HMO Maintenance
If you own a HMO you will already know that the maintenance is never ending. With so many feet passing through the home you’ve created it is essential to make sure that you or your agent are checking the property monthly. Some of these tasks could even be checked by your cleaner.
To aid you in the process I’ve listed some of the things in our experience that can become bigger problems if let unchecked on a regular basis.
Monthly Check List
? Remove fluff, lint and clean the trays and filters on your washing machines and tumble dryers.
? Check all light bulbs are working including cooker hoods.
? Check your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are functioning and show no signs of damage.
? Check the salt in the dishwasher, keep those dishes sparkly.
? Check the boiler pressure and keep those tenants toasty.
? Turn on taps and showers to check for leaks and lime scale build up.
? Don’t let those little jobs turn into big jobs, keep on top of property maintenance.
But Why?
Apart from being an obvious fire risk, if you don’t remove the build up of fluff and lint, over time a dryer will stop drying and this could mean an expensive call out. Likewise, avoid a call out by checking filters on your washing machine. I’ve lost count of how many times a small coin, bolt or underwire has caused floods or pumps to fail.
The Dishwasher is the same, avoid call outs when your tenants give you their prognosis. The reality is they aren’t really that interested in trying to fix it themselves so they may not give you all the information you need. So attend, add salt and run a cycle.
You will be surprised how many tenants will ‘tamper’ with smoke detectors or cover them because of the flashing light or worse because they are smoking cigarettes in the property. Taking the covers off isn’t particularly easy if it isn’t something you do all the time so it is normally very obvious when they have been tampered with.
Problems with taps and shower heads are the kind of thinks tenants forget to report. It takes two minutes of your time and saves bigger issues from building up.
These are the things we check when we visit the HMO’s monthly. If you think this service is exactly what you need then get in touch. We can tailor our service to provide you with exactly what you are looking for, check our services here http://www.houseandhomepm.co.uk/services.
If you would like this Check List in a handy PDF document then get in touch and we’ll email you. Or if you would like to connect come and find me on LinkedIn http://linkedin.com/in/carey-cottingham.