Rental Property Maintenance: 10 Things Every Landlord Should Do to Protect the House

The rental properties that hold their value aren't the ones that never break. They're the ones where someone catches small problems early. Most expensive repairs, like a collapsed ceiling, a flooded basement, or a cracked heat exchanger, start as something cheap: a clogged gutter, a slow drip, a filter nobody changed.

This list covers the 10 maintenance and property preservation tasks we see make the biggest difference, based on the more than 1,500 maintenance requests we complete each year on Detroit rental homes. Most of them apply to any rental. A few matter even more in an older housing market with cold winters, like Detroit's.

Maintenance vs. property preservation. Maintenance keeps a house working while people live in it. Property preservation protects a house from damage when it's vacant or between owners: securing it, winterizing it, and checking on it. Most landlords need both, because every rental goes vacant at some point.

1. Inspect the property at least twice a year

You can't fix what you don't see. Walk every rental at least twice a year, ideally once in spring and once in fall, plus at every move-in and move-out. Give your tenant reasonable notice before you enter. We give at least 24 hours.

Look at:

Ceilings and walls under bathrooms and near the roofline, for water stains
Under sinks and around toilets, for leaks and soft floors
The furnace, water heater, and electrical panel
The basement walls and floor, for moisture or new cracks
Windows, doors, and locks
The exterior: roof, gutters, siding, porches, steps, and grading

Take dated photos every time. They show you what's changing, and they're your evidence if there's ever a dispute about damage or a security deposit.

2. Keep water out: roof, gutters, and downspouts

Water does more damage to houses than anything else, and most of it comes from above. Clean gutters at least once a year, and twice if the house has mature trees. Make sure downspouts carry water several feet away from the foundation, not onto it.

Look at the roof from the ground each season for missing or curling shingles, and after any big storm. A few replacement shingles cost very little. A leak that runs for a winter can mean a new ceiling, new insulation, and mold remediation.

3. Service the furnace every year and change filters on schedule

The furnace is the most important system in a cold-climate rental. A no-heat call in January is an emergency for your tenant and an expensive one for you.

Get a professional tune-up every fall before the first cold snap. The technician should test the safety controls and inspect the heat exchanger.
Change filters regularly. Most standard filters need changing every one to three months. A clogged filter makes the furnace work harder and can cause it to overheat and shut down. Either change them yourself on a schedule or make it a clear tenant responsibility in the lease and check it at inspections.
Keep the area around the furnace clear of storage, especially anything flammable.

Our winter rental property checklist covers the rest of the cold-weather prep.

4. Check the water heater

Water heaters fail predictably, and when they fail they often leak. Once a year, check for rust or moisture around the base, test the temperature and pressure relief valve, and make sure the vent pipe is secure. Flushing the tank helps remove sediment and can extend its life.

Write the install date on the tank if it isn't already there. A unit approaching the end of its expected life is worth replacing on your schedule, before it floods a basement on someone else's.

5. Scope the sewer line, especially in older homes

Many Detroit homes are 70 to 100 years old, and so are their sewer lines. Older clay and cast iron lines crack, shift, and attract tree roots. When the line backs up, sewage comes up through the basement floor drain.

If you buy an older house, get a camera inspection of the sewer line before closing. After that, watch for slow drains in the lowest fixtures, gurgling toilets, and water around the basement floor drain. Some lines with root problems need cleaning on a regular schedule. It costs far less than cleaning up a sewage backup and replacing everything stored in the basement.

6. Control moisture in the basement and around the foundation

Basement water leads to mold, rot, and damaged belongings, and it's one of the most common sources of tenant complaints in older houses.

Check the grading. Soil should slope away from the house, not toward it.
Test the sump pump if the house has one. Pour water into the pit and make sure it kicks on.
Watch for efflorescence, the white chalky deposits on basement walls. They mean water is moving through the masonry.
Fix the source before you finish anything. Drywall and carpet over a damp basement wall will fail.

7. Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms

This one is about safety and liability, not just the house. Test every smoke and carbon monoxide alarm at each inspection and at every turnover. Replace batteries as needed and replace alarms that are past the manufacturer's expiration date, usually printed on the back.

