The Multi-Family Spring Cleaning Checklist for Property Managers

Multi-Family property managers need to stay on top of those preventive-maintenance tasks for which their residents are not responsible, especially during Spring cleaning season. Temperatures are rising, and units are turning over at the fastest rate of the year.

Putting in the Spring maintenance to avoid as much Summer repair as possible is nothing new; it’s the seasonal routine. However, there are a couple newer developments that suggest changes for the better in preventative maintenance for multi-family properties.

Labor is at a premium, so it’s even more critical to avoid break-downs and repairs of your appliances, but technology is advancing as an offset against the higher costs of repairs.

Now is a great time to look at preventive-maintenance best practices that will pay off for years instead of just the coming Summer.

The New Trend of Preventive-Maintenance for Landlords is the Use of Smart Appliance Software to Reduce the Time and Costs of Repair Labor.

Tenant-focused landlords are now turning to smart appliance software to reduce the time and costs of preventive maintenance. This is a new trend that is gaining momentum in the industry as it provides landlords with a way to optimize their operations and save on costs.

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Smart appliance software allows landlords to remotely monitor appliances, such as refrigerators, ovens, dishwashers, and washers/dryers. It can send alerts when there is a problem that needs attention. The landlord can then schedule service appointments and have professionals come out right away when needed. This prevents the need for emergency calls which are costly and many times unplanned.

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‍1. Evaluate Appliance-Management Software That Takes Preventative-Maintenance to a New Level

With each season, new capabilities in appliance management software emerge to better support property managers in their daily and seasonal routines. Be sure to revisit platforms and solutions that can deliver more time back in your schedule - especially in these hectic spring and summer turnover months. Enhancements to smart appliance software - even since last summer - will eliminate the time and cost of surprise appliance breakdowns by predicting and scheduling maintenance and replacements.

2. Communicate Energy-Efficiency Best Practices to Your Residents, and Ask Them to Be Your Eyes and Ears for Early Signs of Equipment Failure

Your residents see and operate your equipment every day. They are the first line of defense in avoiding costly repairs or replacements. The periodic phone call, text, or pop-by to see how the units’ equipment is performing is a sure-fire tactic to staying on top of repairs before they become replacements. Be sure your contact lists are up to date, provide small rewards for prompt response, and communicate energy-efficiency best practices; i.e.., target cooling temperature settings; and increase awareness with your residents of warning signs that equipment is starting to fail.

3. Train Staff on Use of Appliance-Management Software to Run Diagnostics and Automate Off/On During Turn-Over of Units.

Hosting a seasonal training session on your chosen appliance management software - a guided tour of features, basic functionality, and diagnostic tools - can give you hours in return during the spring cleaning season to attend to other priorities. You’ve trained your team to handle the appliance management basics. They’ll have a more complete picture of each units’ equipment status - in real time. Along with their regular maintenance checklists and unit inspections, they’ll have a more complete understanding of the repairs needed for each property.

4. Pre-Order Replacement Units and Parts to Avoid the Excessive Time, Cost and Resident Disruption of Today’s Supply Chain Delays and Labor Shortages

Warehousing your inventory of replacement parts and appliances may already be your standard practice, but with supply chain delays affecting nearly every manufacturer and industry as of late, it’s now essential that you build up your replacement parts inventory. Having those parts on hand and on site will ensure faster recovery times during an equipment repair.

5. Use the Unit Visits to Document All Appliance Details, for Input Into an Appliance Management Software System

Fortunately, a solution like SmartHQ Pro is cloud-based and can be integrated into any property-management software, with any brands of appliances; so no matter what appliances you have in place, be prepared to add them to a software solution like SmartHQ which can not only schedule preventive maintenance, but enable remote monitoring and control. This capability is especially valuable to multi-family property managers seeking to avoid as many physical visits as possible, and avoid as many unpredictable repairs as possible.

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