Discussion Title: Property maintenance in East London – Amilli Property’s top tips

Being a landlord isn’t just about getting tenants in place. Once you have occupied your property, you’ll need to keep on top of maintenance tasks to ensure it remains in tip top condition. Clean, attractive, well-maintained properties will keep your tenants happy – which makes renewed tenancy more likely! This means you can swerve those dreaded void periods and concentrate on expanding your portfolio. In addition, carrying out regular upkeep will prevent smaller issues from turning into larger, costlier ones. Below, using our experience as East London letting agents, we outline the top tips to help keep your rental property up to standard. Get the experts in You will probably use the same tradespeople again and again, especially if they are reasonably priced and do a reliable and efficient job. Building a good rapport with them – friendly but professional – will save you money in the long-run. Also, it’s sensible to compile a decent list of good-quality contacts. Therefore, if your first choice is otherwise engaged, you have an excellent back-up to call upon. If you don’t feel comfortable sourcing tradespeople, Amilli Property can do this for you, taking some of the stress and hassle away from life as a landlord. Shop around It would, of course, be a very bad idea to try and cut corners and save money by employing incompetent builders to carry out shoddy work, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get plenty of quotes from reliable, trustworthy tradespeople. This way, you’ll be able to ensure you’re not paying well over the odds. Act early As we said earlier, carrying out preventative maintenance will make sure smaller issues don’t become larger ones. Not only will dealing with things early save you lots of money, it will also stop your tenants from experiencing significant disruption in the place they call home. Responding quickly to complaints – assuming they are fair and even-handed – will also help your tenants to feel loved. Think seasonally In the UK we have four very distinct seasons. The variability of the weather in these four seasons can have a significant impact on your property. In the summer, garden maintenance and excellent ventilation becomes crucial. In springtime, leaves in the gutters might cause you issues. In winter, making sure the pipes don’t freeze and keeping an eye on damp and mould becomes top priority. Know your property Regular inspections will help give you peace of mind that everything in your property is in fine working order. If it isn’t, you can take steps to solve this. A three monthly check-up is recommended, but remember to give your tenants 24 hours‘ notice beforehand. Tenants won’t appreciate you turning up unannounced.Thorough inspections allow you to keep tabs on your property while also giving you a chance to spot minor issues that could soon turn into something much more problematic. Be safety-conscious You have a legal and moral obligation to protect your tenants from harm. Boilers, in particular, need regular servicing to make sure they are 100% safe. A faulty boiler that is left untreated can be extremely dangerous. As part of our property management services, we can organise an annual service of your boiler. In addition, white goods need to be monitored carefully, fixtures and fittings should comply with safety regulations, and smoke detectors should be installed in all rental properties. We’ve seen in the news stories of rogue landlords taking liberties with their tenants’ safety and paying a serious financial penalty or, in very serious cases, serving a prison sentence. Why take such stupid risks? For further advice on maintaining your buy-to-let property, please contact Amilli Property on: 0203 189 1925. Additionally, find out what monthly rent you could be achieving with our instant online valuation tool. https://blog.amilliproperty.com/property-maintenance-east-london-amilli-propertys-top-tips/