Summer Maintenance Tips For Your Investment Property

Inspect HVAC System

The last thing you need as a landlord in the summer is your tenants complaining the air conditioner is broken on the hottest day of the year. Do yourself a favor and have your HVAC system inspected by checking the filters and cleaning out the coils. If you don’t consistently maintain your HVAC system, it can start to lose efficiency, making utility bills higher than usual.

Clean Out Dryer Vents

If you have a laundry room in-unit or in the building, having the dryer vents cleaned out is a good idea. If our tenants notice their clothes take a little longer to dry or are hotter to the touch when removed from the dryer, these are signs to have the dryer vents cleaned. This tends to be forgotten, but it doesn’t take long to do and can prevent dryer fires, saving you time and money down the road.

Tend To The Yard

Make sure your curb appeal looks its best by sprucing up the landscaping and taking care of the lawn. Take time to mow the lawn, remove overgrown weeds, and trim back bushes. In addition to lawn maintenance, you might want to have the sidewalks and patios power washed so they’re nice and clean for your tenants. This is important to do throughout the year, but more important now when tenants will be spending more time outside.

Handle Repairs

Minor repairs like chipping paint or broken handrails are important to handle now, so everything is fixed for new or existing tenants. If you have multiple properties, do a walkthrough to ensure nothing has gone unnoticed and everything is in working order for summer.

Once these summer maintenance tips are handled, you can enjoy your summer! If you have any questions or need recommendations on preparing your properties for summer, reach out to us! We are always here to help!

Flipping a home is one of the most common ways to get started in real estate investing, but if it’s not done correctly, it could cause more time and money than it’s worth. You wrote a strong offer, the sellers have accepted the offer, and now you have to decide what to do next while avoiding major mistakes or setbacks.

Let’s look at three of the most common mistakes for first-time home flippers.

Not Doing Proper Research/Developing A Plan

Many assume flipping a home is easy; the most challenging part is finding the home, right? Wrong. You need to do a lot of research upfront to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible. Take some time to develop a plan so you know exactly what projects you want to complete and the estimated timelines for each one. Remember, there will be some setbacks, but having a plan from the beginning will help with your overall expectations.

Underestimating The Amount Of Time It Will Take

Flipping a home can be very time-consuming, and it’s not something you can do as a part-time job. Finding a home can take months, and renovating the property can take longer, depending on potential delays. After that, you must complete inspections before selling it to ensure everything is up to code. Once it’s on the market, it could take months to sell again. Don’t think this will happen overnight; it takes a lot of time if done correctly.

Not Having Enough Money

There’s more to flipping a home than just having money for the home and the renovations; you will need to make mortgage payments, pay property taxes, and often pay homeowner’s association fees, depending on the location. Keep in mind, you will also need to pay for utilities and any additional maintenance that’s needed while you’re renovating the property. Not to mention, if you have delays or setbacks, that could mean additional money out of your pocket to fix the mistakes. Make sure you have enough money saved up before getting started, or you could have major issues down the road.

Rental properties can be great investments to add to your portfolio if done correctly. If you have any questions or need recommendations on how to get started, reach out to us! We are always here to help.

Tag: inspections