Why Ignoring Rental Home Maintenance Could Cost You More Than Repairs

If something breaks or needs maintenance in your rental home, how soon can you respond? It’s an important question for homeowners, because how you resolve issues is a reflection of your professionalism and commitment to providing a safe and habitable living environment for tenants. 

Handling maintenance requests efficiently impacts homeowners in a number of ways, including:

• Tenant satisfaction: Happy residents stay longer and reduce vacancies
• Legal obligations: Insecure, unhealthy, or unsafe properties puts you at risk of legal liability and action 
• Property preservation: Identifying issues can prevent costly headaches down the track and help you list at the best possible price 
• Landlord-tenant relationships: Keeping your home in good condition provides better living conditions and makes it easier to increase your rental price when needed because you’re providing good value for money 

Bottom line: How well you can respond to maintenance requests has a direct impact on your cash flow and well — your bottom line! 

Why is it so hard to find a handyman these days? 

If maintenance is a critical part of renting out a home, why is it so hard to find a plumber or electrician these days? Where did all the contractors go? 

It’s often reported that the US is experiencing a major skilled labor shortage in most trades that affect homeowners. Gone are the days where you could ring around to get three quotes for the best price. Now you’re lucky if you can find someone with enough availability to show up at all! 

With so much work to go around, contractors are often drawn to large jobs that pay the most. This can leave rental homeowners waiting months for repairs and maintenance. 

Belong’s solution for fast and regular rental home maintenance

Speedy maintenance is critical in making your rental home livable and safe. This is why Belong has built an incredible vendor network of over 10,000 vetted contractors across the country. All available at your fingertips in an instant via the Belong app.  

Homeowners can make instant requests and set up subscriptions for regular maintenance on your rental home. And if a big repair bill comes along, Belong offers flexible payment options to keep you cashflow-positive. 

Discover Belong: See why thousands of US homeowners are ditching outdated Property Management in San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Charlotte, Tampa, Jacksonville, Austin, Atlanta, Concord, Berkeley, Orlando and many more.

7 tips for rental homeowners handling maintenance requests

If you’re handling maintenance requests on your own, here are 7 important tips to keep things running smoothly: 

1. Build your own trusted network

If you can’t rely on the network of Belong or a property manager, build your own. Spending time creating a ‘little black book’ of trusted contractors will save you time when you don’t have it (like when a pipe bursts or the heating fails in winter!). Ensure your go-to handypeople are licensed, insured, and capable of handling a variety of maintenance tasks. Look to companies with national presence if you’re struggling to find a local person for the job.

2. Schedule regular inspections

The best way to ensure your home is in good repair is to ask the people living there! Having good tenant-landlord relationships will help and regular inspections can help you spot potential issues before they escalate.

3. Create a rental emergency plan

Having a process in place to deal with an emergency (such as flood, fire or criminal activity) will make it easier for you to respond if a worst-case scenario takes place.  

4. Budget for maintenance and repairs

Not having the cash to pay for repairs and maintenance will limit your ability to respond to situations quickly. Create a realistic budget based on the age, condition and location of your home (don’t forget about insurance for mishaps too!)

5. Create a maintenance checklist

Don’t wait until something falls apart to fix it. Keeping your home in good repair is a great way to limit urgent calls. To get you started, we’ve made some handy maintenance checklists for California, Florida, Washington state as well as tips for preparing your rental home for fall and winter seasons.

6. Document requests for budgeting

Keep detailed records of all requests received, including the issue, solution, contractor and cost. This will allow you to identify recurring issues and trends over time for budgeting. Photos of damage and repairs can also be helpful when assessing the wear and tear on your property.

7. Ask for feedback

Not sure if your contractors are trustworthy? Ask your residents for feedback. They can tell you if the job was completed professionally and efficiently. 

Let Belong make maintenance woes a thing of the past

Belong makes worrying about maintenance and upkeep a thing of the past. Belong's 24/7 customer support puts over 10,000 professional contractors at your fingertips, ready to help whenever you need them. And if you need regular services like snow removal, gutter cleaning or lawn maintenance, we can set up a subscription for these recurring services. You can even spread the payments over your lease, keeping you cashflow-positive.

Learn more about Belong for rental homeowners here.