Having an AirBnb rental property, or several, is a great way to secure extra cash flow and keep your investment money in a safe place. However, there are dozens of variables you’ll need to consider to make the most value out of your investment and reduce risk.
One of the most important dynamics to consider in your AirBnb rental property management strategy is maintenance. All properties need periodic maintenance to stay in good shape and reduce more expensive issues down the line, but maintenance can also be time-consuming, complicated, and expensive.
How can you reduce property maintenance needs in your AirBnb rental without compromising the structural integrity or attractiveness of that property? In this post, as part of our Vacation Homes tips and advice section, we’ll try to answer that.
Choose the Right Property
Everything starts with choosing the right property from the outset. As you can certainly imagine, different types of AirBnb rental properties have different maintenance needs; some are higher maintenance than others because they have more complicated features or innate characteristics that make them harder to keep up with. Some are higher maintenance than others because they’re older and more susceptible to wear and tear.
Choosing a newer, simpler, more polished property can help reduce your maintenance needs substantially. Do keep in mind that this may also increase the average purchase price of the properties you consider – but it’s often well worth the extra money.
Watch this video to learn more:
Improve the Landscaping
With proper planning and a few adjustments, you can make any yard much easier to maintain. Since yard maintenance occupies such a disproportionate amount of your maintenance time and money, these upgrades and improvements are typically worth the investment. Using pathways and pavers can reduce the amount of grass you have to mow. Utilizing native species that require minimal intervention can cut back on trimming and general maintenance. And with the right touches, these changes can make the property more beautiful – and therefore more likely to remain occupied.
Practice Routine Maintenance
It seems counterintuitive, but the path to less maintenance includes more maintenance upfront. If you commit to a regular maintenance schedule, seasonally visiting the property and making adjustments as necessary, you’ll have fewer surprise maintenance needs and you’ll end up spending less money overall. Commit to visiting the property and practicing maintenance at least twice a year, doing things like cleaning out the gutters, changing out the air filters, and winterizing the property.
Schedule Periodic Inspections
A home inspection is typically inexpensive and quick – but it could alert you to potentially devastating problems that might otherwise compromise the value of your property. Once a year or once every few years, you should hire a competent home inspector and have them examine your property, inside and out. A good home inspector will find dozens of issues in almost any property, so it’s your responsibility to determine what’s worth addressing and what can be left alone. Still, if you catch potentially big issues early enough, you can reduce problematic complications in the future.
Choose Reliable Contractors
For all your maintenance, repair, and upgrade needs, it’s important to choose the most reliable contractors available. Even if it means spending a little more money, you’ll be entitled to much higher quality work – and future maintenance needs and repairs should be greatly diminished.
Respond to Issues Promptly
If and when issues do arise, respond to them as quickly as possible. Certain types of issues, like roof leaks, can cause much more damage and become more complicated if left unaddressed. The more proactive you are, the better.
Keep Your Guests Happy
Happy guests are much more likely to take good care of your property, so do what you can to improve their disposition.
- Communicate promptly and politely. Always communicate promptly and politely with your guests to maintain good rapport.
- Check in regularly. If you don’t hear from your guests, check in with them to see how things are going.
- Send appreciation gifts. Once your guests have been renting from you for a while, send appreciation gifts as a form of recognition.
- Raise rent only when necessary. Raising rent can be a complicated variable to consider. Sometimes it’s necessary, but you shouldn’t raise it without just cause.
The Ultimate Shortcut: Hire a Property Management Company
Of course, if you don’t want to mess with maintenance at all, you can always hire a property management company. Property managers are responsible for almost everything associated with property upkeep, from finding guests/tenants to mowing the lawn. As long as you have a property management company you trust, you can manage your rental property basically hands-off.
There’s no way to reduce your property maintenance needs to zero, but you can keep them in check with a proactive strategy. With a better property, better contractors, and a proactive mindset, you can save an abundance of time and money.
