Dear Maintenance Men:
Dear Maintenance Men:
What is the normal time frame for a one or two bedroom
make ready? I have always heard the
three-day rule to get an apartment ready for rent. My units seem to be on the three-week rule!
How can I tighten up the process and turn my units faster?
Guy
Dear Guy:
The “Three-Day Rule” is a nice goal to strive for and
can be done. But, most units are not in rent ready condition when we get them
back from our departing residents. Here’s
a useful time table and work schedule for a one or two bedroom apartment
requiring complete paint, carpet, flooring, minor repairs, blinds and cleaning.
Day 1: Paint prep, trash out, minor repairs, removal of blinds, drapes, switch outlet plates etc.
Day2: Paint
Day 3: Carpet/Flooring
Day 4: Assembly of blinds, doorstops, switch/outlet plates, fixtures, accessories, toilet seat etc.
Day 4/5
Cleaning – General cleaning including windows & final inspection.
Good Luck, and always remember, “Plan the work and work
the plan.”
Dear Maintenance Men:
Normally I paint the inside of my units
with Navaho White paint color. I am
tiring of this color. What do you
recommend?
Dear John:
Navaho White has been around a long time. When it first
came out, it was a nice color, but it seems to date the units in today’s
market or makes them look old fashioned. We
currently use a color called “Swiss Coffee”.
It is half way between Navaho and pure White. This color brightens up any unit. The down side of using Swiss Coffee over Navaho is that you
must either use two coats of Swiss Coffee or use a primer coat before changing
the color, otherwise the Navaho color will bleed through the lighter color.
If you want to avoid the expense of a color change, you might try using
“Antique White” over the Navaho. Antique White is about half way between
Navaho and Swiss Coffee and it will cover the Navaho without using two coats.
In your enthusiasm, try to avoid using pure white as a color for your
rentals. Pure white is
uncomfortably bright for daily living and it tends to show all the defects the
other colors hide.
Dear Maintenance Men:
I recently allowed my resident to install a shower
surround tin their bathroom. The
old bathtub walls were leaking and causing damage.
I paid for all the material and the resident supplied all the labor.
Long story short. After all this work, the bath still leaks and the
bathroom is a bigger mess than when we started.
I’ve concluded I need to have a professional re-do the job.
Since my resident did such a poor job of the work, can I charge my tenant
for the new install?
Not Happy
Dear Not Happy:
Yikes! This sounds like a legal question to us. We will do our best to give you a “Maintenance Answer”. First, bartering or allowing your resident to make repairs may sound like a tempting way to minimize the cost of doing maintenance at your property. But, as you are finding out, it can be quite costly and it may place you in a precarious position when things go wrong. Not only are you responsible for all the parts and work, you are now an employer with all the liabilities that come with it. As for charging your resident for the new install, we feel that a call to your attorney would be good advice.
In future if the work is beyond your skill level, call a
licensed and insured contractor. Not
only will you get what you paid for; you will also have recourse if something
goes wrong. If you don’t know a
contractor, look in your local Apartment Association magazine or call your
Association directly, they will be happy to help. And remember using a resident to do work on your property is
never a good idea no matter how skilled they are. You will be exposing yourself to warranty and liability
issues.
Bio: