- Tenants
- Process
When the repair clock starts: the tenant’s notice
Most state repair deadlines count from the tenant’s notice. What counts as notice in 12 states, who it goes to, and what to log when a request arrives.
· 5 min read
Property maintenance blog
Property maintenance, worked out In plain words
For property managers who run maintenance, from the team behind now ours. Emergencies, nights, vendors, tenants, property owners and the cost of a hire, in plain words with lists you can copy.
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Every post, by topic
Pick a topic to narrow the list. Each post links to the page that shows how our AI team handles the same problem.
Showing 30 posts
- Tenants
- Process
Mold after a leak in a rental: the first 48 hours decide the bill
Why the first 24 to 48 hours after a leak decide whether a rental gets mold, what to throw away, when to call a pro and what to log on the work order.
· 5 min read
- Tenants
- After hours
No hot water in a rental: the water heater call, start to finish
What to ask when a tenant reports no hot water, when a water heater call is a safety call, and the temperature setting the Department of Energy suggests.
· 3 min read
- After hours
- Tenants
AC not cooling in a rental: handling heat calls
What to ask when a tenant says the AC isn’t cooling, the heat illness signs that make it a 911 call, and the states that name cooling in their laws.
· 5 min read
- Owners
- Process
The monthly owner maintenance report: what to send and why
What a monthly maintenance report to a property owner should cover, how to split repairs from improvements, and a one-page layout you can reuse.
· 4 min read
- Owners
- After hours
Explaining an emergency repair to a property owner
How to tell a property owner about a repair you made without their approval: what to send, when to send it, and why the job could not wait for a reply.
· 4 min read
- Tenants
- Owners
Appliance repairs in a rental: who fixes what, and how fast
Who repairs a broken fridge, range, washer or dryer in a rental, what state law says about appliances you supply, and the safety checks at each repair.
· 5 min read
- Process
- Vendors
AppFolio work orders: what the Work Done button can’t tell you
How a maintenance request moves through AppFolio, from the resident’s request to the vendor’s Work Done button, and the follow-up your team still carries.
· 4 min read
- Process
- Vendors
Buildium tasks or work orders: which record holds the follow‑up
Buildium splits a repair into a task and a work order. What each one holds, from the resident’s request to the bill, and the follow-up left to your team.
· 3 min read
- Process
- Vendors
Rentvine work orders: what the settings automate, and what they leave to you
The Rentvine settings that assign, notify and move a work order on their own, from the tenant portal to the vendor’s close, and the follow-up left to you.
· 3 min read
- Process
- Vendors
Rent Manager service issues: what Resolved means, and who checks it
A Rent Manager service issue from New to Resolved: memorized issues, checklists and the Make Ready Board, and the follow-up a status can’t do for you.
· 3 min read
- Process
- Vendors
Propertyware work orders: several vendors on one job, and who keeps it moving
One Propertyware work order can carry several vendors, a comment thread and bills. Who keeps the job moving between trades, and the follow-up left to you.
· 3 min read
- Vendors
- Process
How to follow up with a vendor who isn’t responding: a cadence that works
A follow-up schedule for vendors who go quiet: when to nudge, what each text says, when to move the job to your backup and how to keep the tenant posted.
· 7 min read
- Tenants
- Process
Tenant maintenance communication: the texts that cut follow‑up calls
Six short texts to send tenants at each step of a repair, with timing rules and wording, so fewer of them call back to ask what is happening.
· 7 min read
- After hours
- Staffing
How to set up an on‑call rotation for a small property management company
Set up on-call for a small property management team: who goes first, the backup, handoff times, swaps, spending limits and on-call pay.
· 7 min read
- Process
- After hours
Answering service vs maintenance coordination: what each one handles
An answering service picks up the call. Coordination books the vendor, follows up and closes the work order. What each covers and what to ask first.
