Tenant Repairs: Respond and Still Keep Your Sanity

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June 02, 2025

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How to Handle Repair Requests from Tenants (Without Losing Your Mind)

Whether you’re managing your own rentals or working with a property manager, handling repair requests well protects your investment and your sanity. Here’s how to keep it smart and streamlined:

🛠️ Self-Managing? Master the Repair Triage

Not all repair requests are created equal. Sort each one by two criteria:

  • Urgency: Is someone in danger or is there risk of further damage?

  • Importance: Does it affect the tenant’s quality of life or violate code?

Your move:

  • Respond to everything within 48 hours max.

  • If it’s urgent and important (e.g., no heat in winter), jump on it ASAP.

🚫 Pro Tip: Your lease should clearly state that tenants can’t make their own repairs or deduct costs unless approved in writing ahead of time. No surprises, no credits.

🧑‍💼 Using a Property Manager? Don't Set It and Forget It

You hired them to manage, not to make financial decisions.

✔️ Help them triage. Yes, a broken water heater matters—but paying $2,500 for weekend emergency install? Might be cheaper to put the tenant in a hotel for two nights.

✔️ Set clear limits on what they can authorize without approval. Require estimates for anything above a dollar threshold.

🔧 The Hybrid Approach for Busy Flippers

You might not want to chase rent—but you probably have your own rehab crew already.

💡 Solution: Hire a property manager for collections and leasing, but insist on using your team for repairs. Write it into the contract. Your crew, your price, your standards.

🎯 Bottom Line:

Stay responsive, stay in control, and don’t let maintenance requests become maintenance regrets.