Rental Maintenance and Inspections: Protecting Your Memphis Investment Property

Two major components drive your need to provide responsive and timely maintenance at your Memphis rental property:

• Good maintenance protects the condition of your investment.
• Good maintenance attracts and retains high-quality tenants.

Any rental property will have occasional repairs that are needed. With people living in the home, wear and tear will happen. Deterioration will naturally occur, and you’ll be called upon to make both routine repairs and emergency fixes to keep the property safe and habitable. 

The trick is to balance the maintenance of your property with the need to keep expenses down. As an expert Memphis property management company, we do that for our owners every day.

Memphis Rental Homes and Emergency Maintenance

Emergency maintenance is disruptive for tenants and often expensive for Memphis owners. However, it always requires an immediate response, otherwise you put your property and your tenant at risk.

Discuss the definition of an emergency with your tenants before the lease period begins. Typically, it’s a fire or a flood. A loss of heat in the winter is also an emergency, as is a loss of water. When something goes wrong, tenants are going to feel tense, and they’ll have a sense of urgency. You’ll need to be responsive. There’s a lot at stake during an emergency. You want to keep your tenants safe and calm, and you also want to make sure additional damage isn’t done to your home. 

Be available 24 hours a day. Your tenants won’t want to leave voicemail after voicemail. 

Routine Repairs for Your Memphis Investment Property 

During routine repairs that aren’t emergencies, the best thing to do is communicate well with your tenants during the process. Let them know that you’ve received their maintenance request and give them a reasonable and appropriate timeframe for when you’ll be able to respond. 

For routine repairs, consider having your tenants make their request in writing. When your tenant emails or texts the repair request, you’ll have it documented. You can follow the way it’s been handled and use this paper trail as a record to track the performance of your HVAC, appliances, and other functions.

Some of the maintenance requests won’t seem terribly important to you, but they’re likely important to the tenant. A broken handle on the microwave oven can probably wait a few days, but each day that goes by will only increase your tenant’s frustration. Respond to small repairs quickly. Not only does it show your tenants that you care about their comfort and their concerns, it’s also good preventative maintenance that will keep your property performing well.

Working with Memphis Vendors and Contractors

One of the benefits that comes with professional Memphis property management is that you don’t have to worry about finding vendors and contractors who are licensed, insured, reliable, and affordable. We already have a network of service providers who can respond to small repairs and major projects. Because of our relationships, we’re able to negotiate the best possible pricing, and those discounts are passed on to you. 

If you’re looking for your own vendors, make sure you’re working with people you can trust. Compare prices, but make sure you’re comparing customer service and value as well. 

Ongoing inspections will also protect your property from deferred and unreported maintenance. We can help with all of this when you choose our team as your property management partner in Memphis. Contact us at RiverTown Realty to learn more.