Category Archives: Maintenance
Landlord FAQ
As a landlord, you have probably heard numerous nightmare stories about tenants that have raised concerns as you rent your own property. As you set expectations for your tenants and/or create policies for your property, it is important to understand the lay of the land so-to-speak. Here is a list of common landlord questions we encounter, and the answers that may help you better understand …
Macgyver Is Best Suited For Your TV – Not Your R...
The maintenance cycle of a property never ends. Something always needs repairing or maintaining, and repairs always seem to cost more than one might anticipate; especially if it is being done right. When working with owners, we usually try to give an estimate of what a repair will cost, but we have to add the caveat that we can’t always predict what we will …
Flushing Your Hard-Earned Cash
When we talk to tenants and owners about clogged toilets, images of plungers and buckets come to mind. While your common toilet clog can be unpleasant to varying degrees, what we are focusing on today is the uncommon toilet clog. Toilets and the connected plumbing can become clogged with toilet paper, “flushable” wipes and cleaning products, hygiene items, and all kinds of other things …
dRAT, Halloween Is Over!
Decorating with pumpkins is part of what makes Halloween fun, but it is never as fun to take away decorations as it is to put them out in the first place. You might find that your tenants drag their feet when it comes to post-Halloween cleanup. Besides the eye sore that decaying pumpkins create, it is important to remember that they also draw rats. …
Documenting Damage
A security deposit helps put your mind at ease when it comes to tenant damage, but when it comes time to collect, things can get sticky. If you have ever watched Judge Judy, you have probably seen a landlord and tenant doing battle over whether or not the tenant should be charged for damage to the rental unit. This is why the preparation you …
Maintaining Front Loading Washers
If you provide tenants with washers and dryers – specifically front loading models – it is important to keep in mind that while these units are more efficient, they require more attention than your average top loading models. When walking new tenants through units with these types of washers, it is important to be sure that they understand the role they play in keeping …
Fall Gutter Cleaning
Gutter cleaning is an important part of routine maintenance for most residential properties, but it is a task that occasionally falls into a grey area for rental owners of single family houses. While most homeowners dream of a tenant that takes care of routine property maintenance such as furnace filter changes, landscape watering, weeding, gutter cleaning, and other routine chores of home-dwelling, with the …