Property maintenance is no longer an aspect of property management you grudgingly tolerate, it’s the engine that determines resident happiness, owner retention, and ultimately NOI. In our recent panel webinar, “Reclaiming What’s Yours: Fixing Processes to Fuel Profit,” Courtney Parks at Allegiance Property Management, Ray Hespen, CEO at Property Meld, and Jay Berube, Coach & Consultant at BetterWho, unpacked the hidden places maintenance bleeds money and how data-backed processes can turn those leaks into gains. Below is a bite-sized recap that zeroes in on the maintenance discussion, plus concrete actions you can implement this quarter.
Watch the recording:
1. Stop the Bleed: Where Maintenance Processes May Be Leaking
| Leakage Point | Real-world Example from the Panel | Why It Hurts |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor invoicing delays | A roofer billed 6 months late—owners had already been paid out. | Cash-flow crunch and investor distrust. |
| No single owner for each step | “If everyone owns it, no one owns it.” — Courtney | Tasks stall; accountability evaporates. |
| Under-monetized services | Filing insurance claims or turns done “for free.” | Leaves 10–30 % of potential revenue on the table. |
| Culture of acceptance | “The least you’re willing to accept is the most you can expect.” — Ray | Small lapses snowball into systemic profit leaks. |
2. Metrics That Matter (4 to start)
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Median Speed of Repair
Target: < 7 days
Why: Directly correlates with resident satisfaction and lease renewal likelihood. -
% Invoices Received ≤ 4 Days After Work Complete
Target: 80%+ invoice submission
Why: Faster billing = fewer unhappy investors. -
Turn Time (Make-Ready Days)
Target: ≤ 11 days (Courtney’s current benchmark)
Why: Every extra day is lost rent plus advertising cost. -
Resident Satisfaction
Target: 4+ rating or higher
Why: A quick pulse check that predicts resident renewals.
Pro-tip: Use AI tools to digest raw reports from your property accounting system, or use property mainteannce operations software, like Property Meld, to highlight data-backed trends in seconds.
3. The Four-Pillar Framework for Maintenance Profit
| Pillar | What It Looks Like in Maintenance | Quick Win |
|---|---|---|
| Team | Right people, right seats, clear “Responsibilities Matrix.” | Assign one Maintenance Billing Owner whose KPI is invoices ≤ 4 days. |
| Systems | Documented SOPs in CRM systems, such as automated vendor nudges. | Flow-chart the path from request → invoice → payout in one white-boarding session. |
| Profit | Charge appropriately: coordination fees, asset-management surcharges, turnover oversight. | Audit last 90 days of maintenance to find missed billables; adjust fee schedule. |
| Growth | Only after the first three are stable. | Once speed-to-repair < 7 days and billing SLA at 80 %, then scale marketing. |
4. Four Actionable Takeaways You Can Deploy This Month
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Build a “4-Day Invoice SLA” dashboard in your property accounting stem or BI tool; review each Friday.
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Run a vendor A-B test: grade vendors on invoice punctuality, speed of repair, and resident satisfaction. With Property Meld’s Insights Pro, you can see this at a glance.
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Adopt AI for data summarization: paste KPI exports into GPT to surface anomalies.
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Name one owner for every maintenance step, or a portion of the process.
5. Resources & Next Steps
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Download Property Meld’s KPI Cheat Sheet
Understand what maintenance KPIs to track and why they matter when building efficient processes. -
Attend the MX Summit 2025 (Sept 16–18, Rapid City, SD)
Hands-on maintenance certifications, workshops, and a live rodeo (yes, really). - Connect with BetterWho to revisit KPIs to watch
Deep dive into profitability calculators and KPI scoreboards.
Maintenance will either erode your margins or multiply them,, but it depends on the rigor of your people, processes, and metrics. Pick one KPI, assign one owner, and revisit in 30 days. That single habit will start the domino chain toward reclaiming every dollar that’s already yours.
Watch the full recording:
