Taking care of your rental properties can protect your investment, prevent problems from occurring in the future and help you to retain the best possible tenants. A good routine maintenance plan can help you achieve this with the minimum amount of effort, fuss and expense.
Keep on top of pests
Don’t wait for a major rodent or pest infestation to take hold. Instead, make sure that you and your tenants are aware of warning signs and act early to prevent greater problems.
Carry out routine inspections
Many landlords invest in good property inventory software and have a robust checking procedure before tenants move in, but then let things slide once their tenants have moved in. This can be a mistake, allowing problems to go unchecked for unnecessarily long periods of time.
Sometimes, not checking up on what is happening in your property can leave tenants free to cause untold damage to the property listed on the inventory you created, using such software as https://inventorybase.co.uk/. Other times, damage is caused simply because tenants may not notice issues that a property owner might.
During your regular inspections, make sure to inspect the outside of the property and check for issues such as broken windows, water leaks, full gutters and rotting wood. This should allow you to spot issues early and prevent them from becoming major problems. In turn, this should minimise the potential for disruption for your tenants due to repairs and make sure that your rental yields aren’t cut back unnecessarily.
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Hire a gardener
If you want to make sure that the outside areas of your property are well cared for, consider hiring a professional gardener and factoring this into the rent you charge. A well-tended garden can have a range of benefits, from appealing to tenants in the future to deterring intruders.
Secure your property
Protect your property by making it as unappealing as possible to burglars and other criminals. This will not only look after your tenants, but will also make sure that costly damage is not caused. Read more about this at https://www.police.uk/crime-prevention-advice/burglary/.
Check the boiler
Regular safety checks are required by law, but regular boiler maintenance can also keep things ticking over with the minimum expense. Ignoring problems can have serious safety implications, and can also cause you to spend more than you have to.