You’re sitting peacefully watching a movie with your family on a Saturday night when your cell phone’s ringtone blares with texts and calls about an emergency maintenance request. Your night has just taken a thrilling turn of helping the tenants in your Chandler, Arizona rental and trying to find a solution to their problem quickly.
This is the reality of what it’s like to be a self-managed landlord and rental property owner in Chandler, AZ. The minute your tenant signed a lease, you became responsible for providing a habitable property. All-in-all, this means you’re responsible for handling emergency maintenance requests – no matter what time of day or night.
Don’t let this scare you off, especially if you’re a new landlord. People deal with emergency maintenance requests all the time. With our simple five-step method, you can easily get your emergency maintenance situation under control.
Plus, we’re also sharing preparation tips at the end of this article to make handling emergency maintenance requests even easier.
How to Handle Emergency Maintenance Requests
It’s not uncommon to feel stressed and a bit anxious or overwhelmed when you receive an urgent call from your tenant. According to The Joseph Group from worrying about the structure and integrity of your property to the safety of your tenants, you may feel overwhelmed.
To avoid these feelings and to stay in control of the situation, follow the five-step method below to handle emergency maintenance requests.
Step 1: Remain Calm and Gather Information
The most important thing you can do when you receive a phone call or text with an emergency maintenance request is to stay calm. Avoid panicking or blaming the tenant for the situation.
Instead, take a deep breath and focus on finding a solution rather than figuring out what caused the situation.
While on the phone with your tenant, gather as much information as possible. Ask them what is happening at the moment and what they see.
Step 2: Evaluate the Situation
After gathering information about the situation from your tenant, it’s time to evaluate what is actually happening. In some cases, your tenant may claim they need emergency maintenance, but in reality, it can wait until the next day for your attention.
If you have deemed the situation an emergency, then you must evaluate what steps to take to resolve the problem. Do you need to call a professional? Can you handle the maintenance yourself until a professional can come take a look?
Step 3: Instruct Your Tenant
There may be some situations where your tenant can help remedy the problem. If this is the case, give your tenant instructions on what they can do.
For example, if a water pipe has burst, tell them how to shut off the main water valve to avoid the property from flooding.
Finding a temporary fix until you or a professional can get there can make the emergency much more manageable and less damaging.
Step 4: Call for Assistance
If you cannot fix the problem yourself or need a professional to come right away, then you must call for assistance. Be prepared to explain exactly what is happening on the property.
You may find that the professionals will have a quick solution for you until they can get there as well.
Step 5: Go to the Property
In some cases, you may want to go and check on your tenants and the condition of your rental property.
In other cases, it may be necessary to go to the property to make a quick repair to decrease the severity of the situation.
How to Prepare for Emergency Maintenance Requests
One of the last things you want to deal with as a landlord in Chandler, AZ, is being unprepared for emergency maintenance requests from tenants. Fortunately, there are some things you can do to prepare yourself – one of them is simply reading this article!
Aside from using our five-step method, you’ll find more preparation tips to use below.
Keep a Contact List of Professional Services
Before you need to call a professional for their services during an emergency, it’s a good idea to already have an idea of who you can call before it happens.
Research and talk to local services in Chandler to see if they handle emergency requests and what their rates are. When you’ve found someone you trust, add them to your contact list.
This list will be extremely helpful and keep your stress levels down in the event of an emergency maintenance request because you won’t have to frantically search Google for someone to call.
Determine What is an Emergency
You may find some tenants consider minor inconveniences to be an emergency. During the move-in inspection, explain to your tenant what you consider to be an emergency in terms of maintenance.
Make it clear when they have the right to call you in the middle of the night with a maintenance request. This will prevent unnecessary stress and maintenance calls during off-hours.
Prepare Tenants for Situations
It’s a good idea to leave a maintenance guide for your tenants when they first move in. You should also take the time to show them what to do in case of specific emergencies.
For example, show them how to shut off the main water valve or gas in case of an emergency. Better preparing your tenants will help keep your property in good condition and take the stress out of emergency maintenance requests.
Never Receive Another Emergency Maintenance Request Again
Imagine living in a perfect world where you collected your rental income each month without having the responsibility of answering maintenance requests or even acquiring new tenants for your property.
It’s possible when you work with a professional property management company in Chandler, AZ like Real PM Phoenix Valley. As part of the largest nationwide network of property managers, we offer owners complete assurance that your property is in great hands while still giving you complete control.
From acquiring new tenants to answering emergency maintenance requests 24/7 to maximizing your ROI, Real PM Phoenix Valley is here to help Chandler, AZ, landlords fulfill their potential and achieve passive income.
If you found this article helpful, read 10 Biggest Mistakes to Avoid as a New Real Estate Investor in Phoenix next.
