Blink Property
There are reasons people get their cars serviced every year. Regular maintenance catches small or developing problems in their infancy and sets them right before they become much bigger, more expensive problems.
You wouldn’t buy a car and then drive it around for years and years without a service until it completely breaks down and costs the entire value of another car to fix.
This is something that people simply accept. Cars are expensive to repair and replace, so it makes sense to keep them in the best shape you can.
Oddly, and unfortunately, landlords don’t always feel the same way about their investment properties. Which is especially weird when you consider how much more is at stake than with a car.
Sure, you may not see it every day like when you’re driving your car. And your property not being up to scratch may affect your tenant more than you in daily life. But it can affect your hip pocket enormously in the long run.
It’s not about servicing the property as a whole, but rather a number of its features that are integral to its value.
The first thing to do is engage a property manager that will help you take care of your asset. There are plenty of property managers out there who are happy to charge a fee in order to collect rent, organise routine inspections and call tradies when spot repairs are needed. But they rarely have the value of your property portfolio in their front of mind.
Blink Property staff are Property Asset Managers who will help you stay on top of the regular maintenance you need to keep your property humming along and your whole property portfolio performing well.
This could be something as simple as suggesting you renovate or spruce up a kitchen or bathroom to add value, or invest in a new hot water system with a long term warranty rather than paying repeated callout fees for spot repairs on your existing system. These little pearls of wisdom all add up to large savings year after year.
Modern properties have plenty of creature comforts that we take for granted these days, but many of them require upkeep.
Take a look at a Queensland investment property. In a climate like ours, if the landlord wants tenants, that property had better come with air conditioning and ceiling fans. And these essential features need regular maintenance.
Pre-emptive maintenance is the best idea for air conditioning. If you get it serviced annually during winter or off peak times, it will be less disruptive for tenants. Any necessary repairs uncovered during the service will also be completed faster than if it was in the middle of summer when oppressive heat may mean a backlog of repairs. If you wait until summer or it breaks down around that time, the delays will make you very unpopular with tenants!
Ceiling fans are also an essential part of surviving summer in our climate. While tenants are responsible for cleaning their exteriors, the motors are for landlords. These also need servicing. If possible, you can save money by getting the exhaust fans in bathrooms and kitchen serviced at the same time.
Roller doors in garages are another motor-powered luxury that we expect in our lives these days. But if you wait until one breaks down, you will need them looked at comprehensively, which will mean not just the motor, but the entire mechanism.
Pre-emptive servicing keeps everything running smoothly and for a fraction of the cost of replacing the door.
And don’t forget the doors inside. Sliding doors can cost thousands to replace once broken beyond repair…not to mention weeks to be quoted and even longer to be installed. But get them checked once a year for a small callout fee, or by a tradie who is at your place for a separate job, and you will again save money and time.
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