Website Marketing Club

Property Maintenance Help For Landlords

Oct 29, 2009 Business Management

You have worked hard and over time amassed several rental properties. The first few years things seemed to go fine and you handled each maintenance call as it came. Now, it seems that you are getting more and more calls for property maintenance. You got into this business for retirement income and now you are working full time in property maintenance. Is there a solution?

Of course, there is. It does not involve constantly paying money to plumber and electricians to take care of your properties. Instead, you can hire one person and allow that person to be your property maintenance worker. It could well be that you already have a skilled repairperson living in one of your units that would gladly trade his skills for free or reduced rent. If he saves you two to four service calls per month, he has earned his rent.

Before hiring someone, make sure that he or she has the experience to handle the many demanding tasks that are associated with property management. You will need to know if they are qualified to do electrical work or if there are other limitations. You also want to hire a person that has experience in the area of expertise where you most often need help.

It is important that the person you hire for property maintenance lives close enough to your property that they can respond in an acceptable amount of time. For example, if a toilet is plugged, tenants are not going to be happy with a four to five hour response time. If you find someone that would be perfect for the job but lives far away, consider providing them housing at reduced or free rent charges.

The actual workload that you expect will determine if you want to hire someone part or full time or offer free or just reduced rent. If you only have a few small rental properties, you may not need someone full time. If you have more than one medium to large apartment complexes, you may need more than just one person.

All workers that are hired must be ethical. You cannot afford the reputation that you will gain if workers steal from tenants when doing repair. You also cannot afford a maintenance worker that will rob you of materials for other jobs. Be sure that you run a thorough reference check before hiring any employee.

Be sure that the maintenance worker can keep up with the demand of your properties. The number of properties that you have and the amount of repair work that must be done should be taken into consideration when you hire the applicant.

The amount you are paying for a property maintenance person should not be more than you would be able to hire specialists to do the required work. If it is, then you are paying too much for property maintenance. If you have very few properties, then you may need to consider only part time help.

The maintenance worker can give you freedom to have your life back. If you get a good worker, then you can depend on him to meet the needs of tenants in an efficient and economical manner. This will mean that you will be able once again to enjoy those retirement years.

If you own your property, you will obviously know that property maintenance is not the easiest thing in the world, especially if you own more than one. This is why most landlords seek out professional commercial cleaning to help them keep their investments up to scratch and looking good.

Tags: Business Management, commercial cleaning, commercial property, commercial real estate, income property, multifamily, property maintenance