Buying your first rental property can be an exciting time for anyone. Investing in real estate is an undeniably excellent way to help secure your financial future, but it's far from easy money. If you're buying your first rental property, you may be surprised at how many issues you must deal with to create a safe and livable environment for your tenants.
While many new owners focus on flashy improvements that can help attract tenants, critical infrastructure such as plumbing is just as important. These three tips will help keep your property's plumbing from becoming a headache for you or your tenants.
1. Know Your Responsibilities
Landlord responsibilities can vary substantially between states. In California, your responsibility as a property owner includes ensuring adequate sanitation and functional, well-maintained plumbing. In practice, these requirements mean that you must prevent issues that can make your property unsafe, such as a lack of hot water, slow or backed-up drains, and non-functional toilets.
In addition to maintaining these aspects of your property, you must prepare to conduct repairs when necessary. If your property's hot water stops working or a toilet backs up, you'll typically need to resolve these issues as quickly as possible. Failing to promptly address problems that can affect the hygiene or safety of your tenants may lead to substandard housing violations and fines.
You should also become familiar with the location of your sewer lateral and any available clean-outs. As the property owner, the portion of the sewer on your land (the lateral) is your responsibility. If the sewer becomes clogged or requires inspection, knowing the locations of any clean-outs will help your plumbers deal with the problem more quickly and efficiently.
2. Keep a 24-Hour Service On-Call
One of the most important things you can do as a rental property owner is to develop a relationship with a reliable plumbing contractor that offers 24-hour emergency service. When a pipe springs a leak or a drain clogs, your tenants will contact you for help. These situations can develop at all hours and often require an immediate resolution.
California uses a repair-and-deduct concept that allows tenants to schedule repairs for urgent problems and deduct those costs from their rent. These unexpected costs may substantially affect your cash flow for the month, so you'll want to avoid these situations when possible. However, the law does require your tenants to provide you with a reasonable amount of time to handle the repair yourself.
By having a 24-hour plumbing service ready to go, you'll be able to respond to urgent tenant complaints quickly and efficiently. Issues such as an overflowing toilet or a major water leak can create severely unsanitary conditions, so you should always be ready to have a plumber respond to avoid costly damage to your property and further tenant complaints.
3. Don't Ignore Ongoing Issues
Plumbing issues can seem like they strike from out of the blue, but there are often warning signs long before major failures occur. When you live in a home, you can easily monitor these problems. On the other hand, spotting indications of trouble can be trickier when you need to rely solely on tenants who may not alert you until the situation becomes critical.
The best way to avoid unpleasant surprises is by paying careful attention to tenant complaints. Don't ignore reports of lukewarm water, unusual smells from the drains, or other clear indications of plumbing disturbances. In most cases, immediately addressing these issues will be much more cost-effective than making an emergency plumbing call.
You may also want to create a plumbing inspection checklist that includes items such as the water heater, shutoff valves, garbage disposal, and even appliances like the dishwasher or washing machine. If you aren't comfortable performing these inspections yourself, a plumber can help you perform an annual check-up. Routine inspections will allow you to catch ongoing issues your tenants may not notice.
Express Electrical Service can help you with all your property's plumbing needs, whether you need an emergency repair or routine maintenance.
Call us today if you're looking for a reliable partner to help you keep your rental property's plumbing in perfect condition.
