Handling Repairs

It is very difficult to strike a balance between quality and cost-effectiveness.  Some property owners often hire the person who charges the least when it comes to getting repair and other work done.  However, this leads them to compromise the quality in the pursuit of money-saving.  Low quality work leads to faster depreciation and decreases the time until another repair is needed thus resulting in a loss of money.  At the same time, there are those property owners who select contractors that overcharge them, also generating money loss.  The best way to get a repair or any other sort of work done is to obtain quotes from two to three different contractors while seeing samples of their work.  Choose the contractor that offers a package with a balanced mix of price and quality.
Ignored inspection:

A lot of owners trust their tenants so much that they stop paying regular visits to their property to check on areas of the house that might require attention.  ‘Prevention is better than the cure’ is a well know often ignored idiom, especially in the practical sense.  There are many parts of a house, such as the ceiling and sewerage system, where when problems are not detected at the initial stage huge losses can result.  Hence, if you haven’t been checking on your property and are banking on your tenant to update you, we suggest you to do the opposite and visit the property regularly.

Measly maintenance

Most people have the ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ mentality.  Such a mentality usually keeps property owners happy, albeit only for a while because when the broken object does come to their attention, it usually requires almost a fortune to get fixed due to neglect.  A more sensible way of handling property is to take a proactive approach at maintenance.  Allot a fixed amount of money to spend on your property regardless of problems that may or may not occur and this will help you nip in the bud many common repair problems and save money too.

Reverse revenue

Right after a tenant leaves, some landlords think of doing the repair and maintenance work themselves to save money.  Consequently, they don’t realize that the time taken by them to do the work can unintentionally be extended to take a longer period.  Had a professional worker been hired for the task, the work might have been done for a higher cost (often times we are more cost effective though) but would have left the landlord with ultimately more money because the work is completed quickly and tenants are able to move in earlier. As an Oakland property management company, the cost of doing the work through our crew would cost you less and take much less time as opposed to attempting to do the work yourself.

Risky repairs

A lot of times, tenants ask their landlords to allow them to make the repairs that their house requires.  Landlords view this opportunity as a way to save money.  However, what they do not understand is that if the tenant is injured somehow while making the repair, he/she can sue the landlord for workers compensation.  This is a big property management mistake. As a property management company in Oakland, we never authorize a tenant to do any kind of repair in their apartment or house they rent from us.

Link: http://lettingagentuk.net/property-management-mistakes