Let’s face it - as
Chicago investment property owners, all of us have occasionally had to defer the repair and maintenance of our properties at least once. Sometimes, due to financial constraints or due to lack of time, it seems convenient to put off the maintenance and repairs. However, what seems convenient in the short term always comes with a long-term cost.
Here are some of the serious risks you run if you are putting off maintenance for your Chicago rental.
#1. Higher maintenance cost in future
The stitch-in-time saying holds very true here. If you don’t get the maintenance of your property done in time, gradually, the cost of maintenance increases, as wear and tear spreads from one part of the house to another. This cost may multiply at an exponential rate depending on the nature of the problem, eventually costing you a lot more in emergency repairs than what you would have spent if you had gotten the maintenance done on time.
#2. Health and safety risks
By deferring your
rental property maintenance, you also increase the risk of health and safety hazards. For instance, a false ceiling requiring maintenance may injure someone if it is not fixed. Similarly, if a door needs to be repaired but you don’t get it fixed on time, your tenant may run the risk of a security breach. There are many other health and safety risks that accompany deferred maintenance of an investment property, so it is always better to get these issues fixed as soon as they crop up.
#3. Potential legal issues
Deferred maintenance may also lead to legal troubles for you. In case of injuries or building code violations, you may get sued by your tenant; if the matter goes to court and you lose the trial, you may be asked to pay thousands of dollars as recompense. Chicago rental property laws are very stringent when it comes to the maintenance of the property, and tenants have a lot of protection in the situations where a landlord doesn’t honor his maintenance-related obligations.
#4. Shorter property and asset life cycle
Deferring the maintenance of your single family house or other assets included in the property (such as appliances, equipment, fittings, etc.) can reduce the life cycle of your property/asset.
For instance, if the walls of your building have cracks but you keep deferring their repairs, eventually the cracks will get worse and spread all across the walls, thus reducing the strength, durability, and overall life of the home. Defer it too long and the cracks may result in serious damage to your walls, if not in the collapse of the entire structure.
#5. You may get a bad reputation
The world is a small place. If you habitually put off the maintenance of your rental property, your tenants are likely to give you a bad reputation, making you come across as a landlord who does not care for the maintenance of his property or the well-being of his tenants. Not only will this tarnish your image in social circles, it may make it very difficult for you to
find new tenants.
There are many risks associated with deferred maintenance of your Chicagoland investment property, apart from the ones mentioned above. The monetary cost of each of these risks may run into hundreds of thousands of dollars, so it is always better to get your rental maintenance done on time. If you have no choice but defer it for a while, due to unavoidable circumstances, ensure that you get it done as early as possible.
