Should I Handle Property Repairs Myself

Your phone vibrates. It’s a text from your tenant reporting that the hot water is broken. Well, here comes a thousand-dollar expense you weren’t planning on — unless you prefer to handle property repairs yourself.

Before you take ownership of handling maintenance, it’s important to ask yourself these questions to ensure you don’t end up causing more damage to your property.

1. How Urgent Is the Property Repair Issue?

Assess whether the problem needs to be dealt within the next hour, the same day, or by the end of the week. If you’re unable to handle the maintenance issue right away, then it may make more sense to contract a specialist to help instead.

If a pipe bursts and water is draining into the apartment, don’t spend extra time trying to get onsite and do it yourself. The extra damage will certainly cost you more than hiring a professional who can get there quickly and turn off the water.

2. Will This be Your First Time Doing Maintenance?

There is no getting around the fact that most first-time do-it-yourself projects will take a long time. For instance, if you are a novice at caulking bathroom shower tiles, then you could be looking at 14 hours of work and numerous trips to the hardware store. A project like this would take about an hour and a half by someone with experience.

With each repair, you should consider the value of that task, the cost to you in terms of time, as well as the cost to the tenant of not having that utility. If it’s a repair or maintenance issue that will be repeated again soon or needs to be addressed in multiple units, then it might make sense to go ahead and spend some extra time learning how to do it so that you can do it again, faster, and not have to hire someone.

However, if it’s something you don’t expect to encounter again in the future, there’s likely not much value in spending time learning how to do it. For a first-time DIY maintenance project, establish a limit upfront on how much time and money you’re willing to invest before deciding to take on a repair.

3. Is the Repair Worth Your Time?

Ultimately, it is up to you as the landlord to decide how much your time is worth and how much value you get from each new challenging repair. But be honest with yourself about how much an hour of your time is worth, how many hours it will take to make a repair, and what the opportunity cost would ultimately be.

If you’re not an experienced handyman, you’ll likely find that when you compare the cost of your time to a professional, it’s cheaper to go with the professional. Plus, the professional is more likely to provide superior quality. If the repair isn’t urgent and you decide that you have the time, move on to the second question.

4. Do Property Repairs Need to Legally be Done by a Licensed Professional?

Before you start any work, it’s advised to do a quick google and find out whether a license is required to complete the maintenance task. Certifications are often required when you’re responsible for the habitability for another individual and there could be health or hazard risks involved.

The most common issues that require licenses are around electricity, plumbing, and environmental hazards.

5. How Risky Is the Property Repairs Work?

If you find you don’t need a license, you should still apply some common sense to how risky the project is. If there’s a chance that the work could result in electrical hazards, fires, gas leaks, water leaks, exposure to asbestos or mold, then it’s time to consider a licensed professional.

Most professionals go through extensive training to handle risky work and are also insured in the event something goes wrong. You may just feel better with the risk on their shoulders rather than yours.

6. When Should You Call a Licensed Electrician?

If it’s a high-voltage project or there’s potential for severe injury or fire, then get a professional. Examples include:

  • Running new wires: Working with running wires requires a professional.
  • Flickering lights: If your lights are flickering, then the electrical current is not meeting the demand for the task. This issue could be caused by factors such as having too many appliances plugged into various outlets that are using an abundance of electricity, improper wiring, or even a lack of available power current from the electrical company. A professional electrician will be able to test and provide an accurate solution to the issue of flickering lights.
  • Dimming lights: If the lights are dimming, then there could be a problem with an appliance pulling or utilizing too much current and causing a drop in voltage. There could be an issue with a circuit or possibly the wiring of the dwelling.
  • A non-working outlet: An outlet not working when you plug in different items could mean a tripped circuit breaker, a loose wire, or another problem. It could be a complicated issue, which needs a trusted electrician for an evaluation.

7. When Should You Call a Licensed Plumber?

Many plumbing projects are okay for the DIY landlord, especially with all the tutorials and guides online. However, there are times when calling in a professional plumber is the best option. Permits are required for things like bathroom remodels or moving existing plumbing. 

