How to Manage Maintenance Requests When Self-Managing Your Rental Property

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• What do I do when something breaks?
• Need some help?
• The RentBetter Way

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What Do I Do When Something Breaks?

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Like most things in life, the first time you deal with something it can be tricky, but the second, third and fourth time it will be ‘no big deal’. Maintenance for your property is much the same...

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It’s most likely that you will not be the one directly fixing the problem, and so identifying the right person to help solve it is the first step. Typically an electrician and plumber are able to cover the most critical maintenance tasks, or at least those that are likely to cause an emergency. Once you have found reliable tradies in this area, it’s worth developing a relationship and going back to them for future work so that they are familiar with your property and can solve any problems quickly.

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If you have not been able to find a reliable or trustworthy person, we suggest asking family and friends for recommendations, or alternatively there are a number of online websites like serviceseeking.com.au with vetted trades, where you can post a job and receive quotes directly. This can be an effective way to build a network of trusted professionals.

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Once you have direct contact with the right people, we recommend responding to tenant requests as quickly as possible so they immediately see how much you care about their wellbeing and your property. One of the biggest complaints about traditional property managers is that they are slow to react which creates unnecessary friction with tenants for the duration of the lease.

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Act quickly and you will see the benefits.

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Need some help?

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To prevent maintenance requests from creeping up to you, it is important to conduct regular rental inspections of your rental property during the term of a tenancy. Identifying small issues early on can save major headaches later on. It can also be a good opportunity for your tenant to raise any concerns they might have or to show you things that need to be fixed.

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We have created a rental inspection checklist and guide for property inspections.

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Nonetheless, there will be times where the routine inspection won't catch the problem, and you'll be dealing with incoming maintenance requests from tenants. Luckily, RentBetter have set up a platform to help you manage these requests.

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The RentBetter Way

Upload Request: When something goes wrong, the tenant will upload a maintenance request through the RentBetter Management Platform.

Notify Landlord: Once a request has been lodged by the tenant, you will receive a notification of the maintenance request.

Action & Resolve: Handle the maintenance request & get the job done! Compile a list of professionals in your area to ensure you can respond to requests ASAP!

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