Once you’ve completed your property renovations and updates, you’re finished, right? Your job is done, and now you can sit back, relax and let your property take care of itself for years to come?

Unfortunately, it isn’t quite that easy. As great as renovations and upgrades are, they aren’t a guarantee nothing will ever go wrong or need updating again. You’ll still need to keep a close eye on your property and watch for signs that anything is wrong, needs to be updated or only requires regular preventative maintenance.

How Often Should You Request Maintenance?

While every property will be slightly different, the simple answer is you should request maintenance as often as you need it. When something breaks, malfunctions or needs replacement, you will need to request maintenance. However, this only refers to reactive maintenance. Preventative maintenance is also important and should not be neglected.

Robin Amato from Real Estate III Commercial Properties advised: “It’s important to keep up the maintenance, typically it reduces the cost for renovations/repairs. If the property isn’t well maintained, then it leads to more repairs and cost.  If the owner continually updates the property enhancing its appeal, the owner will be able to get a higher rent which increases the value of the property to an investor looking to purchase a property as an investment.”

Preventative maintenance should always be performed on a regular basis, whether your property looks like it needs it or not. All softscaping should be trimmed and maintained at least once a season, otherwise it will become scraggly and overgrown. Outdoor hardscaping should never be allowed to reach the point where it looks broken, weather-beaten and worn-down.

Preventative maintenance should also be completed indoors, as well. This means things like cleaning regularly, replacing batteries and filters where applicable, and getting your major appliances serviced by professionals.

The goal is to reduce reactive maintenance. Emergencies and accidents will still happen, but if you stay on top of the regular preventative maintenance, the odds are there will be fewer incidents requiring heavy-duty reactive maintenance.

How Often Should You Make Large-Scale Changes?

You’ve completed some new updates and renovations on your property. It was a big job, and you’re ready to take a little bit of a break now. You might easily be wondering, “How many years will it be until I have to do that again?”

It’s impossible to prescribe an exact timeframe. Some trends quickly age out and will date your property almost immediately. Others become timeless classics and age much more gracefully. Some things might become dated, but aren’t such a huge problem that they need to be replaced right away. Others might be glaring sore spots on your property.

The best advice we can give is to keep your property looking current. When you begin to notice it looks dated, it’s a sure bet others notice as well. The last thing you want is to be more outdated than your competition. Keep abreast of current trends. When you notice your property falling behind, it’s time to put in the time and effort to update it again.

You might also keep an eye out for things breaking or becoming old and damaged. These natural occurrences make for great opportunities to update little pieces of your property. After all, if something breaks, it will need to be replaced anyway. Why not replace it with a newer and upgraded version? In that way, you can upgrade your property bit by bit and piece by piece.

What Is the Value of Continuing to Upgrade Properties?

Just as it’s worth it to upgrade your properties once, it’s worth continuing to upgrade them. Even the newest and most expensive updates will eventually fade, break and go out of style. Because if this, it’s important to continue upgrading.

The value of doing this is your property will continue to look fabulous. It will continue to create positive impressions on everyone who drives into the parking lot or walks through the front door. The more current and updated your property looks, the more people will be willing to rent from you or shop with you.

On the flip side of this, when you allow your property to become run-down and outdated, people will be less willing to pay higher prices. Instead, they will likely head to the nearest competitor. To stay on top of the competition, you’ll need to keep your building looking great at all times.

It isn’t just about inspiring loyalty in returning customers or tenants, either. It’s also about attracting new ones. By constantly upping your game when it comes to curb appeal, you’ll easily attract new interest. People will notice your property as they drive by and be curious enough to stop in or make inquiries. They’ll be more likely to choose you over the competitor down the road.

Finally, continuing to upgrade your properties can do a great deal to solidify your good reputation. When you gain a reputation as a company that’s constantly pushing forward and settling for nothing but the very newest and best, that paints an image of you as a company people won’t soon forget. People will notice the care you take with your property and will easily be able to connect this to the care you take with your customers, clients and tenants as well.

In addition to maintaining your property for current tenants, thinking of future desirable commercial building aspects will be critical to selling the building in the future.

Frank Dillow, a senior commercial broker with Long & Foster Commercial Division, explained: “I think one of the really important issues for developers, property owners and landlords is to be aware of the demands of the youngest workers entering the labor force, as they will be setting the standards for the next generation.  Many of the concerns that we think of as ‘competitive advantages,’ they view as ‘table stakes.’  So the building is going to have the latest available technology and provide amenities for the workers.  But some of their new concerns are the buildings are going to encourage collaboration among the employees, and are going to be environmentally responsible.  The buildings are going to be areas that encourage ‘walkability’ and non-automobile based transportation alternatives.  It appears that landscaping is going to provide an increasing role in providing more of an open ‘campus’ environment with more passive environmental enhancements and an indoor-outdoor blend of work spaces.”

Based on all this logic, it’s easy to see why continual upgrades and ongoing maintenance to your property are highly important, and not something to underestimate or shrug off. Whether it’s regular cleaning, adding more space or even just regularly mowing the lawn and trimming the shrubbery, never underestimate the importance of careful maintenance and updates.

Conclusion: Experts in Commercial Landscaping Services Can Help

While it’s certainly important to get the interior of your building looking updated and gorgeous, you shouldn’t neglect the exterior of your building either. If you want to attract new clients, customers, tenants and more, then you need to think about your curb appeal, and how you’re going to get your property noticed by people passing by.

How a Professional Landscaper Can Help You

Not a landscaper? Don’t have a lot of experience and know-how when it comes to crafting gardens, borders and beautiful outdoor spaces? The good news is you don’t have to be. When you partner with a professional landscaper like Complete Landscaping Service, you won’t have to worry about doing any of the work yourself.

By teaming up with a commercial landscaping service, you can ensure the exterior of your property will be immaculate. Our team of experts can take care of everything from design and planning through landscape construction to maintaining plants and mowing the lawn in the summer or snow removal in the winter.

When the outside of your property looks like it is carefully and constantly maintained, it sends the message that you are a thoughtful owner who takes pride in caring for your property, inside and out.

All of this means clients and customers will be more interested in your property when the outside looks stunning. A lack of gardening skills shouldn’t be a limitation in this area, either. Instead of resigning yourself to a less-than-stellar exterior, hire a landscaping company to give your property the beautiful exterior it deserves.

Contact us today for a free quote on your landscape renovation or regular maintenance.