Just in case you haven’t heard, Christmas is right around the corner. This means many different things to many different people, but one thing it means for many businesses is that it’s coming up to a very busy time of year.
The lead up to end-of-year for many trade businesses means there is a high demand for jobs to be finalised before people start to wind down and perhaps head away for the holidays. What this may mean for you as a landlord is that unscheduled maintenance and repair work may take a little longer to be completed, depending on the trades you use and the demand in the area.
If a tenant’s request to have something fixed in your property can’t be completed by your preferred trades-person within a reasonable time frame, speak to your property manager – if you haven’t already – as they have a range of reputable trades and companies they work with to help ensure that jobs can be completed as quickly as possible.
If you are aware of upcoming repairs, maintenance or work that needs to be completed at your property, talk to those undertaking the work about the time frame needed to complete that work because during busier times, this time frame may be slightly extended.
Your property manager can and will help in negotiations, to ensure that there is as little disruption to your tenants as possible.
It’s important to remember that in some circumstances, time frames may change unexpectedly, but having clear communication with tenants regarding this is important.
For larger scale work, it may be beneficial to organise work to be completed while the property is vacant in order to avoid disruption to tenants.
As well as this, keep in mind when it will be that your property will be ready to go back on the rental market so you can avoid slower periods.
If you are planning on any work being completed over the Christmas period, it’s best to check availability and time frames with trades and services now.
For regular scheduled work, there should be little to no disruption.
Your property managers are experienced in ensuring trades and services are available over the busy period and will ensure that appropriate notice is given to tenants.