Property Management Blog

Spring Cleaning and Maintenance Tips for your Southwest Florida Rental Property

Springtime in Southwest Florida comes early and doesn’t last long! With temperature and humidity changes, we go from our ‘dry season’ to our ‘wet season’ which runs from May through October. So March and April make for a good time to ensure you home is prepared.

Following are some cleaning and maintenance tips for your rental property:

1. Create separate checklists for cleaning and maintenance. Keep these as a record for your knowledge and in case any questions from tenants or future buyers may have. This also allows you to check off work done and make notes of any items needed to complete a task.
2. Start with a visual inspection of both the interior or exterior of the property.
3. For the exterior make sure to check the following:
   1. Check the gutters for clogs and signs of any damage on downspouts, screening, rodent use, or leaks.
   2. Check for water damage. Make sure to check door and window frames, sliding door frames, siding, decking, and if safe to do so and with a buddy nearby, check the roof for any damaged or missing shingles, vents flanges, chimney, etc.
   3. Manage your landscaping to ensure drainage leading away from the home, sprinkler system, and use approved products to take care of any weed, rodent and insect control.
4. For the interior, it is also good to look for any damage, especially those that can be caused by moisture. 
   1. Inspect all plumbing to the best of your ability. If you see any sign of a leak, what appears to be mold, or high moisture reading, do not wait to call a licensed professional.
   2. Check any security system, your HVAC system (make sure to change your filters as recommended, and we highly recommend having your system inspected/maintained at the minimum on a yearly basis), window and door frames from the inside, any caulking, grout, or tile that may need to be cleaned and sealed.
   3. Test the fire alarm system, smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and any hurricane protection items (shutters, fasteners, tie downs, etc.) you may have within the home for use during an emergency.
   4. Lastly, look up!! If you see any discoloration on your ceiling or anywhere around your windows, it is a good idea to call a roofing company to inspect the roof just to be sure. There is nothing worse than waiting and finding out it was indeed a roof leak during one of our famous mid-summer torrential downpours.

The most important thing is that if you see something that needs to be repaired, replaced, or inspected further, do not hesitate to call someone for assistance if it is beyond your abilities. By waiting to fix it, you may find yourself in the middle of the rainy season and too late to prevent further damage. 

Thank you for reading the Home and Condo blog, we hope you found this information useful, and if you have any questions about property management for your rental, give us a call for a free rental analysis.

Sincerely,

Home & Condo Staff