How One Landlord Keeps His Rentals Low Maintenance in 2025

[@RGNHomeSolutions]

Low Maintenance is choosing tenants that will care for your apartments. Tenants that are willing to do simple things like clear a drain or paint. Cut the grass and plant flowers like the property is their own. Clean people that will not bring bugs into the building. Tenant selection is the key to keeping costs low and other tenants happy. High Efficiency HVAC has more parts to break and the parts are expensive. No heat or hot water at the same time. The gaskets on many combi heat exchangers start leaking CO after about 7 years. Traditional boilers can last 30-40 years. If I'm not paying the heat, I'm putting in the simplest most reliable equipment.

[@CoachChadCarson]

thanks for your perspective. I can tell it's from real-world experience. I have found the same thing about responsible tenants. And they're usually attracted to houses (harder on apartments).

[@LumberjackLandlord]

In many cases yes. Buy if u have 400 tenants. There aren't that many people that care that much about where they live that they will take care of it to that level. While finding tenants like that is always the goal. When you have over 100 units in a 30k person area you will be past the best tenants.

[@vincentortega4284]

RGNHome, as the small landlord, you are right. Tenant selection is key.

[@colemandeitz7302]

I own appliance repair company. That also does tankless water heaters. You are far better off with basic appliances in your apartments. Not the cheapest but simple speed queen washer will last 25 years easy to work on low maintenance. About 1200 for a washer. Then pick up a whirlpool basic dryer with a timer or a speed queen if you want a matching set. Then basic dishwasher with a few washing cycles a basic refrigerator with no ice or no water in the door just a icemaker either in the bottom or in the top you can do a bottom freezer refrigerator or you can do a top freezer refrigerator but it doesn’t need the dispensers in the doors because those were out all the time and cause problems Samsung appliances are notorious for this then you also need a garbage disposal and you need to show your tenants how to use a garbage disposal keeps a lot of bugs and stuff away because you can scrape the scrap foods down in the disposal hit the button and it’s gone now water heaters. You could do a tank water heater instead of a tankless but you gotta understand that a tank water heater is only good for about 8 to 10 years after that you need to replace it. You also need to put it in an area that’s easily accessible, you can replace it very easily same thing with the oven. You need to have a basic oven a glass top is fine. Gas would be even better. If you have that available in your building, just stay away from all the unnecessary features and the appliances will be very dependable and they’ll get you a long life but remember that most appliances now have a 10 to 15 year life expectancy, depending on usage depending on other factors, so at the end of the day things will have to be replaced, but this is the rule that I tend to have people and it hasn’t proved us wrong yet

[@laurasamaniego5937]

WOW! Great tips. Thank you.

[@davidpiccuta2276]

This is absolutely one of the best if not the very best KZbin video on owning and operating investment rental property I have ever seen. 21- years in business, 19- doors. This was golden. Thank you.

[@CoachChadCarson]

Thanks so much, David!! That means a lot!

[@LumberjackLandlord]

Thank you very much! It was great to work with coach. Looking forward to the next one!

[@PRGTX]

Really enjoyed this conversation. I do a build to rent model AND build it right for the long term with quality long term materials and products. I want to be proud of what I own and what my tenants live in.

[@CoachChadCarson]

agreed! Build-to-rent is intriguing for this reason.

[@LumberjackLandlord]

Love that! Well done

[@jerrymills385]

It would be really neat to see an example of what you build, to rent. Is that possible?

[@PRGTX]

@@jerrymills385 Look up 1402 Courtney Place Cleburne TX. Triplex. 1406 Courtney Place Fourplex. Currently building a two houses for rent.

[@JohnKConway]

Great chat. One thing missing: Appliances! Repair and replacement of Refrigerator, Washer, Dryer, Stove, Dishwasher Etc. is one of my most challenging and expensive maintenance calls.

[@CoachChadCarson]

me too! My house rentals only include a frig and stove. But student rentals have washer/dryer as well. Lots of replacement and costs.

[@LC-gu2sc]

I no longer supply appliances. I put that in my lease. Tenants know up front before renting that they are ŕesponsible. Working great.

[@LumberjackLandlord]

We stick with GE and whirlpool may tag often. We talk about appliances on my livestreams often since I own over 600 appliances We do our research

[@gardencity3558]

Yep washing machines. Teanants overload and break them.

[@LumberjackLandlord]

@gardencity3558 certainly happens. But we study what makes sense for the building. Washer dryer in unit or communal coin op. We look at what rents are for like kind units. Ones that have laundry vs ones that don't in our market make significantly more. Unless they are destroying them every other year it makes a lot more money.

[@cwall216]

The 50K celebration!!! What an event. Thanks for sharing Coach

[@Dbb27]

Great video. Going cheap never works over the long haul.

[@CoachChadCarson]

I've learned that the hard way!!

[@LumberjackLandlord]

Absolutely agreed! Always search for value.

[@Glennpoythr]

Awesome presentation!

[@CoachChadCarson]

Thank you for watching!

[@LumberjackLandlord]

Thanks very much! So happy it was valuable.

