Property management maintenance is one of the most important parts of the resident experience. But it’s also costly and difficult to control. We’ve heard from hundreds of property managers that maintenance can be one of the most unpredictable parts of their job – and one of the biggest headaches for residents, property managers, and real estate investors.
Triple headache!
Of course, the unique frustrations and challenges of rental property maintenance also mean that an effective strategy can become one of the most outstanding differentiators for a property management company.
So how do leading PMCs take their routine maintenance practices to the next level? How can PMCs turn that triple headache into a triple win?
Here’s what we’ve learned from years of working with PMCs.
Property maintenance is everything involved in ensuring your properties are in excellent shape and any issues are repaired in a timely manner. Property managers take responsibility for maintenance in most cases, and their tasks include both preventive and responsive maintenance.
Property maintenance may include:
Maintenance is critical to the resident experience, to keeping a property fully functional, and to ensuring safety and quality of life. Failure to follow through on maintenance can result in serious consequences.
Property managers must balance their residents' needs and their investors' goals. For example, what if an investor isn’t interested in putting a whole lot of maintenance or repairs into a specific property – but the resident wants a higher level of service?
Another layer of complexity is the round-the-clock nature of maintenance tasks. You don’t know when a roof will spring a leak, an HVAC system will go haywire, or a dishwasher will give up the ghost. Property managers have to juggle on-call hours, after-hours, increasing work orders, and emergencies all the time.
That’s all easier said than done! Property management maintenance is uniquely challenging. It’s unpredictable, almost always urgent, and involves several stakeholders and fluctuating pricing.
Bottom line: How do you build solutions that support your team, the resident, and your investor? Let's look at both the benefits and challenges of property management maintenance.
Benefits of property management maintenance:
Challenges of property management maintenance:
Here are some top examples of property management maintenance company services for single-family homes.
When property management companies consider hiring in-house maintenance workers or contracting with property maintenance services and technicians, there are several key qualifications and skills to look for. These not only ensure efficiency and quality in maintenance tasks but also contribute to the overall safety and longevity of the property.
Here’s a checklist of what to look for:
By ensuring that your property maintenance workers or contracted technicians meet these criteria, property management companies can maintain high standards in property upkeep, leading to satisfied tenants and well-maintained properties.
We’ve spoken with leading property managers across the industry and collected some of their best tips for taking the puzzle of property maintenance and delivering next-level service and experiences.
Here are three key steps they’ve shared for leveling up when it comes to property maintenance.
Getting the right “who” is critical before addressing the “how.”
We spoke to leading property management consultant Kevin Hommel about what he looks for in his property management team. He looks for people who are proactive, self-driven, and resilient in the face of complex problems. Maintenance is no exception. A self-driven team will always aim to be proactive rather than reactive.
Hommel says:
“I would rather find somebody who is going to come in and hustle – even if I have to teach them everything about property management – than find somebody who's a property management expert but has the wrong attitude. It's going to be a completely different experience.”
The benefits of finding the right full-time or part-time team are twofold: First, you’ll produce better work and better service. Second, a trustworthy team helps you focus on bigger strategic opportunities. As a property management business owner, you should be free to focus on 10X opportunities rather than get bogged down in day-to-day tasks.
Peter Lohmann, Co-founder & CEO of RL Property Management, says it this way:
“In property management, a lot of us are in the habit of wanting to know what's going on at all times – every rental application, every maintenance request, works orders, every disbursement amount. But I would challenge everyone to step back from that and ask yourself, ‘Why?’ The need to ‘stay plugged in’ is not going to help you unlock growth for your company. Time to work on 10x opportunities instead.”
By hiring a team you can trust, you’re setting your residents up for success. You know they’ll be taken care of, and you can focus on higher goals to improve your resident experience overall.
After setting up your team – and before we get to the tools you can use to support them – we need to talk about the process. Every property manager we’ve spoken to is bullish when it comes to getting your processes right.
“(It’s important to) do things in a standard way throughout your business. The more exceptions and one-off arrangements you make with the property owner and tenants, the harder this becomes. Your priority should be to standardize all your contracts and operating procedures so you can innovate around a small number of core processes that apply to every unit you manage.”
