A rental home’s garage affects the overall appeal of the home. However, some tenants who just want to preserve or improve that appeal could be damaging a rental home’s garage without realizing it. Damage does happen to garage interiors, garage doors, windows, and other elements, but it doesn’t mean that misuse or neglect caused it.
Often times, a well-meaning tenant just doesn’t have the know-how to properly clean or maintain a rental home’s garage. When that is the case, expensive and unnecessary repairs are often the result. By giving your West Allis tenants the right information, you can do a lot to prevent unintentional damage and keep your valuable investment in good condition.
A garage is an important part of a quality single-family rental home. A nice garage door improves the home’s curb appeal, while the interior, windows, cabinets, and even the garage door opener can have a big impact on a tenant’s satisfaction. But none of these elements should be neglected. All of them should be properly maintained to keep them working well. If an element of the garage is problematic, the whole thing could become a burden instead of a benefit.
The garage door, being the most visible exterior element, needs to have regular cleaning and maintenance to stay working properly and looking nice. A tenant could inadvertently damage a garage door in various ways, from not knowing what basic maintenance tasks are needed, to attempting to do these very tasks while using the wrong tools or cleaning products. For example, different garage doors are made from different materials. Some are painted, while others are vinyl or metal. Let’s say a tenant attempts to power spray a painted door clean, that could cause extensive damage to the garage door. They may be well-intentioned, but using the wrong tools to clean a door may cause big problems. Harsh household cleaners can also damage a door’s exterior finish, causing far more harm than good.
Beyond the looks, a garage door also needs functional opener, springs, hinges, and rollers to be able to close and open properly. These components can rust, wear out, or break over time and through heavy use. In fact, when a garage door is noisy when it’s being operated, it is a sign that the door’s hardware is in trouble and needs to be lubricated. This simple maintenance task can greatly lengthen the useful life of a garage door.
The windows, floor, and cabinets in a garage are generally the parts that experience unintentional damage. A leaking car engine could drip oil stains on concrete floors that aren’t easy to remove. Exhaust fumes, dirt, and other substances can get in windows and seriously compromise the tracks, locks, and glass. Cabinets may be crushed or broken by heavy storage items or even parking a vehicle too close. Similar to the garage door, all of these things can easily be prevented by making sure they are regularly cleaned and maintained. The problem is that a lot of tenants don’t know the proper way to do it.
As a case in point, if you have motor oil stains, you have to clean it using a process that is totally different from cleaning other substances. The correct tools and cleaning materials must be used so that cleaning it would solve the problem and not make it bigger. Harsh chemicals or scrub brushes can scratch or damage windows and window tracks as well as cabinets, but regular household cleaners may not be enough to get the grime off either. So that continued wear and further damage would be avoided, it would be better for a tenant to possess the correct information and also have a significant amount of oversight. This way, the rental home’s garage is sure to be kept in great condition.
Keeping track of a tenant’s cleaning and maintenance record can be time-consuming and difficult for property owners. Because of this, using a professional property management company to help make things easier is a really good choice.
At Real Property Management Greater Milwaukee, one of our goals is to help property owners equip their tenants on the proper care and upkeep of their rental homes in West Allis and conduct regular checks to ensure that such tasks are being done. The property management professionals in our team can shield your valuable investment from unintentional damage and prevent expensive and unnecessary repairs. To know more about what we can do for you, please contact us online or give us a ring at 262-309-6961.
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