Spring not only brings with it beautiful weather and blooming flowers but it’s also the season of new beginnings. This is the perfect time for you and your maintenance team to make a list and get to all those spring-cleaning tasks you don’t have time for the rest of the year. Especially if you live in an area where winters are particularly harsh, spring is a great time to freshen up your residential community and to purge your office and storage areas of any unused, expired or unnecessary items. Considering summer is usually one of the busiest seasons for property managers, utilize the spring season to catch up on your never ending to do list before you’re slammed with summer issues. We have a few suggestions to get you started on your spring-cleaning tasks.
Parking Lot
Parking areas are often neglected areas of residential communities. Other than making sure to plow them during winter weather, most parking areas don’t receive regular maintenance. Utilize the nice weather to freshen up parking lines and repair any major potholes in the asphalt or concrete. Parking lots can also be a haven for trash and other messes so have your maintenance team do a sweep of the lot for any debris. Keep in mind that the parking lot is the first thing that any potential residents see, so make sure to keep it in good shape to make the best impression.
Common Areas
Common areas are the first to get dingy and messy and sometimes the last to get tended to. No resident wants to walk through dirty, smelly hallways to get to their apartment. Especially after a long winter, be sure to get the carpets professionally cleaned to remove the winter salt and grime. A fresh coat of paint goes a long way in freshening up common areas as well. It’s a good idea to get into the habit of daily maintenance in common areas such as sweeping, mopping and vacuuming to ensure that all areas look their best and keep your residents happy.
Office and Staff Areas
Don’t forget your office and any staff areas. With all your residents and responsibilities, you can easily drown in paperwork. Use this time to go through your drawers and file cabinets. If you have collected unneeded paperwork over the course of a year, get rid of it. Any items you need to keep for legal or tax purposes be sure to file away in a safe place. Same goes for any accumulated mail and receipts; unless you absolutely need it, recycle it. Keep all resident information up to date and get rid of any old paperwork. Be sure that staff areas have updated applications and notices to give to residents but keep paper at a minimum to decrease the amount of clutter in staff areas.
Storage Areas
Now is the perfect time to go through your storage areas as well. Check expiration dates on cleaning and maintenance supplies. If products are expired be sure to dispose of them properly to minimize environmental damage. If you do a lot of seasonal or themed decorating go through your supplies and throw away any torn, broken or faded decorations. If you keep food items for resident celebrations go through your cabinets and throw away and food that has past its expiration date and any food that are common allergen triggers such as any food items that contain peanuts.
Take Inventory
Although spring cleaning should focus on decluttering and getting rid of unnecessary items, this is also a great time to take inventory of items you need and should stock up on. Be sure to have items such as light bulbs shower heads, water filters, screws and fasteners and A/C filters. As you clean out storage and maintenance areas use this time to take inventory of items you need to have on hand to be able to respond quickly to all resident requests.
Completing these tasks should get you well on your way to making sure your residential community is in tip top shape.
