Make Budgets A Breeze: 7 Takeaways you can accomplish during 3rd quarter preventive maintenance!

3rd quarter is the busiest season for many of us, as people shop for new housing, give notice, move out, turn the homes, and another moves in.  It’s also an important time to make sure everything is on track for quarterly preventive maintenance, since pests (bugs) breed quicker, A/Cs will perform better, and more. 

Here are 7 takeways you can (and should) do during 3rd quarter Preventive Maintenance that will make your budgeting a breeze…well, at least easier.

1.       Take the Property Manager along. It’s a perfect time to complete annual interior unit inspections without having to blitz it in a few days, and without an extra entry into our residents’ homes, and without finishing it late in the budgeting process.

2.       Take the Maintenance Supervisor along. It’s a great time for planning projects, and having the Manager and Maintenance Supervisor see potential issues together leads to better agreement in the actual budget process.

3.       Take a good form and old fashioned pen and paper along, even if you are using an inspection app.  No matter how good the app is, sometimes pen and paper keep you from forgetting something, especially if you note something that the app doesn’t have a line for, or something on property that needs attention now.

4.       Ask residents to leave a list of things they know need correction in their homes, and don’t forget to take it with you.  Take a photo of the list too, in case it gets lost or left behind. Typically there are more move-ins, move-outs and renewals in the 3rd quarter than the rest of the year, so it’s a great time to get residents’ feedback and fix anything a new resident has wrong, or act as a reminder to a renewing resident that we want to take care of their needs. 

5.       Take good notes. More apartments are turned during the 2nd and 3rd quarters, so if mistakes are made, this is a good time to catch them.

6.       Take good pictures!  We take a picture of the front door number before entering any apartment. That way we know we saw that apartment and we know any pictures that follow definitely belong to that address.

7.       Take your notes and photos, review and compile them after each day. Don’t wait, because even with pictures, you can quickly forget what a note meant. 

Here is an 8th Bonus Takeaway, and it might be the most important:  Take time to thank residents for making the PM easy, and thank staff for helping get it completed.  Leave a simple thank you note and treat behind for your residents.  For staff, a thank you lunch still tops the list. 

Budgets will be on us before you know it, so get a jump on it during 3rd quarter Preventive Maintenance with these 7 Takeaways. 

Any additional tips? Please share them!

Mary Gwyn, CPM

Making the World a Better Place One Lease at a Time!