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Filters, Batteries, and Water Heaters. Oh My!

Man Fixing a Water Heater in Franklin Rental PropertyIn the whole year, fall would be the best season to perform regular maintenance on some of the hardest-working devices in your rental property. Take advantage of this time. When you do the important interior maintenance items during this season, you’re also getting your property ready so everything keeps running safely and smoothly all winter long. These tasks include having filters, batteries, and water heaters checked and cleaned or replaced regularly. You need to do this to ensure the safety of your tenants and to make sure that your rental property is in top condition.

It’s critical that you regularly replace your Grand Rapids rental property’s air filters. These filters keep your property’s HVAC system clean and running efficiently. Because of this reason, it’s clear to see that changing the air filters in your rental home is an important part of seasonal maintenance. As the winter months draw near, your tenants would want to keep out the cold since they’ll be spending more time indoors. They would then have the furnaces work harder. This is why keeping your filters clean is crucial. There are all sorts of HVAC systems and they use different filters. So, depending on which type of filter your system requires, you may need to change the filters as often as every 30 days, every three months, or even every six months. While you may think that having your tenants do these things would be a smart move, the truth is, many tenants would probably forget to do it or not change the filters often enough. This neglect in maintenance will put a strain on your HVAC system and will result in its life being shortened and the efficiency of the unit reduced.

Fall is also a great season to test and change the batteries in your rental property’s smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. You have to have these devices working well to keep your tenants safe. If you neglect to keep smoke detectors functioning properly, you may get sued should your property be damaged and/or one of your tenants get hurt in a fire. In other words, it’s critical that these devices are cared for.

There are also different kinds of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Some of them need their batteries changed every six to twelve months while others— with lithium batteries— can last up to ten years. That’s amazing considering the useful life of a smoke or carbon monoxide detector is also ten years. However, in spite of the kinds of batteries your devices may have, you should still see to it that the batteries are being tested on a regular basis and replaced when needed. Hundreds of people are injured or killed in house fires every year. Some of these tragedies could be attributed to the smoke detectors in their homes not going off when it should have. If you would have your tenants do this task, you cannot guarantee that they would actually do it. What they would do instead, is run the risk of damaging your property’s smoke detectors— especially if they don’t have the experience with its maintenance. This would lead to replacement costs and increased liability.

Next, we have a water heater. It may be one of the most frequently used devices in a rental home but that doesn’t mean people remember it when they’re doing property maintenance tasks. Your rental property’s water heater must not be neglected. It should be cleaned regularly to keep it working efficiently for many years. Over time, sediment builds up in the tank of a water heater, making it less efficient and even leading to clogged water lines.

You can easily avoid these problems by flushing your water heater once every six months or so. It may take a bit of time to do it but it really is important. You have to do it to get the most out of your expensive water heater unit. This may also be a task you’d normally want your tenants to do themselves. But the truth is that they might not do a good job. There really is no guarantee that they will clean out the water heater properly and may just end up causing more harm than good.

Neglecting these maintenance items can have serious consequences and could result in expensive repairs in the future. But requesting that your tenant change or clean the filters, batteries, and water heater in your Franklin rental property is not the best option. While it is true that you could do the jobs yourself, the best option is still to get a company like Real Property Management Investment Solutions to manage all the property maintenance you need to do have done. We offer a full range of maintenance services that would keep your property in great condition. These services would also keep your tenants safe from harm. With us working by your side, you would be free to do the things that matter most for the growth of your real estate investing business. Contact us today to learn more.

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