This is more than just having a maintenance checklist. The best way to build a process is to approach it from the lens of the resident experience. The most successful property managers set up maintenance processes by asking themselves what the resident wants and needs:
Using an experience lens to build or update property maintenance processes can help you see new opportunities.
Automation and AI are some of the newest ways to support your team and improve functionality. No-code tools and app integrations help connect workflow, client management, communication, and task tracking. No-code tools are products that enable those of us with no coding experience to build digital solutions for every part of our workflow. Property managers can use no-code tools to design their websites, build online content, create email campaigns, or set up automated task tracking, communication, and more.
In terms of property maintenance, PMCs can now use accounting platforms with native portals for maintenance requests or adopt maintenance solutions platforms like Meld. These solutions offer customizable automation where you can track tasks, deadlines, time, vendors, costs, and employee responsibilities. With just a few clicks, automation helps cut out manual work like:
Property management software and partner solutions run the gaut. They can include features like:
Technology ultimately brings greater speed, convenience, and ease to you and your residents.
Whether you’re already implementing automation or if that feels a long way off, we still haven’t addressed one of the best tools for boosting resident experience: the resident benefits package or RBP.
An RBP is considered by many property managers as the most powerful, profitable step to impact the resident experience. And it is the only one that generates revenue while also creating operational efficiency.
RBPs provide tools like filter delivery service, identity protection, rewards programs, on-time rent incentives, credit building, move-in concierges, insurance, and more.
Here’s just one example: The National Rental Home Council (NRHC) surveyed 7,772 single-family residences over 18 months to analyze the frequency of resident HVAC service requests with and without HVAC filter delivery service.
Second Nature delivered HVAC filters every 60 to 90 days in a date-stamped box with illustrated instructions and sent emails with tracking information and educational content before each delivery. Overall, there was a 38% reduction in HVAC-related ticket requests among the group that received filter delivery—a result achieved without creating any additional work for the property management company.
Resident benefits packages help standardize benefits in a cost-effective way across all your properties. With an RBP, you know every resident is getting a level of service that feels high-touch but doesn’t create any extra work for your team. RBPs strengthen communication, transparency, self-service, and speed – in other words, the resident experience and relationship.
Managing a property maintenance team efficiently is key to ensuring your properties are well-cared for, and your residents remain satisfied. From scheduling tasks to fostering teamwork, every aspect plays a crucial role. In this section, we'll break down essential tips into actionable strategies to help you lead your maintenance team effectively.
Effective communication is the backbone of successful team management. Establishing clear channels for reporting issues, discussing solutions, and sharing feedback ensures everyone is on the same page. Use digital tools like email, messaging apps, or property management software to streamline communication.
A well-structured scheduling system is crucial for organizing maintenance tasks. Make sure your maintenance team uses digital calendars or maintenance management software to allocate tasks, set deadlines, and track progress. Ensure their schedules are flexible enough to accommodate emergency repairs while maintaining routine maintenance work.
Not all maintenance tasks carry the same weight. Prioritize issues that directly impact resident safety and comfort, such as HVAC problems or plumbing leaks. Regular maintenance can be scheduled around these more urgent tasks to ensure efficiency without compromising on critical repairs.
Leverage technology to automate reminders, maintain records, and manage work orders. Property maintenance software can significantly reduce manual administrative work.
Conduct regular assessments of your maintenance vendors. Use these evaluations to identify areas for improvement, acknowledge accomplishments, and set goals for future growth.
Residents are often the first to notice maintenance issues. Encourage and facilitate easy ways for them to report problems. This feedback can be invaluable in identifying areas that need attention and enhancing resident satisfaction.
Instead of always being reactive, schedule regular preventive maintenance checks. This proactive approach can significantly reduce the frequency of emergency repairs and extend the life of property assets. Building in solutions like a Resident Benefits Package can bring residents on board with prevention strategies, too.
Ensure that the workload is evenly distributed among team members if your team does the maintenance work. Overburdening certain individuals can lead to burnout and reduce the overall efficiency of the team.
Managing single-family properties presents unique challenges, particularly due to the fact they're generally scattered-site management. This setup can make regular maintenance a logistical and financial burden for SFR property managers. But a well-structured, fully managed Resident Benefits Package (RBP) can make a huge difference in alleviating those challenges.
