Regular maintenance in the fall can save property owners significant money and stress down the line. Here are five things to do to prevent minor problems from becoming major this season and beyond. HVAC Tune-up Preparing the HVAC system for the colder months is essential to keeping the property comfortable and energy efficient. Change air filters regularly to improve air quality and system efficiency. Clean out air ducts to ensure proper airflow. Have maintenance inspections for thermostats and upgrade to a smart programmable thermostat for better energy control during the winter. With the changing season, send email reminders to residents to keep up with the air filter changes with a quick maintenance request in their resident portal. These steps prevent potential breakdowns and improve energy efficiency, lowering utility costs and making the property more appealing to energy-conscious consumers. Roof & Gutters The roof is the first line of defense against winter weather, making fall the perfect time for any necessary maintenance. Inspect for loose or missing shingles to prevent leaks. Check chimneys, vents, and skylights to ensure the flashing is sealed correctly and free of cracks. Gutters are crucial in safeguarding the property’s foundation and roof. Clogged gutters can lead to water overflow, damaging the siding and foundation. It’s essential to clean out leaves, sticks and debris that may accumulate during the fall. Check downspouts to ensure water is being directed away from the foundation. Inspect for any gutter damage such as cracks, sagging or leaks and have maintenance repair them promptly. Regular gutter maintenance during the fall can prevent costly water damage, foundation erosion and ice dams in the winter. Weatherproofing Weatherproofing a property is not just a comfort issue. It’s also about saving on energy costs. Improve energy efficiency when a resident...

Once you submit your maintenance request via RentCafe client portal, you may have to wait a few hours before a technician completes service—unless Jorge Blanco is your maintenance tech. He’ll probably be finished before you can answer the front door. Jorge Blanco, service manager with Yardi client Kettler, is the reigning National Champion of the National Apartment Association’s (NAA) 2016 Maintenance Mania. He won with a record-breaking 1:11.618 completion time of eight tasks. Yes. Eight. Blanco competed in an elimination-style qualifying series against 4,000 maintenance professionals from across the nation.  In the end, 20 finalists remained. The group competed at Maintenance Mania during the NAA Education Conference and Exposition in San Francisco. Contestants raced to complete the following tasks: A.O. Smith water heater installation CFG faucet repair Fluidmaster toilet repair Frigidaire icemaker installation Kidde fire and carbon monoxide safety installation Kwikset key control deadbolt teas Seasons ceiling fan installation Racecar derby The last task is not something that most maintenance specialists face on the job. It requires the DIY construction of a model car that must integrate three maintenance products. The car must make its way around a track and to the finish line before its creator can reign as champion. Blanco is no stranger to Maintenance Mania. He has won the championship four times since the competition started 10 years ago.  He believes that he has held the title for so long because Kettler provides a supportive environment for employee training. “Kettler has provided us with a facility that we rent, me and the other technicians, giving us a place where we can actually practice for the event,” says Blanco. “That’s where we practice the ice maker, the Fluidmaster, the smoke detector, and things like that. I think that by them providing that...

This isn’t your typical spring cleaning list. Learn how to transform basic seasonal care into value-added improvements. Interior If utilities are included in your billing, early spring is the perfect time to assess your fuel costs. Buildings often consume the most fuel during the first two quarters of the year. At this point, you can get an estimate of whether you will operate in deficit or surplus for the rest of the year. Fewer surprise costs for renters can lead to greater tenant satisfaction and retention. Consider installing smart home or connected home technology this spring. These devices can ultimately help to protect your property, improve efficiency, and maximize tenant comfort. If you’re using disposable filters, replace them at least every three months to ensure optimal efficiency and air quality for your tenants. If you’re interested in reusable filters, they are now more affordable than ever. They require greater upfront investment but they can last for five years. Reusable filters are also better for the environment. The downside is that they must be cleaned and dried monthly or they will begin to decrease in efficiency. Requesting that tenants test their air condition systems at the end of winter. This way, you can get a jump start on any needed repairs before your vendor gets slammed with requests in the spring and summer. Early spring can be the perfect time to cut back unruly branches and shrubs, especially for fast-growing varieties like crepe myrtles and forsythia. Keep foliage at least five feet away from the building, window screens, and roof. Tidy landscaping can improve resident retention and minimize costly property damage. It’s time to stock up on supplies at spring cleaning sales. An ample supply of bulbs, machine batteries, water filters, air filters, and such...

