Five Ways Your Rental Can Cost You Money During Cold Weather

As summer comes to a close and sweatshirt weather becomes the norm, it's time for property owners to start addressing items that can generate increased costs during the Winter months.

As a property manager myself, it's important that my properties cash flow in a relatively consistent manner throughout the year. Unfortunately, colder weather often brings unwelcome expenses related to deferred maintenance, plumbing issues, and mechanical breakdowns. Inevitably, the majority of these problems don't present themselves until we find ourselves buried in a foot of snow of surrounded by sub-zero temperatures.

Here are five common Winter issues to solve before they appear. Use these tips to save money, increase the life expectancy of appliances, and put more cash in your pocket!

CLEAN YOUR GUTTERS

Cleaning gutters often falls off of the radar with the plethora of other tasks to be done at a rental house. In reality, clogged gutters can cause many expensive (and hidden) issues at your property.

Gutters and downspouts are designed to collect water from your roof and direct it down and away from the foundation. Any deviation from this caused by leaves or other debris can cause water to back up, leading to rot and moisture at the roof line and fascia boards. Often times, these issues are hidden until the gutters begin to sag and pull away from the structure due to the rotten fascia boards.

It's good practice to have your gutters cleaned at least once per year, often in the early winter after all of the leaves have fallen off of the trees. Cleaning gutters at this time allows them to be free of debris and ready for any upcoming winter weather. Make sure your service provider is licensed and insured where applicable and utilizes the proper tools such as ladders or lifts. Ask if they can put you on a contract schedule and to show up at predetermined times throughout the year to provide service to save time. While you're at it, ask your provider to ensure that water coming out of the downspouts is directed away from the foundation by way of grading or corrugated pipe.

HEAT PUMP SERVICE

"My heat/air conditioning stopped working". The dreaded and often pricey call that all property managers or owners will eventually receive. Many times, these calls are a result of poor maintenance procedures. Heat pumps and AC units, like any other mechanical device, require maintenance and attention. Filters need to be changed, refrigerant levels checked, and units cleaned. In fact, dirty units and filters are one of the leading causes of unit breakdowns.

Having your unit serviced annually or semi-annually by a licensed HVAC tech will cost somewhere between $75-$125 per unit but is well below the cost of an emergent service call or unit replacement. During this visit, the tech will inspect all parts of your system, check refrigerant levels, and provide general adjustments as needed. They may even recommend changing out parts that appear to be at the end of their life such as capacitors. Scheduling regular filter changes will also help prolong the life of your system. You can trust your tenant to change the filters or have your service provider set up a reoccurring service to change them. Remember, if you allow pets in your property that filters may have to be changed more often!

WINDOW AND DOOR SEALS

Window and door seals help keep the warm air inside and the cool air outside during the winter. Overtime, these seals get ripped, torn, and dry rotten. You may start to receive complaints of higher heating bills or drafty currents around windows and doors.

Identifying bad seals may be difficult, but a good inspection program coupled with tenant interviews should be helpful in this endeavor. For our properties, we include both door and window evaluations in our semi-annual inspections. We ask our inspector to visually examine all windows and doors for both operation and proper sealing. This allows us to generate work orders for poorly sealed openings. Is this overkill? We don't think so. In fact, it helps us identify potential issues prior to having to replace an entire window or door unit. We'll detail out our inspection process in a later blog.

OUTDOOR FAUCETS AND PLUMBING

Outdoor spigots and exposed plumbing is a major issue in areas susceptible to colder weather. I would even go as far to argue that the middle of the country (North to South) is in the worst shape because our random snow and ice storms lead to poor preparation. Fortunately, there are a few steps that you can take while the weather is still decent to prevent frozen and burst pipes this winter.

A good evaluation of your crawlspace and exterior faucets is key to identifying potential problem areas. We recently took a multi-step approach to this issue:

- On our properties with outdoor faucets, we installed shut-offs in the crawlspace so that we can drain and isolate the fixtures when the weather turns cold. There should be little reason for your tenants to use these fixtures in the Winter time.

-In our duplexes, we have installed service faucets only within the crawlspace where allowed by the jurisdiction. Where these aren't allowed, consider an exterior faucet with a lock such as ones by Woodford. This will allow contractors access to water without having your tenants leave the water running or freezing the faucet.

-Finally, any exposed plumbing in the crawlspace should be encased in some type of foam pipe insulation. This insulation is cheap and easy to install. Make sure the secure it in place every few feet with a loop of electrical tape.

STAIRS AND WALKWAYS

Fall is a great time to address rotten exterior stair treads, decking, and handrails. With slips, trips, and falls a leading concern (especially when freezing temperatures arrive), there is never a better time to get ahead of the game with some preventative maintenance.

Take some time to evaluate the condition of all wooden, metal, and concrete components of exterior stairways and walkways. Pay particular attention to signs of rot, railings and posts pulling away from the house or decking, as well as spalling concrete. Each of these may indicate a problem which needs to be addressed.

Be mindful that snow, ice and even ice melt can damage outside structures. When using ice melt, ensure that the chemical used is compatible with the surface that it interacts with. Always factor in some repairs after a storm due to shoveling and snow plowing. Some of this damage is inevitable, although proper preparation will limit this significantly.

CONCLUSION

While there are certainly many items on your "to do" list. We have found that deferred maintenance is the number one stealer of cash flow in investment properties. While no one wants a property that nickle and dimes on a monthly basis, consistently performing maintenance and developing a system of regularly inspecting your properties will save money over the life of the property. Performing proper maintenance will also make the property more marketable should you decide to exit the deal in the future.

Ben Sears is the owner of Home Group Companies, a group of home service companies including Oak Road Properties LLC, Central Virginia Landscape Supply LLC, and Boyd Property Group LLC. Together, these companies provide turn-key maintenance services to landlords and property managers in the Southside, Virginia region. He can be reached by email at TheBoydPropertyGroup@gmail.com or on Facebook @TheBoydPropertyGroup