It’s mid-season, but it isn’t too late to pick up on some of the summer maintenance that should be done in preparation for the new arrivals that might come with the fall… or who have already moved in. If you’ve already done you summer preparation on your property, take a look at this list and make sure you didn’t forget any important steps.
Don’t Neglect Summer Maintenance on Your Property
You may have been busy (or still are busy) getting things together for the annual group of new arrivals that move in between May and September. With so much on your mind, it’s entirely possible that you’ve let a few things fall by the wayside that ought to get done sooner rather than later.
Start outside, which of course is where potential residents will first see your property for themselves. Make sure that you have adequate lighting outdoors for both safety and aesthetic reasons. If there are any outdoor common spaces, you want them to utilize and enjoy those areas, which would be difficult without lights once the sun went down. You also want to highlight walkways in order to prevent accidents and liabilities when they return inside.
If there are grassy areas, trees, and/or plants on your property, make sure they’re taken care of. Grass should be cut regularly, plants or flowers should be watered, trees should be trimmed when appropriate, and so on. If not, they will not only look unappealing, but they could be a risk for pests or disease which, particularly in the case of a tree, might be a safety hazard later on. Flower beds should be mulched so that they’re healthy and lovely, but consider conservation of water when keeping them alive. Also, remember to pull out any weeds that peek through the cracks of sidewalks and other spaces in order to keep your property looking sharp and maintained.
If your property has any common areas like decks or patios (including roof decks), then clean them regularly. When the sun is out and the weather is nice, people will be using these spaces a lot! It may be that you need to replace some of the foundation, particularly if you had a rough winter. Consider a paint job or purchasing new furniture to spruce up the area. Also, ensure that there are enough garbage cans in the area so that residents don’t leave their trash lying around (or, if they do, have it cleaned regularly to lessen this and enforce rules about trash).
The last outdoor tip to consider is to look through gutters and window wells and to remove build up that may clog or block them. Leaves, twigs, and other runoff have likely been wedged in those spaces after a rainy spring and they won’t all go away on their own.
In indoor common areas, there is still work to be done this time of year. One big consideration is whether or not the air conditioning units are all functioning well. Have them serviced, if needed, and remember that doing so can actually save you money by replacing old, less-efficient units with better models. Along the same lines, have windows and doors checked to ensure that there are no gaps that let in warm air, which will make air conditioning much more difficult. It can also let in insects, which your residents will be less than happy about.
Have you checked fire and carbon monoxide alarms lately? These devices often go forgotten unless they begin “chirping” as a result of low batteries. You should try and test them “several times a year,” though, to keep your residents as safe as possible.
Finally, take a look at the floors or carpet in the common areas and try and recall when you last had them cleaned. It’s likely that they’re due for a deep cleaning, particularly after a few months prone to rain, and therefore, mud. This can help to remove allergens from those areas in a big way and will, of course, make it all look nicer. It’s cheaper to regularly clean floors and/or rugs rather than to replace them entirely, so if you’re money-minded, consider this fact.
There are a lot of things that you can do now, both inside and outside, to keep your property looking its best. Summer maintenance is an important part of managing a property, and though it may seem tedious at times, it’s very important. SKYLINE Property Management & Accounting Software, which is offered by Anton Systems, has a Facilities Maintenance and Processing Module. This way, you can work with a powerful software solution in order to cover all aspects of summer maintenance without any trouble. SKYLINE can enter detailed maintenance requests for service providers to get the call out while also tracking time and material expenses and identify payment responsibility. With so many features, you have to get in touch with Anton Systems to see how SKYLINE can aid your maintenance work today.