Keeping your rental property well-maintained is an important part of protecting its condition and value. This is an excellent reason to work with a property management company; we can take care of everything from landscaping to plumbing. We can handle carpentry, drywall, and roofing. Whether it’s preventative maintenance or improvements and renovations, we’re the best resource for finding high-quality and reliable vendors, keeping costs to budget, and ensuring that your property remains in excellent condition now and in the future.
If you’re managing on your own, staying on schedule and giving your property the attention that it needs can be a challenge. You get busy. Your vendors aren’t available. Prices go up. It’s easy to let things slip, and that deferred maintenance is dangerous and expensive.
To help you avoid those potential pitfalls, we would like to share some of the comprehensive maintenance offerings that are provided by Maryland Property Management. We have learned that when you prioritize the routine maintenance and the preventative services at your investment property, you keep emergency repairs to a minimum.
Landscaping: Working to Preserve Curb Appeal
Whether you’re renting out a single-family home in an HOA neighborhood, a condo, or a duplex, we know that landscaping is important. Whether it’s a large lawn or a small courtyard, your outdoor space needs to be preserved because when it looks good, that leads to curb appeal, and curb appeal is the all-important first impression you’re making on potential tenants.
Curb appeal counts.
We contract with landscaping companies and snow removal service providers to ensure your lawn looks good. It’s important that your outdoor space, patios, pools, and balconies are also in great condition. They should be safe, attractive, and updated from time to time to reflect the best safety standards and maintenance precautions.
We will put together an outdoor maintenance plan that includes:
- Lawns that are consistently mowed and watered
- Exterior lighting that’s both functional and aesthetic. We want it to provide security and give the property a nice glow.
- Windows and doors that lock
- Handrails that are in good shape.
- Plants, flowers, and shrubs are weeded, trimmed, and watered regularly.
We keep an eye on the exterior paint and recommend power washing when it’s necessary.
Sometimes tenants will express an interest in taking care of the lawn. We can work with that, but we always prefer to have that taken care of professionally so your home continues to look good and grow in value.
Roofs, Sprinklers, and Gutters: Maryland Property Management
While we’re talking about your outdoor space, let’s talk about the sprinklers or irrigation system you may have in your yard as well as the gutters and the roof. These maintenance items will be especially important in the winter. You know what Maryland winters can feel like.
Partner with Maryland Property Management, and you’ll enjoy year-round maintenance of those sprinklers and gutters. The roof will be inspected annually. We’ll look for signs of water intrusion, missing shingles, and other potential problems.
We will have our landscapers maintain your sprinklers by blowing them out before freezing temperatures arrive. They’ll take the hose off your hose bib and drain the pipes so excess water won’t cause problems in your draining system.
Cleaning out the gutters at your property is done seasonally. You don’t want any debris to clog those gutters and attract pests or push water into the property.
Repairing and Replacing Appliances
To repair or replace. That is usually the question when we’re talking about appliances in your rental property.
Our opinion is often that upgrading your appliances is a great way to attract better tenants, retain your current tenants, and increase your rental value. You don’t have to splurge on stainless steel; just make sure they match. Appliance upkeep is a good part of your preventative maintenance plan. We’re always watching the performance of your dishwasher, fridge, washer, dryer, and stove. We know when a replacement makes more sense than a repair. Energy efficient appliances are going to perform better than the older models, and you’ll have fewer repair calls from tenants.
Maintaining Rental Property Floors and Walls
Part of any good preventative maintenance plan is keeping floors and walls in excellent condition. These are quite literally the structures that keep your property standing.
We always recommend that owners invest in quality. When we’re choosing paint, carpet, or hard surface flooring materials, we want to be budget-conscious, but we don’t want to go cheap. When we do that, you’ll be paying to re-do things almost every year.
As an example – we always pay attention to paint quality. There’s a lot of repainting that’s needed over the years, especially if you have more than one property and especially during tenant turnovers. Investing in paint that’s going to stand up to tenants, pets, and weather is more cost-effective. We look for durable and reliable paint and wall coverings. No one wants to move into a home with wood paneling in the living room or peeling wallpaper in a bathroom.
Flooring is also an important part of maintaining an investment property. We generally prefer and recommend hard surface floors, because it helps us to maintain them over the years. Tenants prefer them, too. Laminate, tile, and even hardwoods are good investments. It saves you money because you don’t have to clean and replace carpet every time one tenant moves out and another moves in.
Preventative HVAC Maintenance
We will always prioritize the care and upkeep of your HVAC system and here’s why: Replacing the furnace is expensive. Repairing a cooling system is also expensive. These emergency repairs cost more than maintaining the HVAC system from year to year with an annual inspection and service contract.
When you work with us, we’ll have an HVAC tech conduct annual inspections and provide ongoing service to keep your system running efficiently and correctly. You’ll find yourself responding to fewer maintenance requests around heating in the winter and cooling in the summer.
Well-maintained HVAC systems operate more efficiently. And, when we can put together an annual contract for you with an HVAC company, you can usually expect discounts when something breaks or needs attention outside of their routine visits. You’ll have that relationship in place already, which will help if there is an emergency at your rental home that needs attention.
Working with Tenants: Routine Air Filter Changes
Since we’re on the topic of that very expensive HVAC system, let’s talk about air filters. To keep your HVAC system running effectively and efficiently, you’ll need to have the air filters changed regularly. Depending on the age of your system and its type, this may be a monthly task or something that you need your tenants to do every two or three months.
We ask tenants to change the air filters on a regular basis, and part of our onboarding process is making sure that they understand this responsibility.
Avoiding the Problems that Leaks Can Cause
One of our priorities is always staying on top of plumbing situations. A slow leak may seem minor, but if it’s ignored for too long, you can find it quickly becomes a plumbing disaster. We conduct routine plumbing inspections every time we’re in the property; checking under sinks and caulking toilets and tubs.
It’s important to take a preventative approach when we’re working with pipes and plumbing. Most of the professional plumbers we work with recommend draining hot water heaters every year or two, so we do it. This will prevent rust and sediment exposure, which deteriorates the tank faster.
Investing in Relationships with Licensed and Insured Vendors and Contractors
We are able to provide these comprehensive maintenance services to our owners and landlords because we have spent a lot of time nurturing relationships with outstanding vendors and contractors throughout Maryland. We understand that a good team of vendors will help us maintain every part of your property – from those appliances to that carpentry to the landscaping.
If you are managing your property on your own, create a list of licensed and insured vendors and contractors who are committed to caring for your investment property. If there’s an emergency in the middle of the night, you don’t want to be looking for a plumber. You want to have someone reliable and responsive who will answer your call.
Listen to the advice and recommendations these professionals provide. They’ll often have great ideas on how to keep costs down.
We know that maintenance is expensive, and we know that a lot of rental property owners don’t do a great job of keeping up with it. That’s why you hire a professional property management company. Whether you need some help with preventative maintenance plans or you want to do some renovations and upgrades during a turnover period, we can help you manage every detail.
Leverage our resources, experience, and maintenance knowledge. Contact us at Maryland Property Management. And remember – all of the information we’ve provided here is our general maintenance advice. If you’d like some customized advice based on your specific rental home, we’re happy to provide that, too.
