Being a landlord is all about managing your maintenance costs for best rental returns while providing an attractive place for tenants to stay.

HOW MUCH SHOULD A LANDLORD SPEND ON MAINTENANCE COSTS FOR PROPERTY

When we look at our costs many of us make the mistake of underestimating our maintenance costs. While most tenants will keep your property in good repair, most tenants will also be a little harder than you would be on the property. This is not because they are being difficult or do not care and its generally an unconscious set of actions.

While the average cost of maintaining a property in the United Kingdom is 1% to 4% a year. As a Landlord your costs for your rental properties are likely to come in at the top end of the range or even slightly more. Managing maintenance costs as a landlord is an important part of making sure your rental returns are optimal. There are some things that you can do to keep your costs at the lower end.

 

 

As people we all hold less value for what we are not responsible for. Now general fair wear and tear is normally for your account as the landlord. If it’s for your account as a property owner then, when your lock gets a bit stiff, or your tap a bit tight you consider how to deal with it. You deal with it before there is a bigger problem.

But when it’s not yours you tend to plan to tell the landlord but in the day to day of life it often slips your mind.

So how as landlords can we mitigate damages and when we must do a repair and make sure it is done correctly the first time.  

INCOMING AND OUTGOING INSPECTIONS

The first step to keeping your maintenance costs under control as a landlord is considering how you will deal with them. If you incorporate a clause in the contract or in a separate maintenance process this makes the tenant aware of how to deal with maintenance. This way all parties are aware of the process and the tenant is aware that you take this seriously and will repair it when needed.

Secondly when the tenant moves in you must create and keep an accurate record of the condition. We cannot stress this enough its very important. In most countries this is also a legal obligation for you to do so. As a tenant you should always insist this is done and make sure that you have a copy of this record. Using property management software can help the property manager in this regard. 

But often how you keep this record is usually not prescribed. The Eyime inspection application allows you to build a custom template, create an inspection and keep a photographic record. When the tenant moves out the outgoing inspection is easily compared to the incoming inspection.

LANDLORDS MAINTENANCE DURING THE TENANCY

The third part of the process is ensuring that during the tenancy the property is kept in good condition. This has several advantages, its easy then to re rent without having a whole list of things to sort. This can be problematic when you are busy sourcing a new tenant. A well-kept property will often encourage tenants to renew their lease saving you the cost and time of finding a new tenant.

 

 

KEEP A RECORD OF MAINTENANCE COSTS AND WHAT JOBS HAVE BEEN DONE

Managing maintenance costs as a landlord is about control. Control that a property management app or property management software can help you with. For repairs that are needed, we use the Eyime Maintenance Tickets. With a few clicks you can set up a maintenance ticket, complete the description and if required add photos. One more click it is on its way to the service provider. There is no need for you to keep the tenant informed. The plumber, electrician etc. is placed onto the message chain for that property and tenancy. The tenant can see you have actioned the maintenance item. This is all done for you by Eyime. In addition, access can be arranged by the service provider directly with the tenant. While you are able to monitor progress. This saves us a lot of time and provides a written record of all progress.

ENSURE THAT COMPLETED JOBS ARE WELL DONE

On completion, the service provider marks the job complete, you are notified, and the tenant is asked if the repair is satisfactory. All without you having to make a call or send a message. The service provider is automatically removed from the message chain on job completion.  All without the manager or landlord having to do anything.. Later, if there are issues you can easily search all your maintenance tickets and see which service provider attended it and even who from their team was there.

Having better communication and a record of what happens has reduced missed calls outs and improved service levels. Saving costs and providing a quicker turnaround time.

SMALL JOBS KEEP COSTS AT BAY KEEPS MAINTENANCE COSTS LOWER

For general maintenance, often very small jobs where you have multiples dwellings in a building. Group these by finding out what needs to be done. This way you save on individual call out fees. There are two ways you can deal with this. Either using the Eyime inspection system by asking the tenant to perform a remote interim inspection which is useful for bigger items and enable you to ask for pictures of the current state of the property.

For small items such as leaking taps etc. there is a the broadcast message application. If for instance a plumber is coming for a broken tap, you can send a broadcast message to all the tenants in that building. Ask if they have any leaking taps, that can be attended to at the same time. This means you have one call out fee. In addition there is less likelihood that later there is a broken tap caused by some unattended issue. Having proper rental property communication in place helps with setting this up. 

It is recommended that you have a clause in the lease where the tenants must report minor items. This way you can ensure that small items are attended to before they become major items. If the tenant leaves issues to create a bigger issue, then the responsibility falls onto the tenant to cover that cost. This works best when regular interim inspections are done.

COMMUNICATION IS THE KEY TO MANAGING MAINTENANCE COSTS

Managing maintenance costs as a landlord is about communication. By linking the service provider and tenant on the message chain when there is a maintenance item. The number of complaints about service providers turning up at properties without proper notices has been reduced. In addition the landlord and property manager see that tenants are abiding by their obligation to allow reasonable access.

Having better rental property communication, better control and an easy way to see what repairs and maintenance tickets have been done on a property has saved time, saved money and provided tenants with a better rental relationship.

At Eyime we are a cloud based property management software solution, our focus is on providing everyone in the rental process with tools for a better outcome.

 

 

Managing maintenance costs as a landlord is important to achieve the best rental returns while providing an attractive place for tenants to stay. With a clear contract, regular inspections and conducting routine maintenance we can keep costs contained and keep the property as an attractive place for people to live. Use a property management app to achieve the best results. 

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DISCLAIMER

Landlord’s Resources consist of information distilled from many landlords and many years of managing rental properties. It is not meant to replace legal advice and may not pertain directly to your situation and is intended to be used as a general source of information and thought on issues.  We do not take any responsibility for the information, and you should not rely on this as your single source of information. 

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