Profitable Real Estate Investing Tip 4: Prepare and Plan for Preventative Maintenance!
Successful Real Estate Investors number one goal is to make a profit. The past three weeks we have shared important traits all profitable investors share including reviewing leases annually, setting up a budget for property issues, and setting aside monies for capital investments. Today we talk about how to save money ahead of time by preparing your properties for ongoing and preventative maintenance. You don’t realize how important (or costly) something is until it breaks; so prolong the longevity of these items and trouble shooting problem ahead of time to save money and heart ache. Preventative Maintenance is the annual check up for properties to prevent those costly emergency room visits; i.e. those busted pipes at midnight.
Tip 4: Prepare and Plan for Preventative Maintenance
Don’t be the investor that allows problems to occur before dealing with them. Waiting for something to happen can turn little problems into ugly nightmares. Stay on top of your investments by doing a preventative maintenance walk-through on all of your properties at least twice a year. This allows you to put your eyes on the property to sure there aren’t any unreported or unidentified maintenance issues
Carry a checklist and look for two kinds of issues:
*Proactive repairs: Do them immediately at a reasonable price before they become a big expense or a huge liability. Here are some examples:
- HVAC Bi-annual servicing – A licensed reputable HVAC company will come out, inspect, clean your system and change the filter for a fee. I would not leave it up to the tenant to change filters. Did you know that not changing filters can lead to costly HVAC repairs?
- Gutter Cleaning – I recommend 2 times a year. This will prevent water from backing up and creating leaks into the home. Keep those lines cleared and water running away from the house. No one wants water in their crawl space, basement or property.
- Trim back those tree limbs – You want a 10-12 foot clearance around the home. This will prevent debris from falling on the roof or tearing the roof and critters/rodents from gaining easy access to the roof.
*Opportunities to reduce expenses: Expense reductions are a way to reduce the investor’s overhead on a property. Examples: leaky faucets, window seals, and door seals can help you save tons of money each year.
As a long term real estate investor you must stay on top of your properties to maintain their value. If you don’t have the know how to handle these things it is imperative that you lean on your property management company who has the resources and relationships to help you deal with issues. At Sovereign Realty & Management we have relationships with vendors to help solve problems, trouble shoot situations, and help you maintain a healthy property. Taking care of your properties is a great way to ensure stability and that leads to profitability. The money you are not spending on emergencies is money saved!
Next week we will discuss the dreaded and important topic of EVICTIONS. It’s inevitable but there are ways to get around this costly ordeal.
