If you have given out a property for rent, a large part of your responsibility will be property repairs and maintenance.
As a landlord, you must set aside at least 50% of your annual rental income for unforeseen repairs.
While there are some repair issues that your tenants have to figure out themselves, others are completely your responsibility.
So here is a list of the property repairs that you, as a landlord, must watch out for.
1. Local health and building codes
One of the most important things you must pay attention to is the list of local codes for safety and hygiene.
Before renting your property, you must ensure that your building or house meets all the standard limits for health, hygiene, and local laws.
If you haven’t taken care of this, a tenant might suddenly bring up this topic, and then you’ll be held responsible and might need to take care of everything on short notice.
If your property doesn’t meet the local code standards, be it for health or property laws, you must immediately make necessary changes.
2. Smoke detectors
Every tenant wants to ensure that the smoke detectors in their rented and common spaces are all functional.
After all, properly functional detectors can protect lives by alerting everyone during any fire hazards and breakouts.
So, always make sure that every detector throughout the property is in working condition. But if you’re uncertain, ask a repairman to service them regularly.
However, when you check the corridor smoke detectors, let the tenants know beforehand which place will be under maintenance. Otherwise, they might feel inconvenienced.
Before servicing the tenant’s room smoke detector, give them a heads-up ahead of time. This way, they can make sure someone is available to let the repairman in.
However, it’s pretty tough to mail or text every little announcement if you have lots of tenants. Then it’s better to use some kind of community management solutions to share all updates on repair news, progress, and maintenance status in one go!
3. Mold and pests
No tenant wishes to live in a house with chunks of mold or annoying pests. Here again, the responsibility falls on your shoulders to eliminate all these.
Mostly, molds are formed in areas near water pipe leakages. So, you must also look at the neighboring pipes and drainage systems.
As for pests, make sure that you regularly conduct pest-control measures. Check for common pests like rodents, cockroaches, ants, bedbugs, and fleas, especially near the garbage disposal areas.
4. Water leakages
In some cases, the water leakage problems can be the tenant’s responsibility. But in most situations, you must handle the leakage issues.
Water leakage can occur in many places, like the bathroom or roof. To reduce any unexpected problems, replace the old weather stripping around doors and windows with new ones.
Also, keep an eye out for any visible signs of water damage, such as the walls of a particular room starting to flake or looking soggy. Then, turn off the leakage source and call a plumber for help.
5. Structural integrity
As a landlord, you must also take care of the structural integrity of your rental property. If the house’s interiors are below par, such as paint flaking off or window panes coming loose, then you must get these repairs done ASAP.
It doesn’t matter whether or not you’re renting out your property. However, if the house’s structural integrity is shabby, prospective tenants won’t choose your property!
6. Toilet maintenance
Toilet maintenance is a frequent source of trouble for most landlords. Unfortunately, the fault might lie completely with the tenant in many situations. But even then, you’ll have to see that the toilets are clean and functional.
Sometimes, your previous tenant might leave unsanitary items like menstrual pads, baby diapers, and toilet rolls. You never know who might be inconsiderate. So, always check the washrooms in detail before the next tenant arrives.
You must also get the toilet cleaned enough to sparkle. Finally, if the toilet itself is clogged, ask a plumber to unclog it and repair any pending leakage problems.
Over to you
These are some of the property repairs a landlord must take care of before renting out their property to new tenants. So the next time you rent out your property, make sure the above parameters are all covered!
