Keep Your Rental Properties In Good Shape With A Little Spring Cleaning
If you own rental properties or run a property management company, keep your rental properties in good shape with a little spring cleaning.
Give Your Tenants A Heads-Up
Make sure that you give your tenants notice before you do any spring cleaning, even if you will not be entering the unit. Most states require landlords to provide their tenants with advance notice before entering the property for any maintenance issue.
Check The Air Conditioning
Before the hot summer weather hits, check out the air conditioning units in all of your rentals. Turn them on and make sure that they run without making any funny sounds. If the air conditioning makes a lot of noise, or doesn't seem like its cooling things down like it should, call an air conditioning mechanic to come look at it. You'll save yourself money by getting it fixed before summer hits and the mechanic's rates go up.
You should also replace the air filter. It is a good idea to replace the air filter once a year. It will keep contaminants out of the air conditioning system and extend the life of the air conditioning system.
Seal The Deck
If any of your units have wooden decks or patios, you may need to reseal them. Use this simple test to figure out if you need to reseal the wood:
Take some water and pour it onto the deck. If the water beads up, then the current sealant is still working fine. However, if the water doesn't bead up, then you need to reseal the deck to prevent future water damage.
Check The Fence
Check out the fence as well. If you have a metal fence, check for leaning fence posts. If any of the posts are leaning over, try to straighten them out. If the fence is in disarray, you may want to call in a professional fence installer to fix it for you.
If you have a wooden fence around your property, do the same water test on it that you did on the deck. If the water doesn't bead up, you may want to reseal your fence as well.
Update The Landscaping
Even if you ask your tenants to mow the lawn, ultimately, how the house looks is up to you. Spring is a great time to hire a tree service company to come out and prune all the trees and bushes on your rental properties.
It is also a good time to treat the lawn with fertilizer so all your properties have lush, green lawns this summer. If you want to make your rental property look really great, you can plant flowers and lay out new mulch in the flower beds.
Rental properties are an investment. If you want your investment to stand the test of time, take the time this spring to check the air conditioning unit, and make sure everything is in good shape outside.