Memphis Apartment Maintenance
Jul 9th, 2007 by Memphis Apartments
One of the trickiest things about Memphis apartment living is the maintenance. This is especially true if you are all thumbs or your mind just goes blank when something stops working. Not everybody is handy when it comes to maintenance issues. Perhaps more importantly, not everyone is interested.
That being said, when you live in a Memphis apartment, you must know when and when not to call maintenance. Your lease should stipulate what the landlord considers to be general and routine maintenance. These maintenance activities are usually at no charge to you, but double check your lease. You may have to pay a fee each time a maintenance worker enters your Memphis apartment.
Your lease may stipulate what you absolutely cannot try to fix. If that is the case and you try to fix something you should not and fail, you may be charged to have maintenance fix it for you. This fee can include parts and labor, which can be costly. Have a clear understanding of your responsibilities related to maintaining your Memphis apartment. If you do not understand something, ask. It is better to ask even if you think it is something you should know than to have to pay for your unwillingness to appear ignorant.
Know the business hours of the maintenance staff. You should be able to get in touch with someone during those hours. What about after regular business hours? Before you sign a lease, find out if 24 hour maintenance is available in the building. Know the procedure for requesting maintenance assistance. Do you speak directly to a maintenance worker or do you have to go through a process that prioritizes maintenance requests? The answers to these questions will minimize the stress of Memphis apartment living as it pertains to maintenance issues.
You should also be aware of management rules pertaining to entry into your Memphis apartment. The lease should specify the number of hours of notice management is required to give you before entering your Memphis apartment. Find out what their policy is regarding entry when you are not present.
Basic rule of thumb is to generally fix things that you can as long as systems are not involved, such the heating, water, electrical, or air conditioning systems. These systems should only be fixed by professionals. If you are required to address maintenance issues of these systems, you should still hire a professional to fix the problem. One reason for this is that the professional usually guarantees his work. So if it breaks again, you should not have to pay to have it fixed a second time. However, if you fix it and it breaks again, your out-of-pocket costs could be higher than if you had just hired the professional in the first place.
For those of you not interested in anything related to maintenance, you should still know when you can contact maintenance for assistance. Do not contact maintenance because your coffee maker is not working without checking to verify it is actually plugged in. Even if it is plugged in and not working, maintenance staff may not be able to help you with the coffee maker because it is your personal property. They can, however, check out your electrical outlet to make sure it works properly.
Most maintenance workers are friendly and willing to accommodate tenants’ requests. Try not to step on their generosity by asking them to change light bulbs every time one blows. You need to be able and willing to do the little things around your Memphis apartment. The more you do, the more willing they will be to help you when you have a really big maintenance problem in your Memphis apartment.