· 7 min read
- Process
- Vendors
- Tenants
How to confirm a repair is done before you close the work order
How to check a repair really happened before you close the work order: what to ask the vendor, one text to the tenant and proof to ask for by repair type.
· 7 min read
- Vendors
- Process
Repeat repairs on rental property: how to spot them and stop them
How to tell when the same maintenance problem keeps coming back to a unit, what to check before you send anyone, and when to call the vendor back.
· 8 min read
- Owners
- Vendors
Owner approval limits: how to set an NTE property owners accept
How to set a not-to-exceed (NTE) repair limit with each property owner: what you approve alone, what goes to them, and what happens in an emergency.
· 7 min read
- Vendors
- Staffing
In‑house maintenance technicians vs outside vendors: how to route each job
When a repair should go to your own maintenance technician and when to call an outside vendor, with a routing table, a checklist and the license questions.
· 7 min read
- After hours
- Staffing
What an answering service costs, and how to evaluate one
How answering services price after-hours coverage, the line items that raise the bill, and ten questions to ask before a property management company signs.
· 6 min read
- Owners
- Process
Maintenance markups and coordination fees in management agreements
Three ways property managers charge for coordinating repairs, how to write each into the management agreement, and why owners care most about disclosure.
· 7 min read
- Tenants
- Process
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in rentals: placement, testing and replacement
Where smoke and CO alarms go in a rental, how often to test them and when to replace them, from NFPA and CPSC guidance, plus the chirping alarm call.
· 5 min read
- After hours
- Tenants
A tenant smells gas: what to tell them, and what happens next
The script for a gas smell call, from gas utility and federal pipeline safety guidance: get out, no sparks, call from outside, then what the manager does.
· 5 min read
- After hours
- Tenants
Frozen pipes in rentals: prevention before a cold snap, and the call when one bursts
What to tell tenants before a hard freeze, which pipes freeze first and what to do in the first hour after a burst, from Red Cross, DOE and EPA guidance.
· 5 min read
- Vendors
- Tenants
Lead paint rules for repairs in older rentals
What the EPA’s disclosure rule and its Renovation, Repair and Painting rule mean for repairs and turnovers in pre-1978 rentals, and what to ask vendors.
· 5 min read
- After hours
- Tenants
“Is this an emergency, or can it wait until morning?”
What counts as a maintenance emergency
A written list of emergency, urgent and routine requests, and what happens next for each.
· 6 min read
- After hours
- Staffing
“I can’t keep sleeping with the maintenance phone.”
How to cover after‑hours maintenance calls without burning out
Five ways to cover nights and weekends, what each one costs and where now ours takes over.
· 6 min read
- Vendors
- Tenants
“The vendor goes quiet and nobody tells me.”
Why vendors don’t answer. What helps
The first text, the nudge schedule and the backup vendor that get replies.
· 5 min read
- Staffing
- Owners
“Should I just hire a maintenance coordinator?”
What a maintenance coordinator really costs
Salary, benefits and the hours one person covers, from public data with dates.
· 5 min read
Not an emergency service. For a fire, a gas leak or anyone in danger, call 911 or the gas utility.
Asked often
Questions
Yes. Copy the emergency list, the first vendor text or the weekly vendor check into your own policies and leases. Check them against your local rules before you send them to tenants.
Every salary, wage and rule figure comes from a public source, listed under Sources with the date we checked it. Prices and product behavior are ours.
No. Every post works with a phone, a calendar and your property management software. Each one shows where our AI team fits, if you want the work off your plate.
AppFolio, Buildium, Rentvine, Rent Manager and Propertyware. Work orders stay in your software, and that is where they close.
Next
Keep reading
- How it worksOne request, from tenant text to closed
- After hours and emergenciesWho gets called at 2:00 AM ET, and when
- VendorsJobs offered, chased and booked by text
- vs hiring a maintenance coordinatorCost and coverage next to a hire
- vs an answering servicePer-call billing next to $5 a door
- GuidesStep-by-step policies and processes
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