costly repair.
4. Perform any necessary pruning, trimming, or other yard work.
Remember that taking care of the lawn, pool area, or other outdoor features by pruning, trimming, and performing other plant maintenance is a preventive maintenance. Following this scheduled maintenance of the landscape helps with insect and pest control, protection of the property, proper plant growth, and safety.
5. Care for the air.
Having a well-kept-up HVAC framework and a fixed envelope in an apartment building can help promote gigantic cost reserve funds just as vitality investment funds over the long haul. Annual heater and air conditioning unit checkups not only offer energy savings but can also increase the lifespan of the units.
Recall that the average lifespan of these units is just twelve years, so keeping up them can assist them with enduring longer. You can help augment this upkeep challenge by performing window and entryway checks to discover and caulk air leaks. Perform a visual examination out of every other place on earth where diverse structure materials meet to discover any leaks. You can likewise hire a certified expert to perform an energy audit, which will reveal air leaks and much more actionable intelligence about your apartment properties.
6. Check exterior lights.
As a homeowner, the exterior lights surrounding your apartment or complex are your responsibility. This challenge is especially important in secured underground parking, in outdoor areas, and storage areas. If you see any lights that needs replacement, don’t hesitate to replace them.
7. Flush the water heater.
Once or twice a year, it’s critical to drain the water heaters in your apartment properties. This is an important step in evacuating the dirt’s that can build up in the units from the municipal water supply entering the property. If too much dirt’s builds up, it can reduce the efficiency of your water heater or even clog the drain vale entirely. Replacing a water heater is very expensive, so if you don’t know how to flush the system, you should hire a professional to help.
8. Check for water damage and leaks.
Always check your apartment properties for water damage and leaks, because the best time to check for leaks is after a heavy rainstorm or on hot and humid days when pipes tend to sweat. You’ll want to check for soft spots on the roofs, ceilings, and walls as well as signs of water damage around windows, showers, and toilets. Water damage may also be noticed under sinks, boilers, and water heaters. It’s important to detect this kind of damage early because ongoing leaks can permanently damage walls, ceilings, and your renters’ possessions. Dangerous mold can also form in these environments, which can be expensive to restore.
It’s advisable to always contact a professional for help.
One plus restoration is available to help!
Contact us today and you’ll be glad you did.
One plus restoration, serving Houston, Katy, Cypress and Sugar Land as well as surrounding areas.
