How Do You Maintain and Repair Your Rental?

Run maintenance as a system: inspect the unit at move-in and once a year when entry is lawful, follow a seasonal preventive calendar, take repair requests in writing and sort them into emergency (fix within 24 hours), urgent (72 hours), and routine (10 days) tiers, and set aside money for replacements before they fail. These are suggested completion targets; Washington's legal deadlines govern when remedial action must begin. The emergency and urgent tiers fall inside Texas's 7-day presumption for health and safety repairs. For each job, decide whether you, a handyperson, a licensed contractor, a property manager, or the tenant should do it, and check licensing and insurance first.

What inspections should you schedule?

1. Move-in. Walk the unit with the tenant, fill out a room-by-room checklist, and take dated photos. Test every appliance, faucet, toilet, and the heat and air conditioning, and test each smoke and carbon monoxide alarm. Is a move-in inspection required covers the states that require a written record.
2. Annual. Once a year, where entry is legally permitted, inspect for problems tenants miss or do not report: slow leaks under sinks and around toilets, water heater corrosion, dirty HVAC filters, loose stair railings, failed caulk around tubs and windows, and roof or gutter damage. Give proper notice first. California does not allow entry for a general inspection; you need a permitted purpose, such as necessary or agreed repairs. For a permitted California repair visit, written notice must state the date, approximate time, and purpose, with 24 hours presumed reasonable if delivered and 6 days if mailed.
3. Move-out. Repeat the move-in checklist with the same photo angles so you can compare the two and plan turnover repairs.

What goes on a preventive maintenance calendar?

Log the date of each task and keep the receipts. The log shows when a component was last serviced and supports your budget and tax records.

How should tenants report repairs, and how fast should you respond?

Give tenants one written channel, such as an email address or portal, plus a phone number for emergencies after hours. Ask each request to include the problem, when it started, a photo, and whether you have permission to enter.

Washington's RCW 59.18.070 requires landlords to begin remedial action as soon as possible after receiving a tenant's written notice, with outside limits of 24 hours for loss of hot or cold water, heat, or electricity or a condition imminently hazardous to life, 72 hours for a landlord-supplied refrigerator, range and oven, or major plumbing fixture, and 10 days for everything else. These limits apply unless circumstances are beyond the landlord's control, and the landlord must complete the work promptly. Texas presumes 7 days is a reasonable time for repairs affecting health or safety. Your state's rules can be stricter; how much maintenance and repair is required by law covers the legal minimum and tenant remedies, and the California and Texas guides give state detail.

For each request, reply in writing the same day with the tier and a date, give entry notice, and record the date the work was finished. If a part or contractor causes a delay, tell the tenant in writing with the new date. Why to keep a record of tenant communication explains how that log works as evidence.

How much should you budget for maintenance?

Build the budget from your own property, in two parts.

1. Routine repairs. Add up the last 12 months of repair invoices for the unit. With no history, get quotes for the items on your calendar, such as HVAC servicing and gutter cleaning.
2. Replacement reserve. List each major component, its replacement quote, and its remaining years of life, and set aside the quote divided by the years each year.

A worked example using your own quotes: a water heater at $1,800 with 6 years left is $300 a year, a roof at $12,000 with 15 years left is $800 a year, and a furnace at $7,000 with 10 years left is $700 a year. The reserve is $1,800 a year ($300 + $800 + $700), or $150 a month.

Keep repairs and replacements in separate records for taxes. Under IRS Publication 527, you can generally deduct repair and maintenance costs in the year you pay them, but improvement costs generally must be deducted over time, a process called depreciation. The IRS lists a new roof, a water heater, central air conditioning, and new flooring as improvements.

Who should do the work?

• You. Small repairs such as replacing a faucet cartridge or a door closer. In buildings built before 1978, the EPA lead paint rule applies if you disturb more than 6 square feet of interior painted surface in a room or more than 20 square feet of exterior painted surface. Window replacement and demolition of painted surfaces are covered regardless of area, and prohibited work practices cannot qualify for the small-repair exemption. To do that work yourself, you need EPA firm certification and renovator certification.
• A handyperson. Minor jobs that need no permit. Licensing limits vary by state. In California, since January 1, 2025, an unlicensed person can take a job only if labor and materials total less than $1,000, no permit is required, and the person has no employees on the job.
• A licensed contractor. Anything that needs a permit and most electrical, gas, plumbing, roofing, and HVAC work, plus pre-1978 painted-surface work covered by the EPA rule, which a hired firm can do only if it is EPA Lead-Safe Certified. Before hiring, look up the license on your state licensing board's site, get a certificate of liability insurance and proof of workers' compensation, and sign a written contract with the scope, price, start and finish dates, and payment schedule.
• A property manager. Useful if you live far from the unit. The management agreement should set a dollar limit for repairs the manager can approve without you, an after-hours emergency line, response times for each tier, and whether the manager adds a fee to vendor invoices.
• The tenant. Small tasks such as yard care or replacing filters. California allows a written agreement for the tenant to maintain or repair stipulated parts of the unit as part of the rent, but a lease clause waiving the tenant's habitability rights is void. Put the tasks, schedule, and pay in writing, and keep electrical, gas, and structural work with licensed professionals.

For move-in steps, see how to help your tenant get set up.