How to Keep Your Rental Property Maintained Over Winter

If you are a landlord, your rental property is a big investment so it makes sense to keep it in a good condition, which will not only help to retain its value but also cut down on the amount of costly repairs in the future.

The property management team here at Nock Deighton manage over 700 properties across Shropshire, and here are their tips on how to keep on top of things.

Invest time and money

Make sure you dedicate enough time to keeping your property in good condition and accept that you will have to pay for its upkeep, which will save expensive repair bills in the long run. A good tip is to put aside a few months’ rent to cover emergencies, or if your tenant unexpectedly leaves.

Shop around
You get what you pay for and with property maintenance, cutting corners or buying cheap materials often works out more expensive in the end. Make sure you get plenty of quotes from reputable tradespeople so you are getting the most cost-effective job. Websites like checkatrade.com are a good place to start.

Build good relationships
It’s highly likely that you will work with the same tradespeople regularly, so keep your relationships friendly and productive. Try to build up more than one contact in each trade, so you have someone to fall back on if your regular person is not available.

Act quickly
Don’t be tempted to bury your head in the sand and hope a problem will sort itself out. It won’t go away and will just end up costing you more. Following the introduction of new legislation this year, if don’t respond to a repair issue that your tenant has reported in writing within a reasonable timescale, you may not be able to serve a Section 21 Notice.

Service regularly
Similarly to the last point, don’t avoid servicing boilers and cookers. They need frequent servicing to keep them legally safe and reduce the chances of mechanical problems.

Carry out inspections
Make sure you know how your property is looking by inspecting it regularly. You can’t rely on your tenants to carry out basic repair jobs as they sometimes won’t know how to, or will be worried that they might make things worse. They also won’t always tell you about a problem, so don’t leave your investment out of sight and out of mind.

For more helpful tips about property management, call the Nock Deighton lettings team on 01952 290163.