For the past several years, the southeastern United States has been slammed with ice storms in the first quarter. You can’t stop the ice from forming, but there are several steps that you can take to keep your leasing office staff as safe as possible. While weather forecasts are known to issue false alarms, ignoring a warning can lead to dangerous repercussions: impassable roads leave employees stranded at work and their kids stranded at school; fallen trees can cut power supplies. The weather warnings are not always accurate, but the cost of ignoring them may outweigh the benefits. Use these tips to guide your staff safely through ice storm season in the southeast. Ensure that snow and ice removal equipment is ready for action. Check that property management, vendors or maintenance staff have properly prepared for the season. This is especially important if the equipment needed is kept onsite and rarely used. Jack Drobny, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Troy-Bilt, offers maintenance tips for dormant machines. “If you try to start a snow thrower after it has sat for a while, it might not start,” he says frankly. “The first thing that you’ll want to do is remove the smart plug boot, ground it to the engine block, and clear away any external engine debris,” he says. Drobny then suggests adjusting the skid shoes and shave plate, which are particularly important for breaking up ice. Once those items are secured, Drobny recommends inspecting the belts for signs of damage, checking the oil and adding fresh fuel as needed. “By taking care of those things early, you won’t be left out in the cold.” Keep additional fuel, spare batteries, and chemical ice-melting products onsite when possible. Such supplies can make parking lots and sidewalks safer...

Mobile tools are all about immediacy and action — and when it comes to maintenance, that means responding more quickly, entering and completing work orders from the field, and getting real time updates to ensure the right work is done at the right time. Yardi Maintenance Mobile offers the convenience of creating, updating and closing work orders from a mobile device, with the ability to include photos and notes as well as add technician labor and inventory to work orders — and the information is automatically updated in Yardi Voyager®. For Wesley Fonseca, maintenance technician at Post Glen near Atlanta, Ga., Maintenance Mobile has been a game changer. “I’ve seen my time management get so much better with Yardi because of how I’m able to access the work orders on my smartphone. Maintenance Mobile has helped me save time in that I don’t have to print the work orders. I can map out my whole day and give certain spaces for emergencies and that sort of stuff. I have the ability to add and drop work orders, and sign them off in the field. Also, being able to have what I need at my fingertips, right on the spot, has helped me be more time efficient.” In addition to improving efficiency, mobile tools help improve retention by providing great service to residents and tenants. “Maintenance Mobile is a good selling point as far as the residents are concerned because everything is so technologically advanced now. They expect to see technology in use,” Fonseca says. “The residents have their place where they can put the different time of whatever day that they prefer for us to visit. They like being able to submit requests online, have us receive them, and then fix things and document...

Winter is in full swing, bringing with it unpredictable cold fronts and unpleasant, icy storms. Keep your property and residents safe with these simple tips for winterizing your apartments. For Owners HVAC Tune-up Seasonal inspections of your heating and cooling systems will ensure that they are operating at optimal efficiency. It’s also a great idea to make sure that ducts are properly sealed and insulated, which can cut costs by 20 percent or more according to EnergyStar.gov. Stock Up on Salt Make sure that you have enough salt to help defrost walkways, exterior stairways, and inclines throughout the parking lot, entrances, and exits. If the weather drops below 16 degrees for several hours, you may consider a beet juice, molasses, and cheese brine defrosting cocktail.  If your community rarely experiences freezes and doesn’t have a plan in place, speak with your maintenance team to set a schedule or assign a technician in charge of defrosting the premises. No one wants to be surprised with such a task at 4am. Arborist Inspection Have an arborist inspect trees for rot, damage, disease, and pests. Branches that are weighed down by snow and ice are prone to fall when they’re already weak. The National Storm Damage Center reports that trees damaged by severe weather cause more than $1 billion in property damage each year. The arborist’s inspection could save you millions by preventing property damage and injury to your residents. Text Alerts If your property does not have a text-alert system for residents, consider establishing one. Use this system to notify residents of extreme weather conditions and fallen trees across nearby thoroughfares. It’s a small touch that can save time and keep residents safe. Extinguisher Check Be sure that fire extinguishers are inspected per fire department code. Scheduling inspections in the...

Yardi® clients can now easily access thousands of The Home Depot® products either in store or online with a click of a button via the online procurement system offered with Yardi Procure to Pay™, a fully automated end-to-end procurement and invoice processing platform. The Home Depot has set the standard for innovative merchandise for both the do-it-yourselfer and the professional contractor and its global customer base also encompasses commercial and multifamily property owners and managers. The Yardi Procure to Pay system enables The Home Depot purchase orders and invoices to flow through an automated, customized online approval workflow, giving property owners and managers insight into all purchases and ensuring complete purchasing compliance. For clients currently using Yardi PAYscan™, access to The Home Depot catalog is available at no additional cost and no implementation is required. In addition to online purchasing, registered clients can also walk into any of The Home Depot’s nearly 2,000 locations in the U.S. to make in-store purchases. Those purchases automatically update online purchase orders and are invoiced through Yardi Procure to Pay. “We are thrilled about our new business relationship with Yardi. Property managers now have a compliant ordering solution with the option of selecting same-day, in-store pickup or even delivery from The Home Depot,” said J.T. Rieves, vice president of The Home Depot Pro Business. “The Home Depot will leverage its thousands of U.S. locations, vast distribution network and outside sales team to become a strategic supplier of maintenance, repair and operating supplies and building materials for our very important property management customers.” “The Home Depot’s impressive catalog of products and resources is a major addition to our national network of partners, and further expands Yardi Procure to Pay to be a true one-stop solution for MRO supplies with...