How to Build a Reliable Maintenance Plan Before Tenants Move In

In This Article

This article is presented by RentRedi.

When I first started managing my rental properties, maintenance requests would throw off my entire week. A tenant would call, text, or email about something being broken, and I would drop everything and scramble to find the right vendor, follow up for updates, and track receipts for bookkeeping.

This scramble was not sustainable, and I realized I needed a better system if I was going to continue self-managing my rental properties.

Creating a standard operating procedure (SOP) for handling maintenance requests is one of the easiest ways to streamline your property management and take the guesswork out of emergencies. An SOP is simply a step-by-step document that outlines how a specific process should be done. The SOP is a repeatable checklist that anyone on your team (or even a virtual assistant) can follow to keep things running smoothly—and keep you out of the scramble mindset.

Without a clear maintenance SOP, small issues can spiral into big problems. Requests can get lost in your inbox, vendors might forget to send invoices, and repairs could drag on longer than they should. 

This can be a problem, not only for you and your schedule, but for your tenants as well. Tenants might feel like they are being ignored due to maintenance delays. This could lead to more complaints and potentially higher turnover. 

For you and your finances, a lack of SOP can create problems. It becomes harder to track expenses, forecast budgets, or prove repair history for insurance or tax purposes without clear documentation in place. The result is a lot of unnecessary stress and inefficiency that could be avoided with a simple, repeatable process.

Why You Need an SOP for Maintenance

1. Consistency

When every request follows the same process, nothing slips through the cracks. You’ll know exactly where things stand with each repair, whether it’s a leaky faucet or a broken furnace.

2. Time savings

An SOP eliminates repetitive decision-making. You won’t waste time figuring out what to do next, because you’ve already mapped out your process for any request. This becomes especially valuable when you start adding more units or hiring help.

3. Better tenant experience

Tenants notice when you respond quickly and keep them updated. A clear maintenance system makes you look professional, builds trust, and encourages lease renewals.

The Step-by-Step Maintenance SOP 

RentRedi makes the tenant maintenance request process easy because everything can be handled directly inside the app, from the moment a tenant reports an issue to closing it out after repairs. Use this as a template or guideline to create your own SOP for your rental properties. 

1. Request submission by tenant

Everything starts when your tenant submits a maintenance request through the RentRedi app.

Tenant actions:

1. Opens the RentRedi app and selects Maintenance Request
2. Uploads photos or videos of the issue
3. Describes the problem (location, details, urgency)
4. Submits the request

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Automatic system actions:

1. The request appears in your Maintenance Dashboard in RentRedi.
2. You receive an instant notification via email or app push.

This system eliminates the back-and-forth communication that often happens over text or email, and keeps everything documented in one place. 

2. Review and initial triage

As soon as the request comes in, review it carefully to decide how urgent it is and what kind of repair it needs. Having the tenant send photos and provide more detail as an option in their portal gives you so much more to work with in order to diagnose the issue and know who to call. 

My maintenance person always wants to know what tools and materials he needs to bring. Having all this information helps cut down the back-and-forth questions.

Steps:

1. Navigate to Maintenance > New Requests and open the submission.
2. Review the tenant’s notes and attachments.
3. Assign a priority level:
   • Emergency: Leak, no heat, broken exterior door lock (immediate response)
   • High: Affects habitability, but not an emergency (within 24 hours)
   • Routine: Minor issues (within three to five business days)
4. Add internal notes (for example, “Tenant reports leak near water heater. Photo shows minor drip.”)

Documenting maintenance requests the right way ensures that emergencies are handled fast, while less urgent tasks don’t get lost in the shuffle. 

3. Assigning a vendor or maintenance tech

Once you’ve reviewed the request, it’s time to send it to the right person. RentRedi gives you options for either assigning your own vendor or using their integrated 24/7 service.

Steps:

1. Click Assign Vendor, and select from your saved vendor list.
2. Additionally, you can leverage RentRedi’s full-service maintenance program to source vendors and repairs.
3. Add access details (for example, “Enter via garage code” or “Tenant home after 5 p.m.”).
4. Confirm the vendor receives the request and any attachments.
5. Message the tenant using the Maintenance Chat to acknowledge receipt and share the next steps, e.g., “Thanks for reporting this, Sarah. We’ve reviewed your request and have a vendor scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.”

4. Track progress

Now that the request is assigned, your job is to make sure it stays on track.

Steps:

1. Vendors can mark jobs as In Progress, Awaiting Parts, or Completed.
2. From the Maintenance Dashboard, filter by In Progress to view all open jobs.
3. Follow up if there’s no update after 48 hours for high-priority issues.
4. Use in-app chat to send progress updates to the tenant.

This keeps everyone informed and avoids unnecessary phone calls.

5. Completion and verification

When the work is finished, verify that the problem is actually resolved before closing it out.

Steps:

1. Vendor marks the request as Completed.
2. Vendor uploads before and after photos, and any invoices or receipts.
3. Review the images and confirm completion.
4. Update notes (for example, “Leak repaired by ABC Plumbing, replaced valve on 10/21/25.”)
5. Tenant receives a notification to confirm satisfaction or reopen the request if needed.

6. Recordkeeping and expense management

Good recordkeeping protects you during tax season and helps you track property performance. Keeping clean, accurate records of your maintenance expenses is just as important as getting the work done. Without organized bookkeeping, you can easily lose track of repair costs, overpay vendors, or miss valuable tax deductions. 

Proper tracking helps you see patterns, like which properties are costing the most to maintain or which systems need replacement soon, and it gives you a clear picture of your portfolio’s performance. It can also protect you during tax season or audits, since you’ll have documentation for every expense tied to a specific property.

Steps:

1. Attach invoices or receipts directly to the request.
2. Assign an expense category (for example, Plumbing, HVAC, Electrical).
3. Verify the cost appears in Properties > Expenses.
4. Export data for your accounting software.

Keeping these expenses organized in RentRedi saves hours of bookkeeping work later. 

7. Close and archive

Once everything checks out, close the request and move it into your completed file. 

Steps:

1. Mark the request Closed.
2. Move it to Completed Requests for historical tracking.
3. Review any maintenance analytics to get average response times, recurring issues, and cost trends.

This data helps you catch repeat problems before they turn into major repairs.

8. Follow-up and prevention

Finally, use what you’ve learned from past requests to plan preventative maintenance.

Steps:

1. Schedule annual or seasonal inspections.
2. Add recurring reminders in RentRedi’s calendar tool.
3. Keep your preferred vendor list updated for quick assignments.

Final Thoughts

Preventative work is almost always cheaper than emergency repairs, and having it built into your SOP ensures it never gets overlooked. A $75 HVAC filter change can prevent a $5,000 system replacement. Regular gutter cleanings can stop roof leaks and foundation issues before they start.

Beyond saving money, proactive upkeep protects your property value and keeps tenants happier, because problems are solved before they even notice them. When you build preventative tasks into your SOP, you protect your investment and create a smoother, more predictable operation.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed managing maintenance across multiple units, this process changes everything. Building an SOP forces you to think through every step once, so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time something breaks.

Whether you’re managing one property or 50, RentRedi’s maintenance tools give you the structure to respond faster, stay organized, and keep your tenants happy.