Stacks of investors dread the topic of property maintenance. That’s because maintenance can mean chasing up their property manager for updates, tonnes of back-and-forth emails and not knowing whether they’re paying the right price for the job. 

But with a proactive, tech-driven approach to property maintenance and a clear property maintenance plan in place, you can skip the usual headaches of maintenance issues. 

Let’s walk you through how we approach repairs and property maintenance at :Different and how we can help you solve any issues that might crop up with ease.

Property maintenance issues usually boil down to two things for investors: communication and price. Without a proactive property maintenance plan in place, it can be easy to blow out your house maintenance costs per year. 

Here’s what many investors find challenging about the traditional approach to property maintenance: 

• Slow to respond to tenants and book tradespeople: the longer it takes to address a potential problem, the less satisfied your tenants will be (and the more you might need to spend to fix the problem). 
  
• Multiple forms of communication: between emails, text messages and phone calls, it can be confusing to figure out the best way to reach your property manager. Plus, important details can get missed with so many communication methods to navigate.
  
• Not vetting maintenance requests: you only want to pay for real, legitimate repair requests. However, jobs may be approved without properly vetting them first, meaning you're unnecessarily out of pocket.
  
• Difficulties reaching property manager: being left in the dark about the status of repairs or maintenance jobs is a common experience for landlords, and can cause you stacks of time and stress trying to get a hold of your property manager.
  
• Not sure if you’re paying the fairest price: without benchmark data and a range of quotes to choose from, you might be left wondering if you’ve been ripped off or paying the right rental house maintenance costs.

You didn’t become a landlord to spend your free time on the phone or forking out your rental income on avoidable maintenance jobs.

But unfortunately, the traditional approach to property maintenance can cost investors stacks of time, energy and money. 

We saw the pain points inventors were facing when it comes to property maintenance and repairs. And when disputes or issues cropped up with maintenance jobs, the recordkeeping and communication channels weren’t in place to get these problems sorted quickly.

Clearly, this approach to maintenance wasn’t working for investors or their tenants. 

Instead, we rebuilt the way property managers, investors and tenants communicate. Our aim was to offer transparent, hassle-free maintenance that keeps everyone informed and in-control every step of the way. 

Here’s how we approach property maintenance at :Different:

• We give owners a single view on maintenance: using the Owner App, we give investors a clear snapshot of any maintenance issues (both past and in progress) so they can always see everything your tenant has logged.
  
• Our team reviews all maintenance requests before they’re sent to owners: once a request is received from tenants, we gather all the information needed to validate the request (including photos and video footage). This allows us to use our expert judgement to assess the issue before we send the request to the owner for approval.
  
• We give owners all the information they need to make fast decisions: we take the time to gather all the details about the problem (including photos, videos and detailed descriptions) at the start so we can give owners everything they need to approve the request swiftly and get the problem sorted. We’ve helped thousands of Australian property owners approve 73% of valid requests within 24 hours using our Owner App.
  
• We offer benchmark data so owners know they’re paying the best price: we give :Different owners access to benchmark pricing and data from across our network so they have an estimate of what they will expect to pay for each type of repair. These estimates give owners the confidence they’re not being ripped off and know they’re not spending too much on annual house maintenance costs.
  
• Our Property Partners have the expertise to resolve complex disputes and maintenance issues: each owner scores a personal representative that’s ready to help them navigate those tricky situations (like a dispute over repairs or maintenance). They’ll be the owner’s single point of contact (and a friendly face) to keep track of the issue and get it sorted out as quickly and effectively as possible.

We know that time is money when it comes to maintenance. The longer jobs take, the more it can cost owners (and the higher the chance of vacancy, too).

We care about transparency, which is why we publish live data on our website about our maintenance response times. Currently, 94% of requests lodged by tenants are processed in under 12 hours. Plus, 98% of approved requests are assigned to a tradesperson in 24 hours.

Here’s exactly how :Different’s approach to property maintenance issues plays out in a real-world scenario.

• Shortly after moving into your rental property, your tenants lodge a maintenance request through our Tenant App to fix a broken screen door. They upload photos of the problem and write a detailed description of the issue for our team to review.
  
• Our team receives this request and jumps straight on assessing the problem. We reach out to your tenants through the app to gather some more details to decide the best course of action.
  
• With a thorough report on hand and benchmark data of what we’d expect you to pay, we send you a notification through the owner app to review the request. On your lunch break, you quickly review the request and approve it in one tap.
   
• With your approval, we’re able to reach out to our trusted network of tradies and assign the most qualified person for the job. We liaise with your tenants to book a convenient time to repair the screen door. 
  
• Within a few days, the screen door is repaired and back in working order. Your tenants are happy knowing their concerns were addressed quickly and you’re glad to have the problem resolved quickly and efficiently.

So, there you have it. When it comes to resolving maintenance issues, our tech-driven and team-based approach make it easy and efficient for owners to keep their property in top condition. With an easy-to-use mobile app, every request is handled quickly and efficiently, with the data and information you need to make swift, confident decisions.

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