10 Mistakes to avoid when conducting repairs to investment property

All repair requests should be treated seriously. Requests that may affect the safety of the property should be treated with the utmost urgency.

A home is very similar to a car in that things will go wrong and maintenance must be done to ensure that it runs well.

Use the advice below to handle repair requests made by tenants:

1) Log, take pictures (before and after) and make notes about each repair request received. Be sure to note when the request came in and when it was taken care of. This will be useful if a tenant attempts to take you to court claiming contrary to what happened.

2) If possible, always try to personally investigate before contacting a service provider.

For Example: A new Tenant may complain about the HVAC not working but it could be something as simple as mis-operating the thermostat correctly.

3) Repairs that will cost over $350, get at least 2 quotes. Nothing is wrong with getting your regular handy man to take care of issues but getting quotes ensures that you get the best prices each time.

4) Be sure to address emergency issues quickly and efficiently.

For example: Try to avoid any delay in getting the power turned back on in the home if there is an electrical issue in the heart of the winter. Failure to address safety related issues could have critical consequences

5) Once a repair is made, personally (or have someone) inspect the repair followed by checking in with the tenant to ensure that they were happy with how the issue was resolved and the quality of the work conducted.

This is good for building good rapport with tenants. It shows them that you care about them and value their opinion.

A Happy Tenant means fewer Headaches for a Landlord!

6) When repairs are being conducted, ensure that someone over the age of 18 will be presentduring the repairs. If the vendor arrives and there is a minor present alone, it is wise to have them re-schedule to come back when an adult is present. This relieves liability and avoids many bad scenarios.

7) Have tenants pay a repair deductible each time they request a repair to be made. Tenants hate spending their own money so they will treat things with more care to avoid having to report the repair. Keep in mind the lease must contain this clause in order to enforce it.

8) Keep receipts for all work done. Use the receipts for tax preparation to ensure the maximum allowable deductions are claimed.

9) If a tenant is repeatedly causing damage to the property, seek eviction before the damage escalates. Try to, "cut your losses early."

10) Conduct Property Inspections. We cannot express enough how important it is to conduct inspections. We have found that tenants seldom notify of repairs that are needed until we show up to conduct the inspections.

Our main objective is to make our homeowners/ investors as much money as possible and save them as much as possible when conducting repairs.

At KaZo Property management we embrace the understanding that keeping our tenants happy, makes for easier management and more profits for the property owner. This in turn makes our property owners very content.

Remember that a home needs attention, care and maintenance in order to maximize cash flow and avoid costly/ extensive repairs.

Remember, there is no, "Auto-Pilot" when it come to property management!

Feel Free to contact us with any questions about investing or property management, we are happy to assist!