3 Seasonal Maintenance That Need To Be Done To Your Rental Property

With the end of summer and the start of autumn, you will find that you need to do some essential maintenance on your rental property if you want to ensure that it stays in good working condition throughout the winter. These maintenances are often easy and quick to do, but neglecting them can mean your rental property could experience difficulties and your tenants may be unhappy with you. Small difficulties can turn into big ones during a cold winter, so keep on top of your work while the weather is still mild. Make sure you keep your property well run and efficient by keeping track of these 3 maintenances when the temperature starts to drop:

1. Gutters
Leaves, twigs, dirt and other plant-life can often collect in guttering during the summer and autumn, and neglecting your gutters can lead to erosion and potential foundational damage. Mould can start to gather and water can leak into the house itself. Clearing gutters is an inexpensive job and can save you a lot of hassle in the future. If you have the time and money, consider replacing old gutters or adding a guard, as this can really help keep the property safe. You should clean the gutters of a rental property at least once a year, and doing this in the autumn is often the best time.

2. Heating
Your tenants are going to want to start using the heating again soon, if they have not done so already. This means you need to do some essential heating maintenance to ensure that everything is working smoothly when the heating does get turned on. You should clean any oil tanks and service any furnaces. All thermostats should be checked. Radiators should be bled, if necessary. Heating bills can be the most expensive bills that your tenants have and may impact their decision to stay in your house if the bill is too high. Therefore, if you can reduce that cost by either insulating the property better or by doing something as simple as cleaning the lining of an oil tank and improving its efficiency, this can really help. Often simple solutions can really impact the efficiency of heating in a property.

3. Fireplaces and Chimneys
If your property has these, the turn of the season is a good time to start maintenance on any fireplaces or chimneys . You need to ensure these amenities work if you are offering them to the tenants at all. Therefore you should ensure that any fireplaces and chimneys are cleaned at least once a year. If these are not cleaned properly, smoke and fire damage can occur, especially if these are being used a lot, such as during the winter. You do not need to spend a lot to get a good job done on these amenities.

Doing maintenance on a property can seem like a needless expense, but what you are really doing is increasing the life of your property and keeping your tenants happy. The biggest fault is to believe that a rental property will run itself, just because it is not your primary property. This is not true – with the new season, new work should be done to ensure that your rental property stays safe and secure for both you and your tenants.