One of the biggest benefits of apartment living is maintaining a resident's apartment.  Residents don't have to try to find a contractor, don't have to wade through reviews, don't have to price shop, and don't even have to alter their schedule to be there while their problem is fixed.  But do we do a great job of showcasing that value beyond saying, "we provide maintenance"?

Tony Sousa recently wrote, "Maintenance is your best amenity" in the ShareSpace, which I agree with 100%.  And as Toni Blake recently discussed in her Webinar Wednesday event, we need to work to properly showcase all the benefits we are providing to residents to justify our rents. 

Not all features of apartment living are readily apparent, such as the taxes we pay, or the incredible increases we are seeing in insurance costs. That also applies to maintenance – how do we showcase and quantify the value of maintenance?

One of our biggest challenges on that front is that a lot of our renters are those who have never owned a home, so they don't know the nightmare scenario of a busted pipe that bursts at two in the morning.  Running around trying to find the water cut-off valve, sopping up the water, renting giant fans – and that's even without the prospect of finding a contractor to fix the leak.  Sifting through ratings is a chore, and then trying to get a price quote is often impossible, even in the most straightforward situations.  So the homeowner then pays a trip fee and then hopes that the contractor isn't trying to gouge them.

So the question becomes, how do we illustrate that benefit to someone who has never lived through it?  How do we quantify the value of maintenance when some of that maintenance prevents a disaster?

So let's make a list!  What are some of the ways to showcase the value of maintenance beyond saying the uninspiring, "we take care of maintenance"?