Maintaining Investment Property
Maintaining Investment Property, Investors Repairs
Maintenance Fix Maintain Tenants Property Maintenance Cash Flow
Hazard Deferring Negatively Resale Value Sell Property
Many investors take a "wait and see" approach
to repairs and maintenance. Wait until it breaks and then
see if there is any possible way not to fix it or maintain
it.
There are a couple of reasons for this attitude--some
investors feel that tenants may well undo any maintenance
that is done to the property. Others simply defer maintenance
in order not to affect their cash flow. Some simply can not
find the time to get the repairs and maintenance done.
The hazard with this type of thinking is that by deferring
maintenance (or worse, needed repairs), you will negatively
affect your resale value. If you want or need to sell
the property, you will either have to dump money into it to
make it salable, or take a lower selling price. Obviously,
both will cost you money.
Maintaining Investment Property: Impacting the Value
If you plan on continuing to rent
the property, houses that need maintenance and repairs will
rent for less money than those that are in good shape. You
can further negatively impact your financial situation if
neighbors follow your lead and ignore maintenance on their
homes, bringing down the quality of the neighborhood and home
values with it. Have you seen neighborhoods where the majority
of homes need roofs or the exteriors repainted? It didn't
just happen that way. The mindset is pretty simple: why beautify
our house when the ones next door and across the street look
like pig pens? The general look and feel of the neighborhood
suffers, and both values and desirability suffer with it.
In addition, landlords that ignore maintenance and repair
issues always seem to be turning their properties over to
new tenants. The reason why is obvious. With houses owned
by landlords who do maintain their property available, where
do you think the tenant will choose to live (usually at a
higher rent)?
Maintaining Investment Property: Minimizing Vacancy
Having to re-rent the property causes problems
of its own, as there is always the possibility that the house
will sit vacant for a period (costing the landlord money)
and the chance that the move-in and move-out may do damage
to walls (when furniture is moved) and yards (when trucks
pull right up to the front door).
Make a schedule for maintenance
Whether you have one investment property
or 50, a coordinated maintenance program almost always will
end up saving you money (and usually time). The small amounts
you will pay out for things like minor roof repairs or window
caulking shrink in comparison to the cost of re-roofing a
house or replacing 15 windows because the caulking had deteriorated.
The only way you have to know when such items need attention
is if you draw up a maintenance schedule and stick to it on
a regular basis. Your tenants will love you, your rental neighborhood
neighbors will love you, and you will love yourself when it
comes time to sell the property.
Know who to call
Most landlords have had the following
happen to them at some point in their investment history:
It's 10:00 PM on a Sunday night, and a frazzled tenant with
no hot water calls you. You tell the tenant you will arrange
for a plumber the first thing Monday morning....if only
you could find the name and phone number of the plumber!
You can avoid such hassles by taking a few minutes to draw
up a sheet of "who to call" and keeping it in a readily
accessible place. You may also want to make a similar sheet
for your tenants so they know who to contact--with your
approval--if they have a problem.
Need expert help buying, selling
or building a home in the Indianapolis area? Planning to
relocate to Indy? For assistance from Indianapolis' premier
Realtor, simply submit the form below, or if you
prefer, call Kristie Smith at 317-805-7360 (toll free 800-360-5733), or
send an email to Kristie.
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