How to Deal with Maintenance and Repairs for Your LA Rental Home

Protecting the condition of your home is one of the most important responsibilities of a landlord or a property manager. If you’re working with a management company, make sure they have a process in place for handling repair requests and documenting the work that was done.

Requesting Maintenance Work

At EFS, tenants can request a repair online, by using their tenant portal, or by calling our office. This allows us to document when the request came in, and what was done to handle the repair. Your tenants need an emergency contact phone number and an established procedure for letting you know that something is broken. You have to make it easy for tenants to report maintenance so you’re notified as soon as something needs to be fixed.

Budgeting for Maintenance Work

Put some money aside to pay for minor and major maintenance. You never know when a hot water heater is going to explode, and you should estimate the life expectancy of your expensive systems, such as the HVAC unit and your roof. When you can plan ahead, these big projects won’t be a surprise. Regular property inspections also help in keeping up with your rentals maintenance needs. At EFS, we present our estimates to our owners before moving forward with repairs. Then, we send a contractor to do the work.

Choosing the Right Vendors

You need to have a reliable network of vendors that are licensed, insured, and responsive for your rental property. Working with an uninsured person you found on Craigslist is not a great idea. If they get hurt while making repairs at your property, you could be liable for their injuries. And, if they don’t fix your problem, they likely won’t stand by the work. Choose the right vendors, and establish a relationship with them before you need them. If a tenant calls with a flood in the middle of the night, you don’t want to start looking for plumbers at 2:00 a.m.

Preventative maintenance will save you money, keep you organized, and make your tenants happy. If you need any help managing your maintenance process, please contact us at EFS Property Management. We would be happy to help with any of your Los Angeles property management needs.