The Fall Home Maintenance Checklist for Airbnb Hosts
You’ve got your property and are ready to put it on the short-term rental market, congratulations! Or you might be a seasoned veteran who is coming into fall off the back of a successful summer. Whoever you might be, if you’re looking to achieve positive ratings, high occupancy, and happy guests, you’ll need to maintain your property. Fall has a particular set of jobs that you should do and in this article, we’ll detail the most important of them. This should act as your fall home maintenance bible, so be sure to bookmark this and use it as a checklist over the coming months.
If you own a property that has an outdoor area that you’re responsible for, now is the time to take a closer look at trees and shrubs. These will have grown considerably over the summer period and will now need considerable pruning. Larger trees will likely require a professional to tend to them.
Remember that if you have trees that aren’t cared for, and they’re close to your home, you could end up with a substantially larger bill if it falls and cause damage. Or worse yet causes injury to a guest.
It’s definitely tempting to leave the gorgeous fall leaves across your lawn or yard as they carpet with dramatic colors of the season. The issue is this is only really beautiful for a matter of days before they turn to mulch and cover everything in decaying matter and dangerous slippery substances.
Cleaning the leaves makes for a far easier to maintain area in the winter/spring.
Following the above two points, your guttering and downpipes will have been coping with considerable debris during most of the fall months. If you’re very proactive you’ll do this multiple times over the fall season, but realistically waiting until the majority of the leaves have fallen and then clearing the gutters and downpipes then should be enough. This does mean climbing ladders and potentially getting onto the roof, a task that shouldn’t be undertaken individually or with disregard for safety.
A visual check of the exterior of the roof and potentially from within the attic will indicate any issues with the roof. If you have any doubts, ask a professional to carry out an assessment. Remember that roofing issues are considerably more affordable to deal with the sooner they are dealt with.
At the same time, walk the exterior of the property and look for any holes or damage that might have occurred since your last inspection. If you spot any be sure to seal them as soon as possible. As the temperature drops small creatures and critters will be looking to find somewhere warm to hole up.
Anywhere your guests are likely to walk around your property should be made as safe as possible to avoid slips and injuries. It might be time to replace gravel or chippings if you have them. If you have paving or brick-laid walkways look for cracks or loose slabs, these will get considerably worse as the weather gets cooler. If you can replace them now you’ll thank yourself later.
Yes, almost all of these tips are technically preparations for winter but in particular, it’s worth stocking up on winter supplies. Especially if your Airbnb is in a region that is affected by snow. Remember that guests might not live locally and will likely turn up relatively unprepared for the conditions. Make sure that you have shovels and scrapers, ice melt, emergency kits, and that you also have a contact who can clear snow when required if you’re not local and planning to do so yourself.
A quick walk around your property should include checking devices such as:
Many properties don’t have built-in AC units and instead make use of window units. If you are one such property now is likely the time to remove it, maintain the window it was sat in and store the unit. Make sure to properly clean down the unit to ensure that there is minimal corrosion over the winter months.
If you provide laundry facilities these will need to be deep cleaned and maintained. This is especially true for dryer vents. If large amounts of lint and dust build up in the vents they can not only cause maintenance issues but are a regular starter of house fires. There are many professionals that can complete these jobs for you.
After a long summer of working hard for your guests, it’s time to give your kitchen a freshen-up and a deep clean. More than a typical weekly clean, a deep clean will go into all of the areas usually skipped over. There are hundreds of professional cleaning companies available and you might feel that employing their services for this is a better use of your time.
At the same time as deep cleaning, check that all of your kitchen appliances are working and don’t have any broken/missing parts. Fridges and freezers often have broken drawers or shelves after heavy use. Ovens might have faulty lights or heating elements, and burners can get clogged. Check each one in turn and make note of any issues for professionals to deal with.
It’s coming to the time of year when the heating will be required more and more. Turn on the boiler or heating system and check each room is heating properly. This also means maintaining any open fires or log burners that you might have, including the chimneys.
Often overlooked, TVs, audio and internet can pick up issues over time but can cause major inconveniences for your guests. Check each device is working properly (including the remotes) and run a speed test on your internet. If it’s not functioning as you’d like, imagine how frustrating it would be for a guest. Check in with providers for assistance.
Every guest will expect to receive an Airbnb welcome book either just before or on arrival. This should be kept up to date based on the property's condition. In a perfect world, you’d have a welcome book based on the time of year too. Remember that the more specific and informative you can be the better your guest will receive it.
The list might seem long but it’s by no means exhaustive. Every property is different and has small nuances that make them unique. As you get to know your property you’ll understand what needs to be done and when. For now, this is a great starting point, so be sure to bookmark the page and keep it as your checklist.