Property Maintenance Costs in 2023 [upd]
As a landlord, property maintenance costs cannot be ignored. And sometimes it can become excessive if you don’t know how to reasonably service your property.
The effort doesn’t stop once you’ve bought a residential property, especially if you want to let it out. Long-term protection of your investment is only ensured by appropriate property care. It is the best way to keep tenants satisfied and preserve your property’s condition.
In this article, we will discuss the various types of property maintenance costs that you may incur.
What is Property Maintenance?
Property maintenance is essentially the management and upkeep of a house, flat or rental property. This includes buildings and commercial properties as well. Regular property maintenance ensures safety and satisfaction to occupants, making it more likely for them to extend their rental period.
The primary purpose of property maintenance is thought to be responding to maintenance requests from tenants, although other duties include keeping up with the landscaping, servicing HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) systems, pest control, and even cleaning.
Poor maintenance can lead to unnecessary trouble. Hence, many experienced property owners emphasise routine maintenance to reduce the risk of customer complaints and reputation.
How to calculate property maintenance Costs?
Property maintenance cost varies from repair to repair, or property to property. Some are regular, and some are due to sudden repairs.
The calculation is pretty straightforward.
Total maintenance cost = Total Labour costs + Cost of material parts + Miscellaneous Invoices
Labour costs: the number of hours technicians spend repairing or maintaining a property multiplied by their respective hourly rate.
Material parts: the cost to purchase parts, such as air filters for air containers, piping, etc.
Miscellaneous expenses: energy costs, supplier contractual costs, outsourcing, retainers, etc.
What are the property maintenance costs?
Repair Costs
As a landlord, it’s your responsibility to keep up-to-date with what repairs are needed to be made to the property. Plumbing and electrical repairs are common occurrences in any household.
Most often than not, parts cost less than the actual work, as it is time-consuming to repair and requires expertise. Hence, your bill will depend on the complexity of the repair and the time it takes to get it fixed.
Refurbishment and Decoration
It is advisable to replace carpets every 5-7 years and that homes be completely redecorated every 5 years. However, if your property is looking particularly lived in after a tenancy, or you come across some questionable stains, you might need to redecorate more often.
Therefore, being a good landlord and recruiting the ideal target tenant depends on keeping your home appearing clean and presentable for prospective tenants.
Interior Maintenance
This is a no-brainer, as this is where your tenants live. A water leak could be ruining the paint. If water collects somewhere, it could be a breeding ground for insects, especially in the warmer months.
From plumbing systems to peeling wallpapers, the interior needs careful attention and must be attended to regularly.
Exterior Maintenance
Maintaining the exterior can also help you avoid long-term financial costs and structural problems in the future. For example:
Property Inspections
Inspections are an important part of property maintenance. It is especially crucial during a vacancy period. Regular inspections protect your property from theft, vandalism or damage from unnoticed leaks, preventing the need for extensive future repairs. Either you, the landlord or your estate agent can perform these inspections, at time slots, convenient for both you and the tenant.
Safety Checks
Landlords and property managers can provide safe conditions for their renters by performing basic safety and maintenance procedures. Safety checks will help you address risks before they cause high-cost damage. Or even cause some physical or psychological damage to the tenant, causing you in turn distress and making way for legal issues.
Rental property safety includes keeping tenants safe from physical harm from insecure or damaged structures and reducing the threat of criminal intruders.
Your Time
Landlords should consider investing in a full management service so they can get more time to spend on other aspects of their business. Otherwise, they will have to spend their own time taking care of the maintenance. It is very beneficial if you are renting out more than one property if you live abroad (so you are an overseas landlord), and if you never intended to be a landlord, to begin with (so you are an accidental landlord). It is, after all, your time and you should be wary of how you invest it!
How to reduce property maintenance costs?
Small unaddressed concerns can compound and lead to larger, more expensive issues down the road. Here are some smart ways you can save money while maintaining your property:
How can landlords benefit by partnering with Adjoin?
The Adjoin tenancy allows you to significantly reduce maintenance costs. How? By simply giving tenants skin in the game.
When tenants are looking to purchase homes and leverage our rent-to-buy offer, they test-run their probable future home. For landlords, our tenants are probable future buyers. This means that they have every financial incentive to take care of your property while renting it as if it’s already their own.
It has been proven (from similar models in the U.S.) that such tenants (future buyers) can drive maintenance costs down by 50%. Simply put, you can benefit from the network of trusted tenants of Adjoin, increase your earnings and lower your costs.
Want more details? Contact us at [email protected] We will get back to you within 24 hours.
