How to Landlord - My Maintenance Guide

by William Baker
(Chicago, IL)

When I was learning how to landlord, the first thing that I discovered was that preventative maintenance is a lot easier and cheaper than major repairs. When it comes to property repairs, prevention is indeed better than cure.

One of my rental property had a cast iron gardening shed that needed regular painting to prevent it from rusting. Initially I didn't bother with it until one day my tenant complained that the shed's roof was corroded and leaking badly.

By that time it was already too late and the entire shed had to be replaced. Looking back, a timely $50 paint job would have rescued that $1300 shed.

Some maintenance jobs are simple and routine so it's often a good idea to hand over these tasks to your tenants in exchange for slightly cheaper rent. I'm referring to things such as lawn mowing, garbage removal and snow clearing.

Since it's your duties of a landlord to maintain the rental property in a habitable condition, you should inspect the property regularly and note down the areas that require maintenance. It's cheaper and quicker to approach contractors yourself so try not to leave the maintenance job to a property management firm.