Top Tactics with an Austin Property Management Partner
Landlords across the country were enjoying the spoils of the last few years, when explosive rent growth was fueling strong bottom lines. The Austin real estate market was especially hot, making Austin property management a game-changer if you wanted to thrive in this competitive environment.
In the spring of 2021, rents began to increase as the height of the pandemic began to wane. In November of that year, rents peaked, with an annual average increase of 25.82%.
After a few years of this explosive rent growth, though, prices have come down. Between May 2023 and May 2024, for example, rents decreased 6% on average in the Austin real estate market, according to KUT Public Media.
At the same time, Austin rental property owners have had to deal with rising maintenance costs. Property Meld reported recently that the average cost of an invoice in 2024 is $501.07, compared to nearly half that amount ($272.87) in 2018.
The question, then, is how can Austin rental property owners deal with increasing property maintenance costs as rents decrease or stagnate? There are many ways, which we will discuss below, including partnering with an experienced Austin property management company.
How to Reduce Property Maintenance Costs
In real estate investing, it’s generally accepted that property maintenance costs should total about 1% of your rental property’s value, on an annual basis. If your property has a $300,000 valuation, then your annual property maintenance costs should total about $3,000.
Regardless of if you’re spending more or less than that amount now, though, it’s always a good idea to figure out how you can reduce property maintenance costs — without sacrificing quality in your Austin rental property, of course.
Here are some areas you should assess.
- Identify areas of “overspend”: Are you constantly paying to fix an old appliance instead of buying a new, more energy-efficient one?
- Set up regular maintenance: You can reduce property maintenance costs by ensuring that you’re planning and budget for it, rather than just reacting when things happen.
- Get service contracts in place: Having solid partners in Austin property management can help reduce costs for preventative maintenance, while also providing you cheaper rates as they serve as “on-call” helpers in emergency situations.
- Create an emergency fund: Setting aside money in a rainy-day fund will reduce and/or eliminate any potential interest you might have to pay on credit cards by paying for emergency repairs and/or ongoing maintenance with cash instead.
These are just a few simple steps you can take to reduce property maintenance costs.
How Partnering with an Austin Property Management Company Helps
You may be self-managing your Austin rental property because you believe it’s less expensive to do it yourself than outsource it to another company.
But, when you partner with an experienced Austin property management company such as 1836 Property Management, you can help keep maintenance costs in check while also keeping other costs low.
For example, a local property management company can conduct regular property walkthroughs and complete preventative maintenance tasks, which help lower the chances of high-cost repair bills.
Trusting an Austin property management company to run your rental property also often results in lower vacancy rates, a faster time to market and better priced rentals.
Not only that, but when you hire an Austin property management company, you’ll have experts on your team that can provide guidance and support in areas such as laws and regulations. By staying in compliance with local landlord-tenant laws such as the Texas Property Code, for instance, you can avoid potentially costly litigation and fines.
In the end, all of this adds up to a potentially huge savings of property maintenance costs rather than an excess expenditure.
Partner with 1836 Property Management
It can be challenging to turn a consistent profit in today’s Austin real estate market if you aren’t running your property properly, especially as rents have declined over the last year and property maintenance costs have risen.
One effective way to do so is to partner with an experienced Austin property management company such as 1836 Property Management.
We have a team of experts who have been dedicated to providing top-notch property management services to clients in the lucrative Austin rental property market. We can help you put your rental property in the best possible light, while reducing property maintenance costs at the same time — in turn maximizing your ROI.
To learn more, please contact us today.
