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Making time for routine property maintenance

By Admin Whangarei

A lack of awareness, planning and delivery of required property maintenance is one of the single biggest factors that can affect the management of your property.

It is imperative that landlords keep on top of regular routine maintenance to maximise their potential returns and maintain their property’s value.

Proper maintenance and upkeep of a property is a legal obligation and is enforced under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 and therefore requires careful consideration.

Buildings progressively deteriorate over time and will continue to deteriorate if maintenance is not carried out. Not addressing maintenance issues can affect the long term value of your investment and your returns.

A regular maintenance cycle

Regular planned maintenance, such as minor repairs and preventative maintenance, should minimise future problems and ensure your property remains in peak condition.

While unexpected deterioration, damage or failures may still occur, and even with the best maintenance in the world, everything has a limited life expectancy, with a regular maintenance cycle you will minimise the need for major refurbishment and repairs.

Avoid unnecessary major repairs and loss of income

Without regular maintenance a property can quickly deteriorate to an unacceptable condition, necessitating major repairs that could have been avoided. If left long enough a property can deteriorate to the point of being unusable which can translate to loss of income for you.

Identify issues

Systematic inspections are important in identifying any maintenance issues. If you’re using a property manager communication from them will be a key factor in the maintenance process. You need to know that your property manager will bring to your attention any immediate or urgent maintenance needs as well as informing you of any preventative maintenance that may be beneficial to the long term health of your property.

Fair wear and tear

Fair wear and tear refers to the gradual deterioration of things that are used regularly in a property when people live in it. A tenant is not responsible for normal fair wear and tear to the property or any chattels provided by the landlord when they use them normally, however they are responsible for any intentional or careless damage.

A claimable expense?

You can claim back the costs for any repairs to the property or general maintenance. However, if you’re doing the work yourself you can only claim for materials and not your own time.

Our service

Here at Ray White we look at all maintenance issues objectively with the ultimate aim of:

  • Maintaining the capital value of your property.
  • Preventing minor problems escalating further into more costly situations
  • Keeping landlords and tenants happy and well informed throughout the entire process

Our staff are well versed in understanding the differences between fair wear and tear and property damage or neglect. This ensures the responsibility for any required repairs or maintenance are directed to the right person.

Our long standing relationships with a large number of reputable tradespeople allows our landlords access to competitive prices and a high quality of work – and in a timely manner when maintenance, and other work is needed.

Cleaning tasks to tackle now

  • House washing
  • Gutter cleaning
  • Tree trimming
  • General garden tidy – it is important to make sure all trees/ shrubs etc are cut back from the property.
  • Curtain and blind cleaning to remove mould or mildew
  • Ceiling cleaning – often we battle with mould during the winter months so having the ceilings/walls cleaned professionally will help to preserve the paintwork
  • Refreshing any paint that has become a little worn on window sills, ceilings etc (easier to do in warmer weather as it dries faster)
  • Spraying for bugs/spiders
  • Treating paths and decks for moss and mould

Investment properties should make money for you. Not work.
Talk to us to find out more about our experience, services, and knowledge of the current property market to make your investment a real success.

Call us on 09 430 3300 for more information.

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