But here is the kind of number that might make you realize it is time to change your mind when it comes to your rental property venture: landlords who perform the maintenance in-house save on average $450 for each repair undertaken alone versus hiring a professional. But before you grab the tools of the trade and throw yourself blindly into the fray of DIYs, it’s time to hit the brakes. The challenge is not necessarily one of your abilities to perform the repairs, but of your decision to do so in the first place. This is because your rental property occupies a special niche between the realms of the investment and the residence.
1: The Money Math Is Effective
Now that the soft and touchy-feely stuff is out of the way, let’s talk about cold hard cash. This is likely what brings you to this page. When you call a plumber to remedy the drip sound in your kitchen sink, you are paying for his vehicle, liability insurance, license fees, and expertise in addition to the time it takes him to replace that annoying washer. $3.47 for the part at your neighbourhood hardware shop, plus $120 for that call?Ouch. However, what if you are among those who own several rental properties? This savings multiplies quickly. Do five washer installations yourself versus hiring the pros? Pocket $700. Repair three holes in the drywall, paint that bedroom yourself, fix that won’t-stop-running toilet? Now you’re talking thousands yearly savings. The National Association of Residential Property Managers puts the average annual cost of maintenance at anywhere between 1 and 2 percent of value. So, on your $300,000 rental investment, that could mean anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000 annual savings.
2:Response Time Is Critical to Tenant Relationships
Speed is critical for apartment maintenance. A small problem that isn’t addressed promptly spirals into a crisis—that’s what happens with that tiny leak that turned into water damage, mold, and an unhappy renter who is redrafting their apartment search list. A professional maintenance company has one thing that you don’t: their availability. They have systems in place for multiple emergencies at once.
However, the thing about DIY maintenance is that it’s better for the sake of prevention and less urgent issues. For instance, setting up a schedule to perform your own maintenance, such as air filter changes, gutter clean-out, or mowing the yards, allows for properties to be in top condition and eliminates the pressure of an urgent matter. For example, knock out the weekend with maintenance for several properties and take matters into your own hands, rather than fighting to balance the schedules of several contractors. A happy medium
3: Your Savings Are Determined by Your Skill Set
Do you consider yourself to be handy? A person who has changed a few lightbulbs in their lifetime is very different from someone who has spent their entire childhood changing items with their father, like remodeling homes. Depending on your degree of practical experience, performing your own maintenance will either cost you money or save you money.
Replacing air filters, patching tiny holes, painting light fixtures, cleaning gutters, and making minor fixture repairs are beginner-friendly jobs that new homeowners with little property management expertise should start with.
4: Investment Requirements for Tools Thinking Strategically
Look at any trade truck, and you will see a few thousand dollars’ worth of specialized gear inside. Well, that reality check looks different when you’re thinking about doing it yourself. A good cordless drill might cost you $150, a proper ladder another $200, basic plumbing tools cost around $100, which means you’ve already spent $500 on nothing, prior to any repairs.
However, being different from contract professionals who require the best equipment for their day-to-day operations, landlords can manage with medium-level equipment that is enough for sporadic maintenance jobs in their properties. Consider your toolkit an investment that, in the long term, brings you rewards, not in the short term. You don’t need to shell out $300 for a tile saw when all you’ll be using it for is your third renovation every three years.
Finally, consider adding specific tools as specific needs become apparent from the patterns that develop. Always working with plumbing problems? Buy a good pipe wrench and snake. Multiple properties with hardwood floors? A floor fix kit could be a good idea. Let your own needs from the patterns that develop dictate your purchases.
5 Your Reputation Is Shaped by Tenant Perception
Here’s another thing that isn’t visible in your spreadsheet but is extremely important: the signal your maintenance strategy sends to your tenants. A landlord who shows up himself to fix problems can be interpreted as either “I care about this place and you” or “I’m too tightwad to hire someone.”
All of this depends on how it is carried out.
When their landlord works hard and takes pleasure in the property, the tenants are ecstatic. A landlord that is proud of their property will have contented renters and fewer conflicts. Happy tenants will remain as such if they are treated as valuable assets. Nothing communicates that quite like fixing their problems right away.
6: Seasonal Planning Increases Productivity
Maintenance performed throughout the year for renting out properties also goes in cycles, and shrewd investors cash in by taking benefit of it. Rather than acting like Fireman Sam and acting each time a piece of equipment malfunctions, group similar activities and complete them all together. This helps turn DIY home maintenance from a nuisance-driven series of interruptions into productive work sessions.
It also involves HVAC maintenance prior to the arrival of spring, gutter maintenance after the winter, and painting while the favourable weather lasts. If it were fall, some of the involved chores include weatherproofing, HVAC maintenance, and preparing the yards for winter. To make these seasonal chores easier, it is also possible to create a seasonal maintenance checklist. Since one is already at the location for AC filter replacements, it also involves smoke detector checks that take two additional minutes. Since one has all the painting equipment handy for.one building, another building’s trim paint job is done quickly.
7: The Unspoken Price of Your Time
Now is a great time to come back to another point we discussed previously with more consideration: your time is worth money, regardless of your pricing structure. Each Saturday you spend painting the same old bedroom is a Saturday you are not spending on finding your next investment, time with family, or time rejuvenating. This isn’t just a cost; it’s compound interest.
Settle on an honest valuation of your time. If you are a high-earning professional with the ability to make $200 an hour in your day job, spending four hours on a task that saves you $150 on a repair job will not make you one penny. This will cost you two billable hours. If you are between jobs and like working with your hands or enjoy doing repairs, the financial savings will be pure income. Additionally, the skills you will have developed will be invaluable.
One other important aspect to keep in mind is the “mental load.” Being a landlord is already a challenging role, what with dealing with your rental property’s communication, finances, and so on. Having to handle maintenance is just one extra thing to worry about.
Pros
Balances financial incentive with real-world considerations, recognizing the cost savings inherent in the DIY option but pointing out the significance of time, skills, and tenant attitudes.
It provides a solid framework for decision-making and utilizes such categories as skill level, tool investment, and seasonal planning to empower landlords to develop a customized plan for their properties’ upkeep.
Furthermore, this category provides information related to which roof types and
These include the personal benefits, such as the establishment of tenant relationships through hands-on attention, or the preventative aspects of self-managed property upkeep.
Cons
Liabilities and Risks: Represents underestimation or understatement of liabilities or risks, perhaps as a consequence of a home improvement project that has derailed because of poor plumbing or electrical repairs.
It is assumed to be available and local to the landlord, which is not possible if the investor is far away and completely occupied.
Simplifies the trade-off of “mental load,” as the stress of DIY emergency repairs being done at all hours might very well outweigh cost savings for many landlords.
📗Sources
1: “Maintenance Cost Benchmarks for Rental Properties.” Industry Standards Report, 2024/2025, National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM).
2:The Appraisal Journal, “Operating Expense Ratios for Investment Properties.” The American Society of Appraisers