Spring Clean Means Good Business

Monday April 8, 2013

For most people spring cleaning entails a weekend where the winter cobwebs are blown away and springtime is heralded, whatever the weather may say to the contrary. For a property management company the spring clean is part of our regular maintenance schedule for properties that have tenancies due to end in the summer. It is a vital part of our service to both landlords and tenants since it ensures the property is in first class shape which in turn means it is able to command a premium rent.

Our in-house maintenance teams are familiar with all our tenants since they operate a twenty four hour emergency call out service to handle any problems connected with the properties we manage. This familiarity means the team can schedule any work to fit in with our tenants’ lifestyle. For example, if a tenant is working shifts we will arrange to carry out any repairs while they are at work, even if this means working in the evening.

We start our spring clean with a visual inspection of the outside of the building noting the condition of the paintwork, roof, gutters, garden, fences and walls. We check if any work is needed on trees and bushes and in particular are they impinging upon a public footpath or a neighbours garden. Next our team of tradesmen will arrange a convenient time to check the interior of the property testing smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and any electrical equipment installed. This last is important since a tenant may not report a broken extractor fan but the gradual build up of condensation can cause bigger problems for the structure.

No spring clean would be complete without touching up paintwork which has become scuffed over the winter. We realise that in any home skirting boards can get scuffed, doors scratched when moving furniture and finger marks can discolour paintwork. At the same time we check if carpets, curtains or furniture need specialist cleaning to be scheduled in.

It makes sense to start tackling these small jobs in the springtime because doing so maintains the property in ‘as new’ condition meaning happy tenants and no voids for the landlord when the busy summer changeover period comes. Our tenants love our spring clean program because their home comes out of it looking brand new. For landlords it makes business sense. There is the assurance their property is maintained in top condition and we are able to proudly state that our spring clean program is one of the reasons we have never had a deposit dispute with any of our properties at the end of a tenancy.

Happy tenants, happy landlords, daffodils blooming and birds singing. This would be a perfect springtime picture if only our maintenance teams could do something about the north east weather.