This is California, meaning it’s impossible to own property without worrying about fires, floods, earthquakes, drought, and a list of potential disasters. There are also the more common catastrophes specific to your Santa Rosa rental property; kitchen fires and burst pipes or a tree that crashes upon the roof.
Some things are preventable, but the real emergencies are hard to avoid. The best thing you can do for yourself, your property, and your tenants is to be as prepared as possible.
We’re talking about creating a comprehensive emergency plan.
It won’t fix everything, but it will help you to feel less helpless if the unthinkable should occur, putting your investment at risk.
Benefits of Proactive Planning for Santa Rosa Rental Property Owners
It always feels better to be proactive, especially when something happens, and there’s an immediate place to turn: the emergency plan that was created when everything was fine.
While having a detailed and easy-to-implement plan in place ahead of time won’t necessarily avoid an emergency, it will make that emergency easier to deal with. You don’t want to find yourself scrambling to figure things out in the middle of a fire, an earthquake, or a plumbing disaster.
Surely you’ve heard that the best offense is a great defense, and rental property owners can defend themselves and their properties against all the uncertainty and fear that comes with emergencies by having a good plan in place.
There are several things to address in your emergency plan, but some of the most important things to be thinking about ahead of the planning stages include:
- Exits. For example, if you’re renting out a multi-family property, you’ll want to ensure that all the exits are clearly marked.
- Lighting. If all of your tenants need to vacate the property immediately or in the dark, they’ll need to know exactly how to get out, and emergency lights will help.
- Structures. If you’re renting out a single-family home, make sure it’s up to code and not vulnerable to any potential natural disasters that could occur without warning.
- Communication. Include all the necessary contact information in your emergency plan. There should be instructions on what to do if there’s an earthquake or a fire, or a break-in.
Double-check that the property you’re renting out is compliant with all safety laws and codes. For example, the latest regulations around earthquake strapping on water heaters may need your attention.
Create an Emergency Checklist
Get a checklist in place that will lead you through important steps that will be required during any emergency. Make sure you keep this checklist updated, depending on new safety standards, best practices, or threats.
- Who is In Charge? Start by knowing who your local first responders and authorities are. You’ll need to know which state, local, and federal agency will be best equipped to help you. Put together a checklist of people to contact. That might be FEMA if there’s a major wildfire or an earthquake, for example. It might be hospitals and poison control centers if a toxic leak impacts your rental home.
- Insurance. The next thing on your emergency checklist should be ensuring your insurance policies are up to date. Document the condition of your property and all of the appliances you have inside of it. Before you have a tenant move in, take a video that shows how the home looks. If there’s damage from a disaster, you’ll have proof of what the property looked like before the emergency.
- Follow Plans. Prepare your own protocols. When an emergency actually occurs, you want to be able to go directly to your plan of action. When you have a standardized model of how you’ll respond, you’re going to feel more prepared and empowered.
Timing is everything. Your checklist is best put together when you have time to sit down and think through potential problems and solutions. You don’t want to be making a list of things to do when you’re in the heat of an emergency. This will lead to desperate decisions that may not be the best. When you already have an action plan in place, you’ll simply have to follow it.
Time will be of the absolute essence when an emergency shows up. If water is coming through a ceiling in your rental property, someone will have to mitigate that damage before your plumber or water restoration company can arrive. Tenant communication and information are critical to keeping damage and costs under control.
In the case of a larger emergency, remember that first responders and emergency personnel are going to be busy. When there’s an earthquake or something impacting all of Santa Rosa, a lot of people will need help, so if you know how to stop the damage from actively occurring on your property, you’ll be in a much better position.
Educate Your Santa Rosa Tenants on Emergency Planning
The best way to protect your investment during an emergency is to work with the tenants on site at your property. They’re going to be the ones who need to act quickly before help can arrive. Would your tenants be able to turn off the water supply if they had to, for example? Make sure you show them. Do they know where the breakers are? Create a map or a diagram. Or, show them during a walk through. Will they understand how to respond if they smell gas? Provide instructions and make them easy to understand.
Tenants are your partners when it comes to maintaining your home. They’re the first to notice when an emergency occurs, and you need to make sure they’re prepared to take the critical first steps in protecting themselves and your property.
As you’re discussing the lease agreement before your tenants move into your property, review what should be considered a maintenance emergency. Depending on whether it’s an emergency or a routine fix, there will likely be different ways of reporting needed repairs. You’ll likely want a phone call for emergencies as soon as a tenant can safely get in touch. Explain to your tenants that you don’t expect to be disturbed in the middle of the night by a clogged garbage disposal, but a flooding kitchen is undoubtedly a reason to call.
You want to be on the same page, and you want your tenants to recognize the urgency of those emergency repairs. Get a sense of whether they have their emergency plans in place for things like earthquakes, floods, or fires. This should be an ongoing discussion.
Communication and Availability During Emergencies
When you partner with a professional Santa Rosa property management team like ours, you’re getting an expert who is available 24/7 to respond to emergencies. This can make a big difference if there’s an emergency because it means that any urgent problems are taken care of a lot faster. And by experts.
Tenants don’t have to wait around for a response. Property owners and landlords who are only available during regular business hours or on weekdays will not be much help if there’s an electrical fire in the middle of the night.
You’ll need to be prepared to deal with problems quickly, especially emergencies. This reduces the risk of any further damage to your property. It also eliminates any additional discomfort caused to your tenants.
One of the biggest challenges you face as a rental property owner is keeping tenants satisfied. When your residents report a problem needing attention, they want it dealt with immediately. If they can’t get in touch with you outside of regular business hours, they may feel like their concerns aren’t being taken seriously.
When an emergency strikes, those tenants are going to be emotional. There may be some panic. As their landlord, your job will be to remain calm and professional and bring some order to the chaos. You’ll need to be available and accessible. You’ll have to be responsive.
If that’s too challenging even to imagine, professional Santa Rosa property management is absolutely essential.
Know the Threats
It’s important that you understand which emergencies are most likely to strike. There’s little concern about hurricanes. But, in the Santa Rosa area, there are high probabilities for some of the things we’ve already discussed. Earthquakes. Wildfires. Floods. Droughts. Pandemics.
Ensure your tenants know where to find shelters, resources, and help. It’s easy to go online and find phone numbers and resources, but if you provide the support ahead of time, everyone will have more peace of mind and feel better prepared.
Fortunately, Santa Rosa isn’t tornado prone, and we probably don’t have to worry about dramatic snow. Stay informed. Stay vigilant. Continually review and update your emergency plan so you’re not left in a commotion when something unpleasant occurs.
Review your insurance. Put together a plan. Make sure to include your tenants in all of your preparations. And work with a professional property management team like ours.
Please contact us at Prestige Real Estate & Property Management. We manage homes in Sonoma County, including Santa Rosa, Windsor, Sebastopol, Petaluma, and Rohnert Park.
