Rental property maintenance is one of the most important responsibilities for any Philadelphia property manager or landlord. This is especially true when you’re renting out a single-family home. You don’t have to worry about maintaining a large building or several common areas like courtyards or pools. However, your tenants are going to expect that the property remains well-maintained. You’ll need to be responsive and thorough.
If you’re managing your own property, make sure you’re prepared to take care of any routine or emergency repairs that may need to be required. If you’re working with a professional property manager, find out how maintenance is managed. You’ll want to know if they have in-house maintenance crews or if they outsource to vendors and contractors they trust.
There are several routine maintenance requirements that every rental home will need, even if it’s new and in excellent condition.
Maintaining the Heating and Cooling System
The HVAC system is one of the most expensive and important systems in your investment home. HVAC stands for Heating, Ventilation, and Cooling. All of these things are essential to the comfort of your tenants and the condition of your property. You don’t want to wait for the entire system to break down. It will be terribly expensive to fix.
Have the HVAC system serviced and inspected every year. Educate your tenants on the importance of changing air filters and reporting maintenance issues, no matter how minor. You don’t want your property to lose heat in the middle of winter or air conditioning in the middle of summer. Philadelphia and the surrounding areas experience all the seasons. You’ll want to be prepared, so keep the system healthy and functioning, and you’ll save money on unexpected repairs and replacements.
Pay Attention to Leaks and Plumbing
Nothing will do more damage to a rental property than water. Even a slow leak under the sink can be catastrophic because if it drips unnoticed for months or even weeks, it can lead to a major flood, which will then lead to rot and mold. You’ll end up with a huge repair bill when you could have taken care of the problem right away, as soon as the leak was noticed.
Inspect the property thoroughly before and after a lease term. Check every sink and look for leaks. Run the water in tubs and flush all the toilets. Run the appliances and make sure there isn’t any evidence of leaking water. Check your irrigation systems regularly and make sure the gutters are cleared of debris and leaves. It’s critical to keep water away from your home.
Appliances and General Repairs
You won’t always have things to fix at your rental property, but you can expect to be called once in a while about a garbage disposal that’s clogged or a toilet that’s running or a stove that doesn’t work. The dryer will break down and the refrigerator will stop keeping food cold. Make sure you have a great list of vendors on file who can respond quickly and reliably. You want to be prepared, because looking for a plumber in the middle of the night after a water heater has burst will not be easy. Establish relationships with vendors, and be prepared for general fixes and repair requests.
We take care of all your maintenance needs, and we have preventative plans in place to save you money and protect the condition of your property. If you’d like to hear more, we hope you’ll contact us.
TCS Management is a full service property management company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, also serving Cherry Hill, NJ, Wilmington, Delaware and the surrounding areas. We focus on single-family and multifamily residential property management of homes, condos, townhomes, and apartment buildings.
