10 Very Common Rental Property Repairs

Categories: DIY Essentials Maintenance Care Planning Property Management Residents Safety

Published 05/29/2020

As a Property Owner, one of your most significant responsibilities is to keep up the property and repair things when they break. Although this can be high-priced and stressful if you budget and successfully plan for maintenance, you will have funds saved to handle these issues. Repairs tend to scare new landlords, but most maintenance issues are typically simple to repair. Even though you will rarely foresee when these issues happen, you can predict that they certainly will.

1. Appliances Not Working

Appliances have a lot of moving parts, and as such, tend to break down fairly often. Although the landlord can fix some issues, many problems will require a professional appliance repair representative. Unless a new appliance is needed, the typical cost to fix is between $50 and $100 per hour, and most repairs take about an hour. Used appliance stores exist in almost every town, and especially in the case of stoves, can be just as good as new.

2. Water Leak in Ceiling or Under Windows

Water may be required for the human body to survive, but it’s deadly to a rental property. If left unchecked, water can destroy wood, drywall, flooring, and virtually every other surface of your property. Even in small amounts, moisture can cause mold to grow, which can be expensive to remediate if it gets out of control. You should know if your property has water supply lines in the ceiling, so if there is a leak, you can call a plumber instead of a roofing contractor.

3. Water Leak Under Sink

A water leak under a kitchen or bathroom sink can have one of two causes: the supply line or the drain. About 90% of the water leaks under a sink are caused by the drainpipe fitting incorrectly. This is somewhat easy to fix yourself or hire a plumber who would charge you around $100 for this job.

4. Water Drip From Faucets

A slow drip from a sink or bathroom can end up costing you hundreds of dollars per year. Therefore, if you have a slow drip, get it fixed right away. However, occasionally the entire faucet will need to be replaced. If this is the case, do not buy the $18 faucet that is mostly plastic, and usually requires a replacement within the same year.

5. No Hot Water

If the tenant loses their hot water, it’s likely a problem with their water heater. If they need a new water heater, you’ll spend around $600 for a plumber to replace it. Although, it may be the heating element inside the heater, in which case you can hire a plumber for a couple of hundred dollars.

6. Bugs/Rodents

Dealing with pests can be one of the most annoying jobs for a landlord because it’s often the tenant’s fault. Bugs and rodents like crumbs, so tenants with clean houses rarely have a problem. That said, it’s still your responsibility to make sure that any infestation is taken care of. We tackle this issue on two fronts: educating the tenant and hiring a pest specialist to deal with the issue, typically costing a few hundred dollars.

7. Garbage Disposals

Garbage disposals break often, and this is mostly due to tenants putting things into them that never belong in a garbage disposal. If your garbage disposal breaks while a tenant is in the property and you need to fix it, there are generally two things that could be wrong. First, it might just be "stuck" and need an allen wrench to unstick it. Or the motor might be burned out, and you’ll need a new disposal, which might run a couple of hundred dollars including installation from a handyman.

8. Toilet Running

Toilets may be made of long-lasting porcelain, but the tank parts are generally cheap pieces of plastic that break all the time. Typically, small repairs like flapper replacements can be fixed with less than $20 of parts and an hour of labor from a plumber.

9. Clogged Toilet

If your tenant clogs their toilet, this is NOT your responsibility to fix. Problems that are caused by the tenant are the tenant’s responsibility, so let them call a plumber to deal with the issue. Or call a plumber yourself and bill the tenant for the cost. However, if the drains seem to be clogged in the bathtub or bathroom sink as well, this is a good indication that the problem may lie with your drain pipes, such as a collapsed pipe or a tree root that has grown through it.

10. Furnace Repairs

If your tenant's furnace needs repair, it could be as simple as the pilot light going out or as complicated as a gas leak. When your tenant calls, get a furnace repair specialist out to the property immediately. You may be able to prevent many furnace problems by replacing the furnace filter often, so be sure your tenant knows when to contact a specialist to save time on unforeseeable furnace repairs.

If your property is managed by Advent Properties, Inc. and you have an emergency maintenance service situation, please call (510) 359-5146. Please keep in mind that online requests should NOT be used for Property Care Emergencies.

If you have any questions about these common maintenance repairs and need assistance deciding the best action for your situation, please contact Darryl Glass at (510) 500-7531 or email dglass@adventpropertiesinc.com