Maintaining a clean rental property is a key responsibility of a property owner. From cleaning to rental property maintenance, there are many effective ways to achieve this. Doing so will not only make your tenants happier, but you'll also have fewer tasks to finish.
Key Highlights:
- Routine maintenance is essential for preventing costly repairs and property damage, as it helps catch small issues—like leaks or faulty systems—before they escalate into major problems.
- Seasonal maintenance tasks vary by time of year and are important to protect your property’s condition and avoid excessive cleanup from issues like falling debris or weather-related wear.
- Regular property inspections ensure tenant compliance, helping to maintain cleanliness, prevent infestations, and uphold the property’s overall condition.
- Preventative measures, like installing air purifiers, adding doormats, and including lease terms for cleanliness, can reduce long-term maintenance burdens and encourage shared responsibility between landlords and tenants.
- Hiring professionals for property management or deep cleaning can streamline maintenance, improve living conditions, and boost tenant retention, especially for landlords managing multiple tasks or units.
1. Routine Maintenance
It's a landlord's responsibility to ensure that all systems in the rental property are in working order, which includes the plumbing, electrical, and HVAC systems. Even just one system breaking down can lead to costly repairs, and that's not before it leaves a mess.
A burst pipe can cause flooding, and the lack of a water source will prevent landlords and tenants alike from cleaning the rental property. With regular property maintenance, you can identify issues early on before they worsen, effectively reducing your maintenance costs and cleaning tasks.
2. Seasonal Maintenance
A landlord's or property manager's maintenance tasks may vary per season. For instance, the needs of your rental property will differ during the fall season. You should prune your plants to minimize debris such as leaves and branches falling off.
Many landlords and property managers often say that neglecting your property maintenance responsibilities will impact your property value. Still, they rarely mention the cleanup you could potentially face from faulty systems and poor maintenance.
3. Routine Inspections
Regular inspections are a bit different from routine maintenance. The latter is where landlords perform run-of-the-mill tasks, including changing air filters, ensuring there are no broken appliances, checking mechanical systems, and changing smoke detector batteries, among other tasks.
Inspections are conducted to verify whether a tenant's responsibilities are being fulfilled. This includes maintaining the rental unit's cleanliness to prevent mold growth and pest infestations, which can impact other tenants, the property's condition, and the overall cleanliness of the rental property.
4. Preventative Measures
While routine property maintenance can also be considered preventative maintenance, there are other practices you can do to keep your rental property well-maintained.
Adding Two Doormats
The entrance to your rental property should ideally have two doormats: One is a scraper mat to scrape off dirt and debris, while the other is an absorbent mat to soak up moisture from the shoes. It'll make your job easier since your tenants won’t track mud all over the floor.
Installing Air Purifiers
Yes, it will add to your list of rental property maintenance, but having an air purifier will improve air quality by removing pollutants, dust, and even pet dander. You'll save time by not having to dust the interior off more often, and it can help your tenants with allergies during allergy season. Some models can cover at least 500 square feet of space.
Including Lease Agreement Terms
Both you and your tenant can contribute to keeping the rental property clean. They can clean the rental unit their in and you can conduct property maintenance on the premises. You can even include consequences for property damage beyond normal wear and tear.
Tenant Screening
The first step to ensuring that your property remains in good shape is to only rent to tenants who will take care of it. By using comprehensive criteria to screen applicants, you can effectively reduce unexpected issues from arising.
Deep Cleaning Your Property
A thorough cleaning should be part of your quarterly rental property maintenance routine, as it will help eliminate mold, insects, rodents, and other pests that may be harbored in nooks and crevices. Unaddressed maintenance issues like this can intensify. In the worst-case scenario, you can break local laws by failing to provide a rental in habitable condition.
5. Hiring Professionals
Rental property maintenance can be a significant undertaking for just one person. New landlords often hire a professional property manager or cleaning services to handle these tasks for them, and it can be highly beneficial. Property management companies have the needed resources to keep your rental in good repair.
Cleaning services will have the necessary equipment to thoroughly clean your property, including pressure washers, industrial vacuums, and other specialized tools. They can handle rental property maintenance for you at a cost, but in return, you'll reduce your tenant turnover by creating a good living environment.
Why Is This Important?
Your investment property will only generate rental income if you take care of it, which means regular maintenance, nurturing strong relationships with your residents, meticulously screening tenants, collecting rent on time, and more.
Keeping your property clean is just one of the many factors that contribute to a successful business, but it is equally important in retaining the value of your property and promoting tenant satisfaction.
Rental Property Cleaning FAQs
Can I task my tenants to clean the property?
- Yes, as long as it is the space they are living in. If it's a multi-unit rental property, you cannot ask them to clean common or shared areas.
How often should I deep clean my rental property?
- While it might depend on your area and how many tenants you have, the general rule of thumb is to do it quarterly.
What do I do if the previous tenant left a mess?
- You can charge a cleaning fee from their security deposit, or charge them directly. If you are deducting from the security deposit, be sure to provide documentation and an itemized receipt.
Leave Your Landlord Worries Behind
Managing rental properties can be challenging, even for experienced landlords. That’s why many property owners choose to hire property managers to handle their rental business, especially if they have multiple properties.
Companies like Austin Property Management possess the resources and expertise you will ever need for your investment to thrive. Your aim is our aim, and that's to maximize the potential of your rental property.
Call us today, and we can discuss how we can achieve that!
