Maintenance Tips for Navigating the COVID-19 Pandemic
A willingness to adapt processes, communicate clearly and seek opportunities are keys to remaining successful in the age of COVID-19.
Investing in rental property is a great way to diversify your portfolio and build wealth. But, real estate investing is not for the faint of heart. This is especially true right now as we navigate the COVID pandemic.
What has the pandemic changed about rental property management?
One major area of property management that has seen significant change is maintenance. This is probably the most common issue that keeps owners up at night and the No. 1 reason why residents opt not to renew their lease.
Handling Maintenance
The pandemic only adds to the importance of handling any maintenance request—whether routine, urgent or an emergency—quickly, efficiently and safely.
Have you outlined a process and communicated it to your team, tenants and vendors? Here is some key information you should be adding to your work orders:
- Asking vendors and residents (or anyone in their home) to advise
if they are symptomatic or have come in contact with anyone who has been exposed to the virus. If so, the work needs to be rescheduled or reassigned. - Recommending that residents and vendors wear face coverings whenever possible during their appointment.
Communication is key and is critical.
Essential Repair Requests
Under “normal” circumstances, repair requests are submitted, evaluated and scheduled to be completed. In our current environment, not all repair requests are created equal.
Today, when a repair request is submitted, what steps are you taking to determine whether the request can be delayed for a period or if it is time sensitive?
Determining this goes beyond simply deciding what is a maintenance emergency. Having a checklist of questions you can ask the resident about the repair is critical to determining the level of urgency.
Your team should be equipped with this list when communicating with residents to ensure all repair requests are being handled in the same manner. Sharing the list with residents is beneficial as well.
Communication and clarity are key at any time, but they become even more critical during times of uncertainty. Communicating with residents about how your maintenance process has changed can help alleviate their frustration, minimize additional work for you and your team, and reduce stress for all involved.
Asking residents to provide photos or a video of the issue can also help you diagnose the repair. Adding this step may help reduce the number of times someone needs to access the home, which can result in more trip charge costs and inconvenience to the resident.
Tracking Delayed Maintenance
Delays in maintenance create yet another process you must manage. Remember, delayed maintenance does not mean it isn’t necessary. Rather it’s an issue that can wait for a period of time without causing additional damage to the property or harm to the resident.
You can strengthen whatever method you use to create, dispatch and track work orders if you add a process that signifies the priority level (emergency, urgent, essential, delayed) of the repair request. This gives you the ability to monitor repair requests and their status through completion.
Make sure the method you use to track submitted repairs includes procedures for delayed repairs so they don’t get overlooked. That will only frustrate the resident and cause the repair to become more substantial and costly.
Property Inspections
Inspections are an essential part of rental property management, whether they are move-in, move-out, interim (or mid-lease), lease renewal, quality control (after major maintenance repairs or turns). These inspections are necessary for a variety of reasons.
Property inspection operations have typically been handled in person with both the resident and a representative of the homeowner present. Updating your inspections to follow a no-contact process is a great way to ensure you are still protecting the property and the resident while adjusting to the current environment.
No-contact inspections are fairly easy to achieve with properties that are vacant. For example, as you complete a move-in inspection, provide a copy to the resident and allow for a short window of time (perhaps 48 hours) after the lease start date to allow them to report any issues not noted on the inspection. Please note, this does not mean you are in agreement that the issue was there and missed, but it does give the resident an opportunity to be a part of the move-in process, which helps them protect their security deposit later.
Similarly, when a tenant moves out, be sure to provide move-out instructions/guidance on ways they can help ensure the return of their security deposit. These instructions can include the expectations of property condition upon move out; instructions for the return of keys, amenity access items, garage remotes, etc.; and a way to report the property condition back to you upon vacating the home. This does not eliminate a move-out inspection being completed on behalf of the homeowner, but again, it allows the tenant an opportunity to help ensure refund of their security deposit.
To avoid delays with occupied inspections or skipping occupied inspections altogether, create a process where the resident completes the inspection. This process can include steps as simple as requesting various photos of the home to providing an inspection form for the resident to complete and return.
As with anything else, communication and consistency are critical. Letting residents know that you are changing your process to help ensure their safety will put their mind at ease and help ensure cooperation. Provide the resident with the details of your request and a reasonable amount of time for the return of the information.
There is no doubt the COVID pandemic has been very stressful for homeowners, residents and property managers alike. However, in any crisis situation, there is also opportunity.
The pandemic has been an incredible learning experience, teaching us that we need to be nimble and willing to change as needed. Believe it or not, there is plenty of opportunity surrounding property management right now if you are paying attention. There is opportunity to improve communication with your team, residents and clients. Communication builds relationships; and when you build relationships, you build trust. There is opportunity to improve how your business operates. And, of course, there is opportunity to continue to invest in rental property. How are you choosing to improve your business during this challenging time?
