7 Tips to Maintaining Your Rental Property

Tips for maintenance on your rental property!  We're going to go over some tips and suggestions for keeping your rentals in great shape and keeping those tenants happy! 

1.  Do NOT do diy repairs.  Unless you are a professional and REALLY do know what you're doing, you are not going to save yourself money by "fixing" anything. 

2.  If it's old and outdated, replace it.  You will spend more money in the long run by repairing instead of simply replacing with newer more efficient products. 

3. Set aside money for maintenance.  There are several ways that you can come up with an estimate.  Here are a few! 

• 50% Rule: total operating costs (repairs, maintenance, taxes, insurance) will equal half of your rental property income. So if your property rents for $1,200/mo, you should expect $600 of that to go to keeping the property up and running.
• 1% Rule: maintenance will cost about one percent of the property value per year. So a property valued at $190,000 should cost $1,900 a year to maintain (or $160 a month).
• Square footage formula: Plan on $1 per square foot for yearly maintenance costs. So a 2,200 foot rental should cost roughly $2,200 a year in maintenance costs.
• 5x rule: maintenance costs will average 1.5 times the monthly rental rate. So if your home rents for $1,200, then you should anticipate spending approximately $1,800 a year in repairs. (www.realpropertymgt.com)

4. Security deposits are not for not to be used as last month's rent. It is to handle the normal wear and tear that happens after a tenant leaves.  If your property has old counters you cannot use that security deposit to replace those counters.  It's to cover serious damage such as holes in the wall, ruined NEW carpet, etc.

5. Keep GOOD records.  Keep track of when things are installed, updates, and their estimated life span.  

6. Inspect!! Plan on yearly to twice a year inspections to make sure you're property is in good shape.  Take photos of the condition and keep them with your records.

7. Make sure you know who you are going to use for repairs.  Don't wait until it happens to start the search.  Have professionals you can build a great relationship with and who will complete repairs quickly and correctly the first time.  Speedy repairs mean less damage.