Facility Maintenance Helps Prevent Loss and Makes Your Facility More Attractive to Prospective Tenants!
Take a drive around your area and look at the self-storage facilities. How do they look and compare against yours?
How your facility looks is one of the first things a prospective tenant evaluates when they are looking to rent a unit.
- Are there overgrown bushes and trees limbs hanging over the buildings?
- Is there graffiti on the walls on the exterior showing a possible high crime area?
- Are the sidewalks cracked or have peeling paint?
- Is there rust and dents showing on the buildings?
Not only do these issues turn off prospective tenants, but it can also increase your risk of loss.
Let’s start with overgrown bushes and trees. Not only is it unsightly, but it is also presenting a fire hazard to the facility. Wildfires send sparks flying everywhere and if there is overgrown brush and trees there is a higher likelihood of those catching fire and spreading to your buildings. Heavy winds can also pick up limbs and branches, flinging them against your structures and outdoor stored items causing damage. Some trees, if not maintained, become top heavy and have a higher likelihood of falling onto your buildings as well. The easiest way to prevent these issues is to not have any landscaping (other than gravel) at your facility. As easy as that is, sometimes it is not realistic. If you do have trees and shrubs inside your facility, make sure that they are maintained and trimmed. Have a landscaper come out and check to make sure all the trees are in good condition with healthy, strong roots.
Graffiti is the bane of many facility owners. Unfortunately, the only way to combat this issue is to have matching paint on hand to cover this up as soon as you see it. Make sure you walk around your facility once a day and a good rule of thumb is to have cameras set up. Signs that state this facility is under surveillance also makes the artists think twice before “tagging” your fences and walls.
Peeling paint and cracking sidewalks just look bad and could imply to a prospective tenant, and your insurance company, that you don’t properly maintain your facility. Not only that, but cracks in your sidewalk could cause a trip and fall hazard for people at your facility. Make sure uneven ground or steps are painted in a bright color to show the difference in height to prevent trips. Make sure the bollards/posts you have protecting your buildings are also painted in bright colors so people can see them clearly. Fix any cracks you see in the sidewalks and thoroughfares at your facility. DIY or hire a professional and in some cases this maintenance can be tax deductible. Be sure to let your CPA know what you have done and keep your receipts!
Buildings that show rust and dents are unsightly. When doing your daily walk through your facility take note of any new dents and get them repaired as soon as possible. The dents cause weak spots in the buildings and can remove the protective paint, which is where the rust comes from. Concrete posts/bollards help to protect your buildings from damage from vehicles. If you do not have these, you may want to invest in some. Especially if you have an area on your building that may be hit often. We generally see damage on the corners of buildings from the moving trucks people rent. Most people are not used to navigating such a large vehicle.
We have attached a simple check list you may want to use to keep track of the maintenance issues above or create your own specific to your facility. Your agent is knowledgeable in risk assessment and will be happy to help you!
StorInsure is prepared to help you and your facility have the best policy possible. Contact our office today to begin building or renew your policy.
