Navigating maintenance is a breeze when you’re working with San Jose property managers who take care of all routine, emergency, and preventative repairs and services for you. When you’re managing on your own, you have to put together some processes and systems to ensure you’re responsive when a tenant calls or emails with a repair request. 

• You’ll need to be prepared to respond around the clock when an emergency occurs. 
• You’ll need to have a reliable team of vendors and contractors ready to help. 
• You’ll need a budget, so those expensive repairs don’t surprise you. 

Most importantly, you’ll want a plan for preventative maintenance so you can avoid those emergency repairs, which are always expensive and frustrating. 

Here are some tips for San Jose property owners who need to navigate maintenance for their investment properties. 

Educate Your Tenants on Maintenance Reporting and Responsibilities 

To effectively maintain your property, you’ll need help from your residents. Repairs and replacements are generally your responsibility as the property owner, but there are things your tenants can do to keep problems to a minimum. 

• Ask them to change the air filters regularly. Tell them how frequently this should be done and make sure they have access to filters. If you make it as easy as possible for them, there’s a better chance that they’ll do it. 
• Require them to make maintenance requests promptly. You also want to make it easy for residents to request repairs. Allow them to email you or text you when something goes wrong. This is better than a phone call because it’s documented and they can include photos or lengthy descriptions of the problem. Avoid deferred and unreported maintenance by asking them to let you know as soon as possible when something is wrong. You don’t want them sitting on a problem or nervous about telling you that something’s wrong. 
• Hold tenants accountable for any damage they cause. While repairs are essentially your responsibility, if a tenant damages an appliance by misusing it or clogs your toilet because a child flushed a toy, you can require them to pay for the repairs. 

Your lease agreement should be clear about what tenants are responsible for when it comes to maintenance, and how the entire process should be handled. 

Partner with Great Vendors 

A good tenant relationship will help you maintain your property with ease, and good vendor relationships will also help you navigate maintenance matters more efficiently and affordably. 

Look for vendors who are licensed, insured, and available. Plumbers, electricians, HVAC technicians, and general contractors have been difficult for some owners to find lately. They’re busier than ever, and there’s a bit of a labor shortage which has resulted in longer wait times and more expensive maintenance costs. 

This illustrates why it’s so important to establish relationships before you need them. You don’t want to be calling a plumber for the first time when a water heater has just exploded in your rental property. You want to reach out to someone you know and who knows your property. 

If you’re not sure where to find vendors and contractors you can trust to do great work quickly, talk to a San Jose property manager. We have relationships with some of the best service providers in the area, and we’d be happy to make a referral or a suggestion. 

Invest in Preventative Maintenance for San Jose Rental Homes 

The best way to keep costs down and emergency repairs infrequent is by investing in preventative maintenance. 

When you have professional service technicians looking at your property’s systems and functions on a regular basis, you can be sure that everything is working the way it should be. You’ll keep emergency costs down, contribute to tenant satisfaction, and increase the lifespan of things such as your furnace, water heater, roof, and appliances. 

Contract with an HVAC technician so your heating and cooling units are serviced and inspected annually. Have a plumber inspect your pipes every once in a while, and be vigilant about looking for drips and leaks any time you’re inside the property or conducting an inspection. Make sure your sewer line is safe and your electrical system is up to code. Have any fireplaces or chimneys inspected annually before the winter and get a roofer on the top of your home to check for missing shingles and signs of water intrusion. 

Preventative maintenance also includes landscaping and pest control.

Put Together a Maintenance Budget