Owning rental properties is one of the smartest and safest investments that you can make. Property tends to hold or increase its value at rates that are much higher than the overall stock market and offers the opportunity to create positive cash flow for a very small initial investment. But a rental property is also a major responsibility, and as a physical asset, you need to perform maintenance on it to keep it in good condition. Here are three tips that will help you avoid letting your rental properties fall into disrepair to protect your investment.
Create a Maintenance Budget
The first thing that you need to do to avoid letting your rental properties fall into disrepair is to create a maintenance budget. The unfortunate reality is that unless you are a handyman yourself with unlimited time to fix issues at your property locations, then you are going to need to spend money on maintenance for your rental property. If you don’t budget for this, it can be easy to let it fall to the wayside until it comes back to bite you later on. Dedicate some portion of your earnings from your rental property every month in a maintenance fund.
Make Regular Improvements
Another crucial step to take to avoid letting your rental properties fall into disrepair is to make regular improvements to your properties. While you can leave your property as is and probably still make a profit, it makes you a bad landlord and eventually will hurt the value growth potential for your property. Finding ways to regularly improve your properties is a great way to keep them in good condition. For instance, repaving the asphalt at your property is one way you can improve. Asphalt paving can withstand heavy traffic, making it ideal for a parking lot.
Hire a Property Manager
The final thing that you can do to avoid letting your rental properties fall into disrepair is to hire a property manager. While a property manager will be an ongoing cost for you, if you don’t have the time to manage the maintenance and repairs on your property yourself, a property manager can be a bargain. A property manager will take care of the maintenance and repairs tasks of your rental property so that you don’t have to worry about it.
Your rental properties are a physical asset that needs to be maintained in order to hold or grow value. But it can be very easy to put maintenance tasks to the side and let your properties fall into disrepair. Follow these three tips and you can be sure that your rental properties will be well maintained.
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