Your winter rental property maintenance checklist

Maintenance

 by Tytanium Ideas

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As a landlord, worrying about Fall and Winter home maintenance on your rental property might be on the bottom of your priority list. However, preventative maintenance on your rental property ensures fewer emergency maintenance requests, keeps your property safe and your appliances efficient!

Protecting your investment property during the rainy season

Find below our two easy checklists to ensure you’re maximizing your investment and keeping your income property well maintained throughout the winter months.

Indoor rental property maintenance to start on this winter

  • Inspect or Service Large Appliances – Your Furnace and Water Heater are all appliances that get more use in the winter months as the temps drop and tenants use more energy keeping their space comfortable. Even while it may not get snowy or freezing here in the Sacramento Valley, it can get pretty cold. Having access to heat in the winter is a basic right of all tenants under landlord-tenant law, so you could be fined if the units are not working.
    • In addition, change air filters before tenants start blasting the hot air. Dirty filters cause your HVAC system to run harder and less efficiently, reducing the overall life of the system. We provide services like FilterEasy to deliver the right size filter to tenants, every 90 days, to ensure they change them on schedule.
  • Insulate your Home – Check your home’s interior seals on all windows and doors to ensure they’re free from leaks or cracks in the seal. Rotten wood or broken seals can allow for cool air or water to get into your home. Ensuring the home has enough insulation in the attic, crawl spaces and other open areas can improve the efficiency of your heater and air systems.
  • Winterize Pipes – For our friends in the higher elevations that see regular winter snow and ice, or even just temperatures regularly dropping below freezing, this is a concern.  Make sure your tenants know how to properly care for pipes in the winter. They might not worry about leaving a tap dripping when they leave for holiday vacations, but you don’t want to be on the hook for a burst pipe or flooded rooms.

Outdoor rental property maintenance to schedule

That beautiful red and orange foliage and crisp winter air is beautiful now, but can be a beast once it’s a leak in your home, or a back up in your gutters. Our outdoor winterization checklist will help you get your rental property in top shape this winter!

  • Inspect Trees – Ensure your trees and large bushes are trimmed and well maintained, away from walls or window. Wind storms in the Sacramento Valley can get fierce, and a downed tree limb or fallen tree is never an emergency maintenance call you want to receive.
  • Clean Gutters – Clogged gutters can back up and cause leaking in gutters and downspouts, water damage to your home’s exterior, or damage to the foundation and roof of your home. Tenants may report leaky gutters eventually, but it may be too late to solve the problem by the time they notice. Inspecting and cleaning gutters twice a year can ensure you don’t run into this problem. You can also consider a guarded gutter system to minimize maintenance costs and save you time.
  • Yard Maintenance – Invest in a yard maintenance crew or remind your tenant if they’re responsible for yard maintenance. Not only does it help keep the neighborhoods’ gutters clean, and improve your home’s overall appearance, but raking leaves improves lawn health! Matted leaves block sunlight and reduce water evaporation, which can cause fungus, mold and disease. These alone can wipe out a lawn in a year or two.
  • Inspect Home’s Exterior – It’s never a bad idea to check exterior overhangs, decks, patios and entryways to ensure they’re free from leaks, rot or damage. In the case of railings, check to make sure they’re able to support someone who may inadvertently slip on wet or icy conditions. Also inspect your foundation for cracks or damage, to minimize any risk of water damage.

Your rental property is an investment, and you want to keep that investment profitable! Scheduling regular rental property maintenance with this checklist can help you keep your investment solid. Wondering how to tackle these projects, or where to start? Let Ferguson Property Management help you with your rental property. Contact our team today to get a personalized quote.