Indianapolis Property Management Insights

Tips for Reducing Maintenance Costs with an Indianapolis Property Management Expert

Written by David Treat | Apr 4, 2017 4:00:00 AM
 

You can reduce maintenance costs while protecting and growing the underlying asset value of your property. Experienced property managers can help in this regard with their knowledge of how a building should be constructed from the ground up. That’s important because too often a property management company or an owner simply relies on a vendor having the knowledge themselves. We have all heard horror stories or experienced the horror stories of vendors not doing things correctly or in a timely manner.

Vendor Experience and Motivation

This comes down to a simple problem – there’s a reliance on the vendor’s experience and willingness to complete the job. If there’s not a separate knowledge of how the building is constructed and what’s required for a particular repair, which may involve multiple trades, the fox has been let into the henhouse. The vendor can do what the vendor thinks is best, which may not be to code, or the vendor could do it in a rushed fashion. He may not have enough employees or perhaps is managing too many jobs. The job becomes at his convenience, and without that separate knowledge of how it ought to be done, there is no checking going on. 
 

Indianapolis Property Management

It’s imperative that if you hire a property manager, you know what sort of independent experience they have. For example, we had a situation where a roof repair was required because of hail damage. We had seen the property, which came to us from another management company. It was the second time that this damage had happened. When we examined the roof, we noticed the paper was lapped incorrectly. Without going into the particulars, the way it was done was directing water into the house instead of away from the house. This is an example of a roofer not knowing what they should be doing. We have 35 years of construction experience, so when we directed the repair, we told the vendor explicitly what to do and in what order. We effectively repaired the roof. 
 
So, a stopped toilet might not require this independent knowledge, but it relates to things that can go wrong in a property. It also helps with tenant-caused issues like floods that lead to plumbing, electrical, drywall, and flooring problems. How those are installed is critical to your costs, and every property owner knows that expenses will drain your return. 
 
If you’d like more information about how we can help you reduce rental property maintenance, please contact us at ES Property Management.