At Second Nature, we built an RBP with integrated solutions that support and empower residents to take better care of the properties themselves. This helps reduce maintenance needs over time.
Take air filter delivery: Simply subscribing to HVAC filter delivery can reduce HVAC ticket requests by 38% and save hundreds in energy bills.
Another example is pest control. On-demand pest control can ensure residents deal with pest issues immediately. Instead of paying for expensive prevention, you can be sure actual issues are dealt with before they escalate.
Or, consider resident rewards. With a built-in rewards program, property managers can customize the behaviors they want to encourage. Small preventive tasks or maintenance checks can be included in those incentives.
Maintenance, tracking down vendors, invoicing work orders, etc., will always be a part of the property manager's life. But with an RBP, you can significantly cut down on the time and money you spend on a maintenance team.
You’ve heard this from us before, and you’re going to hear it again – it’s all about the resident experience. Retention depends on it.
Consumers today are looking for products that can offer them:
The modern resident has different expectations than the generation before. The “convenience economy” has come for us all. Residents don’t just expect to have maintenance issues resolved. They expect management services to provide a certain level of ease, comfort, familiarity, and convenience.
Of course, maintenance work has obvious urgency: Nobody wants to live with a clogged toilet, a leaky faucet, no hot water, backed-up gutters, etc. But emergency repairs are now the minimum that property managers provide.
Property management maintenance is integral to the resident experience – and one of the primary ways to set your business apart. We’re not just looking for “good enough” – we’re looking to answer the question: “How do we create experiences so good that residents never want to leave?”
Regarding rental property upkeep, delivering on that question will involve many factors:
These are the characteristics we’re seeing across some of the most successful property management companies – the PMCs standing out from the crowd.
Maintenance costs can quickly spiral if not carefully managed, but with strategic planning and smart practices, you can significantly reduce these expenses without compromising on quality or resident satisfaction. Let's dig into a few practical tips that will guide you on how to efficiently lower your property maintenance costs, ensuring your operations remain both cost-effective and top-notch.
Proactive maintenance can significantly reduce long-term costs. By implementing services that protect key elements like HVAC systems, plumbing, and electrical circuits, you can prevent minor issues from becoming major expenditures. Services like air filter delivery create excellent return on investment when it comes to prevention like this.
Invest in energy-efficient appliances, lighting, and HVAC systems. These not only reduce energy costs but also tend to have a longer lifespan and lower maintenance requirements. Consider LED lighting, energy star-rated appliances, and smart thermostats to boost efficiency and cut costs.
Equip your team with the skills to handle basic repairs in-house if it makes sense for you in terms of time and cost. Training staff to fix common issues like minor leaks, electrical faults, or appliance glitches can save on expensive contractor fees. However, ensure more complex tasks are left to professionals.
Establish long-term relationships with trusted vendors and negotiate contracts for regular maintenance services. Buying services in bulk or agreeing to long-term contracts can often result in significant discounts. Ensure these vendors are reliable and offer competitive rates for their services.
Keep a close eye on your inventory of maintenance supplies if that's something your team manages. Bulk purchasing of frequently used items can save money, but be wary of overstocking, which can lead to waste. Use inventory management software to track usage and avoid unnecessary purchases.
Leverage technology for maintenance management. Use property management software to track maintenance requests, schedule work orders, and monitor expenses. This can help in identifying patterns or areas where costs can be trimmed without compromising on service quality.
Regularly review and audit your maintenance expenses. This practice can help you identify areas where you may be overspending, spot inefficiencies, and adjust your maintenance strategies accordingly to ensure cost-effectiveness.
A property manager’s ability to respond to maintenance needs proactively can have a massive impact on renewals and referrals. We’re sure every property manager has stories of how maintenance can make or break the resident experience and company growth.
Innovative property managers set themselves apart by building teams and systems that go above and beyond for the resident experience to create a Triple Win. They create systems that proactively address maintenance, apply technology to support their teams, and provide fantastic benefits to residents.
If you want to build a differentiated resident experience people pay for and stay for, learn more about our Resident Benefits Package or subscribe to our podcast for regular insights from the PMC world.