If you are part of a homeowners’ association or work as a property manager, we don’t need to tell you that the dollars you set aside for maintenance and repairs can seem to fly out the window when you aren’t looking. After all, we live in an expensive world, and competitive housing markets are making better features and increased aesthetic quality a must-have part of your community.
Don’t worry, though. With a clearly-defined maintenance strategy at work, you can begin to get ahead of those necessary updates and repairs. This creates a little extra room in your budget and also will help to keep your stress level down. And, that’s what we like to see here at ALLBRiGHT 1-800-PAINTING! Stress-free, painting happiness is built right into our motto and culture.
What Is Your Property Maintenance Outlook?
As a sort of diagnostic tool, take a look below and see which of these descriptions is most similar to your current property maintenance outlook:
- Reactive – With your head down and fingers crossed, you keep hoping that a problem won’t pop up. No updates or repairs are made until absolutely necessary.
- Proactive – You fix issues promptly, but they still seem to come out of nowhere without a real pattern. And, much like with the reactive approach, the problems aren’t addressed until they can’t be ignored.
- Predictive – This is the more efficient cousin of the proactive approach. A predictive outlook means that you have a plan in place for regular improvements, and a budget set aside for emergency repairs. Sure, surprises may pop up, but overall you know what will be spent and when.
How Do You Build A Quality Property Maintenance Plan?
Here are a few tips and ideas for helping you to develop a consistent, predictive strategy:
- Keep a record of maintenance – This simple step will begin to tell a consistent story over time, and will help you to predict when a certain element of your property might need attention next.
- Budget – As your maintenance record becomes more complete, set aside a bare-bones budget to meet those predictable expenses.
- Prioritize – Start with those things that must be done, and then allocate some of the leftovers for the nonessential upgrades.
- Make it a team effort – In a friendly, engaging way, remind the members of your community that their care and responsibility will contribute to lower costs and increased quality of life for everyone.
- Make valuable investments – Some property upgrades will actually pay for themselves (and then some!) over time. Investments in efficiency, like quality windows and doors, are wise!
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it is crucial to maintain more than you repair. Nobody buys a new car, then decides that they would rather pay for a new engine occasionally instead of getting their oil changed. The same principle applies to your property maintenance needs.
Are You Looking For An Experienced Painting Professional?
The team here at ALLBRiGHT 1-800-PAINTING has extensive experience serving HOAs and property managers by providing quality, consistent, hassle-free property care. For more information, please peruse our HOA painting and maintenance services. It would be our pleasure to discuss your specific needs, and to help however you need us to!