Every rental with a gas furnace, gas water heater, gas stove, or attached garage should have working carbon monoxide alarms. In Detroit, alarm condition is also part of the city's rental inspection, which our Certificate of Compliance guide walks through.

8. Secure the property

Security protects the house as well as the tenant. Between tenants, change or rekey the locks every time. Make sure every exterior door locks properly, basement windows are secure, and exterior lighting works. Motion lights at the back and side doors are inexpensive and effective.

When a house is vacant, security becomes the main job. That's the heart of property preservation: keep it looking lived-in, keep it locked, and check it often. See the vacant property section below.

9. Respond to repair requests fast, and keep a record of all of them

A tenant's repair request is free early warning. A dripping faucet reported in March is a $20 fix. The same drip, ignored, becomes a rotted cabinet floor by fall.

Make it easy for tenants to report problems, respond quickly, and track every request from report to completion. Michigan law requires landlords to keep a rental fit for its intended use and in reasonable repair, so a written record of when a problem was reported and when it was fixed also protects you.

At our properties, tenants submit requests online, someone from our team contacts them within 24 to 48 hours to schedule the repair, and we assign it to a contractor who handles that type of work, and take before and after photos of every job.

10. Budget for capital repairs before you need them

Roofs, furnaces, water heaters, and windows all wear out. The question isn't whether you'll replace them but whether you'll have the money ready when you do.

Set aside part of the rent every month into a repair reserve. Keep a simple record of each major system: what it is, when it was installed, and when it was last serviced. That one page tells you what's coming and lets you replace things on your schedule instead of in an emergency.

If you want a starting point for what a Detroit house costs to operate, our property management cost guide and rental market guide cover the numbers owners most often underestimate.

How do you protect a vacant rental property?

Vacant houses get damaged faster than occupied ones. Nobody notices a leak, a break-in, or a dead furnace until the damage is done. Property preservation for a vacant rental means:

Check on it at least once a week. Walk inside, look for leaks, confirm the heat is on, and make sure the doors and windows are secure.
Make it look occupied. Mow the lawn, shovel the walk, pick up flyers and mail, and keep a light on a timer.
Winterize it if it will sit empty through cold weather. Our winterization guide covers vacant homes step by step.
Call your insurance agent. Many landlord policies limit coverage once a house has been vacant for a set number of consecutive days, often 30 or 60. Ask whether you need a vacancy policy or endorsement.
Shorten the vacancy. The best protection for an empty rental is a good tenant. Start the make-ready and marketing before the current tenant moves out.

Who should do rental property maintenance?

You can do much of this yourself if you live nearby and have the time. The harder part is having reliable contractors for everything you can't do, especially furnaces, plumbing, electrical, and roofing, and knowing they actually did the work. Check that any contractor you hire holds the right Michigan license for the job.

If you self-manage a Detroit rental and want the repairs handled without signing a management contract, our property maintenance service dispatches vetted contractors, schedules with your tenant, and sends before and after photos of every job. If you'd rather hand off the whole rental, see our full-service property management.

Frequently asked questions

How often should a landlord inspect a rental property?

At least twice a year, typically spring and fall, plus at every move-in and move-out. Give the tenant reasonable notice before entering, and take dated photos each time.

What is property preservation?

Property preservation is the work of protecting a house from damage, especially when it's vacant. It includes securing doors and windows, winterizing plumbing, lawn and snow care, removing debris, and regular inspections.

What maintenance is a landlord responsible for in Michigan?

Michigan landlords must keep a rental fit for its intended use and in reasonable repair, and comply with health and safety laws. In practice that covers heat, plumbing, electrical, the roof, and structural repairs. Damage caused by a tenant is usually the tenant's responsibility under the lease.

How much should I budget for rental property maintenance?

It depends on the age and condition of the house. Older homes need more. Rather than relying on a rule of thumb, track the age of the roof, furnace, water heater, and other major systems, and set aside enough each month to replace them on schedule.

How often should a rental furnace be serviced?

Once a year, ideally in early fall, with filter changes every one to three months depending on the filter type.

Can Great Lakes PMG handle maintenance for my Detroit rental without full management?

Yes. Our standalone property maintenance service is built for self-managing landlords and other property managers. You send the work order, and we dispatch, schedule, oversee, and photograph the job.