Proper maintenance of your property is the key to income in the years to come. An attitude of trying to find the cheap fix now can cause expensive major repairs in the future. The best practices for maintenance requests are given below.
The greater proportion of property management companies in San Diego likely will agree that creating and maintaining strong tenant relationships is almost entirely related to two categories; proper maintenance in addition to responding to requests and scheduling repairs quickly. Believe it or not, if you survey tenants during their tenancy, the rent expense is a lesser issue than maintenance.
Get as much detail from the tenant as possible so that you can troubleshoot the issues before dispatching a repair technician. It is part of San Diego property management companies’ responsibility to judge whether this is a simple handyman repair or if a 3rd party service vendor is required. Many times it is a simple fix that they can walk the tenant through over the phone, although never ask the tenant to touch electrical panels or plumbing fittings and valves of any sort for obvious liability reasons.
In today’s environment, most property management companies in San Diego use online software that provides tenants with a tenant portal where they can submit work order requests, pay rent online, and many other things. Most importantly, tenants can create a detailed description of the necessary repairs and attach a video or photo for visual clarification and diagnosis by the repair technician. Viewing an image prior to going to the property to make the repair allows the technician to purchase the appropriate repair items prior to visiting the property. The tenant portal truly does help the tenant get their problem resolved faster with less expense to the landlord. Apartment property management companies in San Diego rely almost exclusively on this technology for record-keeping and communication advantages.
Tenants will typically accept upcoming tenant charges to be deducted from their security deposit if you disclose the costs upfront, either during the tenancy or at the move-out stage. Rental property management services in San Diego County require dual agency by the Broker. Therefore, it is the duty of the Broker or its Agents to relay upcoming costs for the Landlord and Tenant as accurately as possible. The best Practices for maintenance requests is Cleaning . The largest deduction in many cases and property management companies in San Diego generally will provide an estimate for cleaning prior to move out, or at the move-out inspection.
Part of the rental property management services in the San Diego market entails requiring tenants to make all requests for maintenance in writing. Texts and emails are acceptable and can be copied and pasted into a work order. The most efficient way to process a maintenance request if by having the tenant make a work order in their tenant portal. If you cannot get the request in writing, keep careful notes of the conversation and request, this assures that things do not slip through the cracks. Of greater importance is that it provides greater legal defense for the Landlord and for the property management companies’ benefit.
Apartment property management companies that know the pitfalls of the business will require their vendors and contractors to be licensed and insured. It helps both the tenant and repair technician if you provide your tenants with the contact information for the vendor; Vise versa you ought to give the vendor the contact information for your tenants’. The best practice for property management companies in San Diego is to take no more than 24 hours to schedule a repair. This helps assure that maintenance work does not get relayed which usually perturbs the tenant(s).