Spring Property Maintenance Checklist

Spring of 2023 is not far off! Maintenance staff are readying themselves for their spring schedule of fixes and repairs to keep assets in top condition.

Owners feel good when their properties look good, serve tenants well and their property values are protected. Spring is a special part of your complete property inspection routine.

Good maintenance is a definite value add for property owners and helps you avoid losses and lower future workloads.   Respect for the maintenance team and their contractor fees is due.

Aside from your inspections and handling surprise repairs, have you allocated enough funds for the costs of any repairs from materials to maintenance work? Hopefully, you’ll have the budget and competent maintenance contractors to keep your property portfolio in good condition.

Request a Demo of ManageCasa – make your inspections via mobile device!

Going Digital Keeps You on Top of Expenses and Logistics

Just a quick word about digital property management.  If your maintenance services world is still all paper and telephones, then it’s likely inspection and maintenance might have some gaps.

Finding issues, controlling them, and anticipating maintenance and repair requirements ahead of time can easily save you tens of thousands of dollars in staff time, materials, and infrastructure fixes. Inspections create the data you must have.

Your Roll Call of Maintenance Expenses

• inflation on material costs
• higher parts costs for obsolete appliances, HVACs
• small roof repairs
• staff/contractor shortages/delays
• appliances nearing end of service life
• appearance — trim, painting, windows, driveway, landscaping looking shabby
• cleaning as spring churn rate rises
• hazards — broken sidewalks from freeze/thaw changes
• doors, stairs, railings,
• broken, seizing windows that are not energy efficient

Read up on further tips on maintenance management.

Spring Maintenance and ROI

Those winter winds are heavy and wickedly cold, easily cracking and breaking even modern building materials.

Winter winds tear away roofing materials.

Need more tips on building operations, conducting inspections, and avoiding landlord mistakes?.

Exterior Inspection Tips

Inspect the Roofing. High winds can loosen up shingles allowing rain or insects to get at the underlying wood sheathing. Animals like squirrels and raccoons and even birds can take advantage of missing shingles especially if there’s rot underneath. Termites, bees, and carpenter ants like these opportunities.

Deteriorating shingles lead to damage in the entire roof structure.

Yards are small and many tenants can’t see their roofs from their backyard. Time for the landlord to go up on a ladder and inspect as closely as possible, from shingles all the way to the top.

Check the Gutters: The roof eavestrough gets clogged by ice, leaves, dirt and more during the late fall and winter. The overflow or leaks can damage your siding and foundation. The weight of ice and snow can create breaks in the gutter and gaps where critters might get in.

Check for Wood Rot: If you haven’t checked your wooden deck, siding, trim, porches in a while, there may be some rot to take care of. It invites insects and weakens foundation posts which will be expensive to replace.

Pruning Trees and Vegetation: Bushes and trees overhanging your house or townhouse can damage your home. Look for plants/weeds that are only going to cause trouble.

Walls and Siding

Bugs and critters usually get into your home during the fall season and will still be there come springtime. They can chew and claw wood and wiring and generate extensive damage, and you’ll have to pull down or cut through drywall to get at them and their damage. That’s big bucks.

Sidewalks and Driveways: Cracks in the driveway or sidewalks can lead to soil erosion underneath. What happens after the spring thaw is particularly important. The tenant might not notice what’s happening or what to look for.

Windows and Sills: Do you have issues with moisture? Windows and sills might have been cracked during the winter allowing moisture into the window unit itself or around the frame where mold and mildew can create extensive damage. Mold intervention in windows or damp rooms can be very expensive to remediate.

Interior Checks

Mechanical Items: Checking your furnace after a lengthy winter is just plain wise. Plugged filters, small barely noticeable leaks, sump pumps no longer working, and A/C units not working right might require replacing them. Don’t forget to turn units on and listen close for unusual sounds.

Lawn Maintenance: Tenants are often required to do their own lawn care, however many don’t even if you provide the lawnmower and garden tools. They may need a gentle reminder in person.  Without care and attention, weeds, grubs, and pests soon move in. Without regular care, the lawn starts to look bad. Future prospective tenants notice and will cross your property off their list or expect a discount on the rent.

There’s nothing too complicated about property maintenance and spring checks. They’re a vital part of managing rental properties.

The gist of spring maintenance checks is to spot things before they cost you big money. Any property manager knows the biggest expenses are better off delayed — but delayed from regular maintenance, not from neglecting them.

Using the ManageCasa property management solution, you can encourage tenants to mention issues at the home now at springtime. If they don’t, the might think the issue was their fault and believe they should hide the matter.

Try the ManageCasa Online Property Management portal now. See how a simple, online-based property management tool can help you manage and store documents conveniently, communicate with tenants optimally, and help you report with ease to your owners.

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Property Maintenance Tips

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