With how moody Houston weather can be, it is a bit difficult to know when "true" winter is coming to town. Most landlords or investors only think of professional property managers as people who get tenants, handle everyday maintenance and collect rent. You have never probably thought of us as part of your First Responder Team!
Just as the Fire Department advises property owners to clear brush away from homes, label circuit breakers, and have emergency supplies on hand we have a disaster plan.
Some typical things that we routinely update monthly, quarterly, or annually are:
- Have current insurance and emergency contact info for you and our tenants
- Tenants are highly encouraged to have Renter's Insurance
- Our phone system is on the cloud with recordings and cell phone backups in event of emergency
- All files including tenant leases, accounting, and maintenance files are electronic and backed up remotely
- Vendor contact info is available on our cell phones as well as our property management software and accessible remotely.
- We periodically conduct drills just like Fire and Police so if the unthinkable happens everyone knows what to do.
Once the event has passed it is up to the property manager to:
- Assess damage
- Get bids for repairs
- Overseeing the repairs
- Manage frazzled nerves of tenants which could mean finding alternate housing for them
- Working with insurance companies to get reimbursed for damages
