Maintenance is landlord’s indaba

There is no bigger mistake a landlord can make than to neglect maintaining a rented property in spic and span condition, says Schalk van der Merwe, co-franchisee for the Rawson Property Group’s Somerset West franchise, and, he adds, tenants will dislike inadequate maintenance more than ever before because they are likely to be paying top dollar prices on their leases.
Van der Merwe said maintenance and upgrading have to be ongoing and regular if good tenants are to be kept content and deterred from moving on once their leases expire.
In making a property attractive to tenants, he said, the first step should always be to ensure it is as secure as possible. Boundary walls are an essential item and homes without alarm systems or burglar bars are difficult to rent. The second step in the maintenance programme should be to install better flooring – wood, laminated wood or tiles of a superior quality are expected by tenants today.
Then the maximum a landlord can afford should be spent on making the kitchen and bathrooms more sophisticated and attractive,
If, on the other hand, a rented property is inadequately maintained, tenants are likely to take the law into their own hands and default on their rental payments. This illegal practice is especially likely to occur if unsatisfactory maintenance results in the premises becoming uncomfortable to live in, for example, unable to be warmed or cooled, or if the tenant’s property is damaged, for example, by water leaks. Certain landlords will go to great lengths to avoid appointing a rental agent, but one of the big advantages of employing an agent (apart from their proven ability to check references and the tenant’s background, to manage tenants and to get payments on time) is their regular inspections  will reveal when maintenance work has to be done and they will usually ensure this happens. Occasionally tenants and landlords, will offer to do the work themselves instead employing an outside contractor. It has to be accepted, except in very rare occasions, they will probably not be as proficient as the person whose job it is to do this work full time and they may well actually lower the value of the property by inferior workmanship.