A professional will also know when a permit is required. You will need a professional licensed plumber when there is:

  • Main line stoppage: Any time the toilets back up into the tubs or showers, the problem is most likely the main plumbing line. This usually requires special equipment that most landlords don’t have.
  • Shower valve replacement: This can be a complex and time-consuming project. An expert can help you pick out the right valve for your shower. It can be terribly confusing and there is also the possibility of damaging the shower walls in the process — a professional will know how to change the valve with the least amount of damage (if any) to the walls.
  • Water heaters: It is not recommended to work on your own water heater without experience or proper guidance. There are a lot of things that can go wrong during a water heater repair. An apparently simple adjustment may end up making a leak worse or causing more damage.
  • Tub replacement: This is a big job — even for a professional plumber, so we recommend hiring a professional.

8. When Should You Call a Professional HVAC Specialist?

As a landlord, you know how important is it that your tenant be comfortable during their lease by ensuring that the heating and air conditioning units are in peak performance. Keeping the heater and/or central air working is also often a legal requirement. Clogged filters, dirty thermostats, sooty flues, leaky ductwork, and unlubricated fan motors can reduce efficiency by 25%.

Some of these maintenance tasks are simple while others require a trained professional. An annual service call by a licensed technician will check belts and filters and replace them as needed. The technician will also oil moving parts and inspect the wiring. A professional also needs to check the heat exchanger, flue and ducts, and adjust the burner every other year. Oil-fired burners require adjustment of the jets. 

Although air conditioners are less maintenance, a professional will still need to replace the filters, vacuum out the unit and lubricate the motor. If the unit is not working properly a technician will have to check the pressure level of the refrigerant.

9. When Should You Call A Licensed Professional to Remove Environmental Hazards?

As the landlord, you are responsible for the habitability of the rental. Although most sources say that surface mold can easily be removed with a bit of soap and water, you’re better having a licensed professional handle this. Not because you can’t do it yourself, but because you’re too much on the hook if you assess the issue incorrectly, and it was a more serious mold problem.

The same goes for other environmental hazards, including asbestos removal, lead paint removal, etc. These are hazards that very seriously affect someone’s health.

10. When Should You Call a Professional for Pests?

If a pest problem arises, identify the pest and the extent of the infestation. Some pests can be kept out by blocking points of entry. Quality sealant or knitted copper mesh can be used along baseboards, pipes, drains and other access points to seal cracks and repair holes.

The earlier you respond to a pest situation, the less invasive any remedies will need to be. If it’s already late into the game and the pests are rampant through the house, you’ll likely need chemicals to remove them. At that point, call in a professional. You need to be licensed to handle volatile chemicals.

Pest problems? Read our tips on preventing pests in the future.

11. Are There Resources Available to Guide Me?

It can be extremely confusing and a real challenge for someone who is not in the profession of being a full-time handyman to undertake even the simplest of repairs.

Because of this, you have to weigh the cost of every repair in order to access whether it is worth your time and effort, if you have the knowledge to do it in a reasonable amount of time, or whether it is time to haul in the professionals.

Obviously, there are a ton of videos on YouTube explaining every little detail of a maintenance project. If you’re looking for more general and hands-on learning, consider a home improvement class, typically offered by a local hardware store.

If you are struggling to find online resources, or you can’t quite understand the resources you are finding, it’s probably a good idea to not attempt the repairs yourself and bring in a professional.

Use these best practices of handling maintenance requests to keep your tenants happy.

Handle Property Repairs Safely

For every repair or maintenance request in your rental property, you’ll need to determine whether you have the time and the skills necessary to complete a particular repair, if there are resources to assist you, if you are willing and/or able to turn over the work to your tenant, or if a professional is needed.

To help keep track of maintenance issues and completed repairs in your rental properties, as well as making it simple for tenants to alert you about maintenance issues, use a maintenance tracking tool. Learn more about the Avail maintenance tracking feature designed for independent landlords managing maintenance in their rental properties.