The main goal as a landlord is to KEEP UNITS OCCUPIED! Am I right? And maintaining good maintenance plays a major role in retaining tenants. Think about it, do you think a tenant is going to want to renew their lease if it takes weeks at a time to address a maintenance issue? Probably not. So it is very important to stay on top of maintenance requests and get to them in a timely fashion. Fixing the problem the first time also keeps your tenants happy. No one wants to have to address the same issue multiple times.
So how do we make sure to effectively and efficiently take care of maintenance requests? That all starts with a good maintenance scheduling plan.
- It is very important to prioritize. Emergency maintenance obviously going to the top of the list. Things like no heat or hot water, a clogged toilet, flooding of the unit and other pressing issues need to be taken care of before anything else, with other issues following.
- Make sure that all requests are being scheduled AS THEY COME IN. Doing so keeps you from falling behind. Once you fall behind, it is hard to play catch up. Resulting in longer maintenance response time and impatient and unhappy tenants.
- Making sure the problem gets properly fixed on the first visit helps keep tenants happy as well. No one wants to have to keep addressing the same issue time and time again.
- It also doesn’t hurt for maintenance to give the unit a good once-over. If there is another issue they think may need to be addressed in the near future, see if there’s anything that can be done to take care of it NOW.
Most tenants have low expectations for maintenance response time and landlords. If you provide great service while they are living in your property, they will be more likely to continue renting from you. Whether you use a Property Manager or self-manage, good maintenance is a MUST when it comes to tenant retention!
