Why Landlords and PropertyOwners Need a Good Handyman in Franklin and Brentwood, TN
Maintenance is the heart and soul of every rental property’s success. How landlords perform maintenance sets the tone for the quality of service they offer the tenants in their property. It plays a huge role in the home’s vacancy rates and whether tenants stay in the long-term or leave before the end of their lease. Rental property maintenance impacts how much money landlords earn and how much they spend.
For homeowners, maintenance determines the ongoing cost of owning their home. They can reduce that cost by keeping abreast of the home’s needs and being diligent to solve maintenance problems in a timely and adequate fashion. And through their management of the home’s systems, structures, and appliances, homeowners can influence the market value of their property.
For both landlords and homeowners, maintenance is central to:
Protecting the value of the home
Improving the lives of the people who live in it
Cutting the operational costs of the property
Preserving or improving its resale value
This is why landlords and property owners should pay premium attention to how a home is maintained. But how should landlords and homeowners approach the maintenance of their property?
There are three primary options they have for doing this:
They can adopt a DIY approach and try to solve the problems by themselves. Given the diversity and complexity of the various systems and structures in a home, this approach is usually not practicable.
They can take the DIY approach but hire experts when the problems are beyond them. The trouble with this method is that experts cost a lot of money and if an emergency happens in the dead of night and on a weekend or holiday, the expert may not be available.
They can retain a handyman who will handle routine inspections, preventive maintenance, and emergency repairs. And this person will always be available to solve unexpected problems. This is by far the best option for landlords and homeowners.
Before we explain why a good handyman is a landlord’s or homeowner’s answer to all of their maintenance problems, lets define who a handyman is and how they are different from someone who specializes in HVAC, plumbing, electrical, or any other of the home’s systems.
Who is a handyman and why are they important?
A handyman is a workman who has been trained and licensed to handle all kinds of home repair jobs. They are not specialists as specialists are trained to deal with specific systems and structures in the home.
Handymen are generalists – a jack of all trades. They are indispensable for dealing with the myriad of repair issues that would have cost too much if a specialist were hired.
Why are they so important for landlords and homeowners?
They have wide-ranging expertise
A home is composed of thousands of parts that are prone to damage. But the usual problems in a home are often not big enough to merit a specialist’s attention. Also, the range of things that can go wrong makes it hard for owners to be able to handle these issues by themselves. But a handyman’s training makes him/her uniquely suited to handling the annoying problems that habitually occur in a home.
They help owners save money
A handyman knows enough about the parts of a home to detect problems before they become full-blown damage. They also have the expertise to solve many of these problems. This means that handymen are excellent for spotting early signs of trouble and saving homeowners or landlords the bigger cost of paying for major repairs. Moreover, they charge less than specialists to solve the same problems.
Efficient and reliable maintenance
A handyman is always there, unlike the landlord or homeowner. As long as the owner has a standing arrangement with the handyman, the owner’s property will always be pushed ahead of the line whenever there are issues to be solved. This means that during winter, in the middle of the night, weekends, and holidays, landlords and homeowners are assured of expert care that is just a phone call away.
Improved property value
Handymen understand the housing industry and they stay up-to-date with the latest trends. They also see what other landlords and owners are doing to improve the value of their homes. The handyman can become the landlord’s and homeowner’s trusted adviser to guide them in the most profitable upgrades to undertake on their property. Handymen help owners retain and improve the value of their assets.
What to look for when hiring a handyman
To determine that a handyman will be an advantage to your home and not a liability, ask these questions before hiring one:
Are they trained and licensed to work in your locality? And are those licenses and permits up-to-date?
How long have they been in the trade and can they provide verifiable references?
Do they have adequate insurance to cover damages, injury, and liability claims?
Do they live within close proximity?
And are they willing to sign a written contract?
There you have it. Reasons why landlords and property owners need a good and reliable handyman.