You count on your tenants to let you know when maintenance is needed at your Coos Bay rental property. If there’s a sink that’s leaking or a window that won’t lock properly or some sort of problem with the heat, they’ll submit a maintenance request and you’ll give it the attention it needs. Your residents will also be helpful in keeping your property in good condition. Ideally, they’ll change the air filters regularly, keep the place clean, and make sure everything functions the way it’s meant to.
What happens when your property is vacant?
You won’t know when an appliance has stopped working or a pipe has burst. To protect your investment, it’s crucial to ensure that your property is always in good condition, whether occupied or not.
Here are some of the best ways to handle property maintenance during a vacancy in Coos Bay.
Conduct Regular Rental Property Inspections
Regularly inspecting your vacant property is one excellent way to ensure that it remains safe and in good condition. During your inspections, check for issues such as water damage, pest infestation, and mold growth. By identifying issues early, you can start repairs and maintenance promptly, ensuring that your property is ready for occupancy as soon as possible. Additionally, regular inspections help deter vandalism and theft, which can cost you significantly.
Decide how often you’ll be able to get inside the property. Ideally, you will have eyes on the home every few days. If you cannot make it over there yourself to take a look around, partner with a Coos Bay property manager. If work is being performed during the turnover period, you can have your maintenance team take a look around anytime they’re inside the property.
Keep Utilities On During Vacancies
When a tenant moves out, they will likely turn off the utilities they’ve been paying for. You’ll want to make sure that you immediately transfer service into your own name so the lights and the water stay on. While it may be tempting to save money by keeping them off, it’s dangerous for your vacant property.
Turning off utilities can cause issues such as frozen pipes, which can lead to water damage when the property is reoccupied. Additionally, it makes it difficult to address emergencies such as fire, which can cause extensive damage.
By keeping the utilities on during a vacancy, you can protect your property and make the turnover process a lot smoother. Your vendors will need electricity to complete their work. When you’re showing the home, you want to make sure tenants can test faucets and flush toilets.
Keep your Coos Bay Rental Property Clean
A clean property is crucial to maintaining its condition during vacancy.
You’ll expect to get a clean property back from the tenants who have recently moved out. Beyond the effort they’ve made to leave your property clean, take a few extra steps to ensure that you have removed any trash, debris, dust, or cobwebs. Additionally, clean appliances such as ovens, fridges, and washers, ensuring that they are ready for use when new tenants move in. Neglecting to keep the property clean can lead to issues such as pests, mold, and odors. Re-renting the home will grow more difficult, and you could find maintenance issues building up.
Address Landscaping and Create Curb Appeal
Maintaining the inside of your rental home is what you’re likely to prioritize when you have a vacancy.
Don’t forget the outside space.
Neglecting the landscaping can lead to overgrowth, which can attract pests and lead to structural damage. Ensure that you keep the landscaping trimmed by mowing the lawn, trimming hedges, and removing any debris. Additionally, check for issues such as fallen trees or branches, which can cause extensive damage to the property in the event of a storm.
Inspect the roof. Keep the gutters clean. Trim back any bushes or shrubs that are growing too high and impeding views from the property’s windows. Maintain lighting so the property is never completely dark.
You also want to invest in landscaping in order to establish some impressive curb appeal. As you prepare to re-rent the property to new tenants, you’ll want them to be impressed with what they see on the outside. Whether it’s a large yard, a courtyard, or a simple patio, keep things looking clean, attractive, and welcoming.
Partner with a Coos Bay Property Management Company
Hiring a Coos Bay property management company can alleviate the stress that comes with maintaining your property during vacancy. A property management company can take care of regular inspections, cleaning, and landscaping, ensuring that your property is always in good condition. Additionally, we can market your property, find new tenants, and perform all the screening that’s required to ensure you get a well-qualified tenant who will take care of your property.
Property managers can keep your investment property safe during turnovers. We can manage the maintenance that needs to be done, oversee any improvements that you’ve decided to invest in, and keep the property safe while it’s vacant. The idea is to minimize your vacancy time so that you don’t have to worry about keeping the property safe and maintained. You’ll have shorter, more efficient turnover periods when you’re working with a property manager, and that means less vacancy loss.
As a rental property owner in Coos Bay, it is important to your rental income and your return on investment (ROI) to keep your property in good condition, always. Whether it’s occupied or not, the property has to be safe, functional, and habitable. More than that, it has to be appealing to prospective tenants.
Regular inspections, consistent utility service, maintaining cleanliness, addressing landscaping, and hiring a property management company in Coos Bay are all ways to handle property maintenance during a vacancy. By taking care of your property, you ensure that it is secure, ready for occupancy, and maintains its value over time.
We can help you with your property maintenance, and we’ll give you the opportunity to leverage our fantastic team of vendors and workers. If you’d like some help during your vacancy period, please contact us at Oregon Bay Properties.
