A critical part of managing rental property is being able to keep on top of and manage maintenance issues from the beginning through to the end of a tenancy. One area that is often missed is leveraging the value of using inspection reports and ensuring your inventory company also notes all maintenance issues and resolutions. Doing this saves valuable resource time for property managers by picking up issues during check-ins/mid-terms and check-outs.
Quick Fire Tips
- Start with a comprehensive inspection. Before you can list maintenance issues, you need to identify them. Ask your inventory company to ensure they capture all maintenance issues when doing the inventory/check-in. Conduct a thorough inspection of the property, taking note of any issues that need to be addressed. Conducting regular inspections of the property is essential for identifying any maintenance issues and ensuring that the property is being well-maintained by the tenants. Regular inspections also help to detect any issues before they become major problems.
- Be specific. When listing maintenance issues in the inventory/check-in, be as specific as possible. Include the location of the issue, the type of problem, and the extent of the damage or necessary repairs.
- Prioritise the issue. List the maintenance issues in order of priority, with the most pressing issues listed first. This will help you and any maintenance personnel to prioritise repairs and maintenance tasks.
- Include photos. Whenever possible, include photos of the maintenance issues in your inventory. This will help to provide a visual reference and give a clearer understanding of the extent of the problem.
- Update regularly. Maintenance issues can change over time, so it's important to update your inventory reports regularly to ensure that it remains current and accurate. This can be done at mid terms and end of tenancy inspections.
- Include any ongoing maintenance. In addition to listing current maintenance issues, it's also important to include any ongoing maintenance tasks that are being performed on the inventory report. This can help to prevent future issues and ensure that the property is well maintained over time.
- Communicate. Lettings agents should maintain clear communication with both the landlord and tenants once they receive any maintenance requirements from the inspection reports. This will ensure issues are fixed satisfactorily in a timely and cost efficient manner.
Some recent issues that we have found in properties that we have identified which were resolved quickly and have elevated the relationship between Agent/Landlord/Tenant have included, blocked gutters, out of date and non working smoke/CO alarms, jammed windows and french doors, trip hazards, leaking shower trays, non working flushes etc etc.
Benefits to Utilising the Inventory to Identify and Fix Issues
What are some of the benefits?
- Improved relationships between all parties
- Property maintained in good order 'forever'.
- On going maintenance avoids big issues, and big costs over time
- Tenant may stay on longer
- Improved rents and yields
At Clear Property Service Company we summarise all maintenance issues as an actions list as an appendix at the end of our reports, this enables property managers to quickly establish issues and resolutions for landlords and tenants. If you want the same level of detail and quality then contact us and we can show you what we do.
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