Commercial property owners must keep their buildings in good condition to satisfy their obligation to renters. Attentive maintenance also enables them to maintain their property’s value and marketability.
Ways to Keep Your Commercial Property Tidy
Here are a few important ways to handle your property’s maintenance effectively and affordably.
Establish a Comprehensive Commercial Property Maintenance Plan
Creating fixed policies and procedures will help ensure your property remains in good condition. Addressing problems early on can lessen the scope of work you must do to complete individual maintenance tasks and repairs. Staying ahead of potential issues makes a building less vulnerable to structural damage from significant weather events. In this respect, a proactive approach to handling your property’s maintenance can spare you from commercial property insurance claims or costly repairs that interfere with tenants’ regular use of the premises.
Conduct Regular Inspections
Even when a tenant owns a property, owners want to stay apprised of what is happening there and how well a tenant maintains it. Remember that commercial renters may need more time to report problems, even when their lease agreement requires them. It is partly because commercial property rents are difficult for many businesses to afford, and renters understandably worry that their landlords will charge them for repair needs. It often holds true even when a maintenance task falls under a landlord’s responsibilities. Some owners may seek to recoup their losses by raising rental prices upon renewal.
Request regular access to the property with reasonable notice to the tenants. Incorporate inspections as a requirement in lease provisions.
Undertake Capital Improvements As Needed
Delaying capital improvements can make keeping a commercial property in good shape challenging. Putting off structural repairs such as concrete restoration or forgoing the replacement and modernization of a building’s systems, such as heating and cooling equipment, can result in hazardous conditions.
A capital needs study can give you a sense of what you should do to maintain your property in the coming years. If you need to perform costly repairs, seek financing or lending opportunities to offset some of the most immediate financial toll associated with big projects and spread payments out over time.
Use a Well-Drafted Lease Agreement To Rent Commercial Property
Tenants who rent commercial property generally have more responsibility for maintenance and repairs than residential tenants. Define responsibilities clearly in the lease agreement that you use with your tenants.
Premium commercial property rentals typically command higher rental rates, and maintenance represents one of the most significant add-ons to what property owners charge their tenants. In buildings that rent office space to high-paying clients, owners or managers are commonly responsible for much more than essential maintenance of the building’s systems. They also see to the day-to-day upkeep of the building, waste management, snow removal, and basic cleaning.
Keeping your property in good shape will protect the investment that you’ve made it. It will also facilitate long-lasting, successful tenancies.
About Haughn & Associates
Founded by Michael Haughn in 1986, Haughn & Associates is a full-service, family-owned, independent insurance agency based out of Dublin, Ohio. H&A strives to provide the best possible price and unique insurance solutions across a myriad of industries, including construction, IT, Habitation & Commercial Property, Agriculture, and Engineering. Devoted to providing the best of business insurance, life and disability insurance, personal insurance, employee benefits, and bonds, H&A is proof that success lies in long-standing client relations and satisfaction. To learn more about how H&A can be of service to you, contact us at (877) 802-2278.
