It is natural for an investment property to experience wear and tear. Remember, people are living in them, and it is inevitable that an investment property will deteriorate slowly. However, it is important to ensure its upkeep to withstand daily traffic to prevent accelerated depreciation.
To ensure valuable conditions, there are some simple principles, which if followed, will benefit the proprietor as well as the tenant.
– General upkeep– corner obstacles as they occur.
– R&R– replace and reestablish fixtures and fittings
– Long lasting and reliable– quality and well supported trades.
– Professionally cleaned property– gives an orderly view for all:
Corner obstacles as they occur:
It is important to explain to a tenant, that if something were to break or to get damaged, they should report it immediately. In most cases, damage can be fixed rather quick and easy if fixed promptly; this also saves on expenses. By fixing problems as they occur, you reduce the likelihood of subsequent damage, which if occurs, will be far more difficult and expensive to fix. A six-month routine inspection should also detail areas of deterioration in order to plan for future or immediate repair.
Replace and reestablish fixtures and fittings with durable materials:
It is often we find ourselves in a property built the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s which in those eras used a lot of timber as finish. Timber is a beautiful finish; however, in wet areas, it proves to deteriorate rather poorly. It is important that as fixtures deteriorate, keeping in mind it’s an investment property, finishing’s should be replaced with more durable materials. For example, kitchen and bathroom timber cabinetry generally experiences deterioration over the years at a much faster rate. Emporite cabinetry is far more durable than laminate and timber; it will last longer in wetter areas.
Quality and well-supported trades:
Landlords often use mediocre materials while tradesman assuming they are value for money, when in fact they are just cheaply constructed. We find that using low quality trade to fix problems can result in re-occurring issues while having to tend to the same problems repeatedly.
Problems will always occur. The question is, how much is a person willing to spend in the same project hoping to the limit and mitigate the cost? Good tradesmen guarantee their work for 6-12 which means they will come back again for free if the problem re-occurs. Generally, by using decent trades, a person limits their risk of the problem reoccurring, reducing the chances of having to pay for repairs more often than necessary.
Professionally cleaned property gives an orderly view for all:
Regular cleaning and upkeep can be the difference between a property deteriorating quickly or not. A professional property vacating cleaner will clean places a person never knew were there. Areas like the corners of cupboards and drawers, the inside of the oven and even behind a toilet. However, the most important area of any property that should be cleaned is the walls. A simple wipe down of the walls with sugar soap can dramatically change the impression of a property. Scuffmarks make properties seem older than they may be, and by removing them to the best of a person’s ability, it can add years to a coat of paint.