When you invest in a property, be it an individual house, a villa, an apartment, or an entire building, it needs to be maintained well. This will not only ensure your investment is safeguarded and earns you a good profit but will also ensure all your tenants are kept happy.
If you are a tenant in one of the apartments in NYC, chances are you are paying a ransom for your monthly rent. When you spend so much, it is understood that you would settle for nothing but the best maintenance and comfortable living. If your building does not have a contractor to look into all repairs and other regular maintenance issues, it is high time you asked your owner for one.
Building Maintenance
Let’s take a deeper look into building maintenance to understand what all services come under it and why they are essential for a comfortable living.
- Cleaning – No one would be happy to live in a run-down, nasty-smelling apartment or building. While maintaining the cleanliness of the apartment is in your hands, maintaining the building is in the owner’s.
Any building will require the floors to be swept and mopped regularly for a hygienic environment and other basic cleanings. Ensuring the drain pipes are clean and unclogged is very important too.
When birds are involved, it can make life hard – very hard! You will have to clean out the bird poop and nests regularly to ensure the area does not stink and also to maintain the health of the building. Like how bird feces are not safe for humans, it can cause severe damages to the buildings too.
- Removing Waste – Any building will require the garbage and other wastes to be removed daily. This will make the place look neat and clean and essential for healthy living.
Though a tenant can take out the garbage independently, having a garbage chute is the best option for a building with many homes. When the garbage is dumped in the wrong manner, it will get stuck inside the chute and stink up the entire building.
A property management company handles and disposes such wastes to ensure comfortable and stress-free living for the tenants and owners.
- Snow Removal – Winters can be tricky in NYC. When there is a lot of snow, everyone gets stuck indoors. Though there are agencies that shovel snow, it is always good to have a person on hand to shovel out the snow.
In a high-rise building or even a small building where more than one family is staying, the snow can cause a lot of havoc to daily lives.
When you have a company in-charge of maintaining your building, they are responsible for getting rid of the snow as soon as possible and also ensure the pathways and driveways stay clean.
A property management company in New York City should be aware of the weather conditions and when it will snow. Based on this, they need to keep a person or the equipment ready to shovel the snow.
- Follow Codes – The government has a number of codes to follow when it comes to a property in NYC. You will have to ensure the building construction or expansions do not go against the codes.
If any of the codes are violated, you as a tenant will suffer first before the owner is put to the task or fined. If the building gets sealed or authorities visit the premises, you will have to answer them, even if it takes you just a couple of minutes.
A property manager will be in charge of handling all disputes, the legal formalities after a violation, and ensuring all codes are adhered to.
Building Repair
Most of the buildings in NYC have a super who lives in the premises or is in the premises the entire day. This handyman will be able to take on small repairs and help you out in need. When there are big repairs that require professionals to interfere, the property manager can bring in a technically sound team.
Some of the repair needs regularly can be:
- Jammed doors and windows – Calling up a professional to come and nudge your door out is not feasible. No one will come for such a task either. When you have a person around who is equipped to do this, it can save you a lot of time and effort.
- Heating System – The in house heating system is essential during winters. If your heating system is acting up, you need to attend to it immediately before you and your family get affected by the cold. The demand for such professionals will be high in the winter time. Finding a new person who will come and attend to your heater immediately is very unlikely.
A property manager will have such professionals on his payroll and will be able to help you out immediately.
- Elevator – If your building has an elevator, it requires regular maintenance to ensure no one gets stuck inside or has to run down the flight of stairs during an emergency. A property manager will be in-charge of keeping track of such regular maintenance and will also be able to get repairs done in time. Since they have a team and good contacts in this industry, they will be able to help you out without much delay.
Ask For A Property Manager
If your owner is not providing you with these basic services or a property manager to handle all this, be sure to ask them for it and negotiate a deal that can be effective from your next rental cycle.