[@jeremylunning654]

I don't work on rentals or flip houses because most landlords or flippers don't think this way. They want to use garbage materials they got at an auction and are short every time, they don't want to pay for an industry standard installation and they want to cut corners to save a small amount of money even though it may fail.

[@danielliao8729]

Thank you for such practical content Coach!

[@CoachChadCarson]

Glad you enjoy it! Thanks for watching.

[@LumberjackLandlord]

I agree. Coach is awesome!

[@Coast_to_Coast]

Great to meet you and Lumberjack in LV. Zuber put on an amazing event!

[@LumberjackLandlord]

It was a great time! Great to meet you as well!

[@duneme]

I missed it! What was it? When is the next one?

[@whatcouldgowrong2231]

Moen Pro Flow automatic shut off is the key for water leaks. Shuts it off in a catastrophic situation ,allows for monitoring and can detect small leaks.

[@kerrybaird739]

Excellent collaboration! I do some of those things (brick houses, harden flooring). Really, the noise dampening with the quiet rock was my top takeaway

[@toejah]

As a Telecom Tech I would add that when your renovating the units add data lines to all the bed rooms and the living rooms to a central spot and a conduit from the central spot to the outside. Will save a lot of holes and wires stapled around the unit over time.

[@CoachChadCarson]

great tip!! Thank you.

[@JOIHIINI]

I work in telecommunications and am also a landlord. I just put an additional term in lease that no holes may be drilled for the purpose of running wires without written consent from landlord. Just a main line to each unit on an outside wall where the modem is placed. Much cheaper this way and never had a problem. Conduit is excessive and expensive. Few cat5 runs when the walls are open during reno isn't a bad idea tho but I wouldn't go out of my way

[@HappyPenguin75034]

What do you need data liens for? Waste.

[@JOIHIINI]

@HappyPenguin75034 data lol.

[@laurasamaniego5937]

​, Great idea. Thanks so much for sharing.

[@fishmonger7020]

Listening to these guys talk about tenants reminds me of how ranchers talk about cows.

[@ashdav9980]

I have a subscription to Office Business and Microsoft refers to their customers as tenants. But yet people gobble up cell phones and other technology and allow themselves to be monitored and listened to…..and yet they aren’t bothered that big tech views them the same…..cow, tenant, useless feeder. 😂

[@gmw3083]

Cities are the culling pens of the future. The future is now...

[@Aculus1]

Thanks Coach. Matt was dropping gold nuggets!

[@CoachChadCarson]

Happy to share! Agree. Matt was great

[@LumberjackLandlord]

Thanks very much! Was great to work with coach! Loved the time with him.

[@keeperzero]

I only do section 8 housing

[@CoachChadCarson]

Awesome. What part of country do you invest in?

[@1dragonx76]

Any horror story or better yet good stories with section 8.

[@user-ro1tm4re8l]

People that don't care at all about your property, run it down so it's not easily rentable with nothing to lose because they put down no security deposit. Yea .. no thanks

[@LumberjackLandlord]

I have lots of section 8 as well. Definitely some strategies work better than others for section 8. Where do u invest?

[@taj8339]

I am starting in section 8 in Houston

[@leeroach3381]

Very helpful Thank you for sharing

[@LumberjackLandlord]

My pleasure. Coach was great to work with. Glad it was helpful!

[@AllNighterHeider]

Thanks for letting us listen in and benefit from your very informative conversation 👍

[@LumberjackLandlord]

Thanks heider!

[@laurasamaniego5937]

Awesome informative conversations. Matt, thanks for sharing the low maintenance tips and Couch Carson for a great interview.

[@CoachChadCarson]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching

[@LumberjackLandlord]

Great time with coach. I see why he has a huge following!

[@em6259]

There are so many slumlords out there. Since I moved to a mold prone area it seems all the rentals have this problem even if it is hidden so I moved into an rv until I buy. This guy is someone whom I would rent from and yes he probably rarely has problem tenants. His tenants probably let them know at the first sign of problems woth the property.

[@richardmonk2708]

Whoa, that was a high value 26 minutes!

[@CoachChadCarson]

that's what I like to hear!! thanks for watching.

[@LumberjackLandlord]

Thanks very much! Coach is great! He git so many of my best tips and trick out of me!

[@DexterBoyz1984]

Fantastic show

[@Hardworkandrealestateprofits]

He has some really good tip that I have found over the last 18 years I have had rental properties. Especially the flooring tip👍

[@CoachChadCarson]

Thanks for sharing!

[@channel6sandiego]

Great tips , Thanks Matt and coach

[@CoachChadCarson]

Our pleasure!

[@MJ-xk8iu]

MJ here for the algorithm.. great interview

[@CoachChadCarson]

Thank you🙏

[@LumberjackLandlord]

Thanks very much! Pleasure working with coach!

[@ippolitius]

I replace all the shut offs for sinks and toilets.

[@ryanclark2645]

Good to see the Lumberjack on your channel! 😊

[@quentintodd5856]

I would rent from you any day sir! Awesome job being a great landlord.

[@jessescott3558]

Excellent work

[@CoachChadCarson]

Appreciate you!

[@DancehallUnbiasedReviews]

Great video , alot of 💎

[@gonoenriquez26.2]

You guys rock!!

[@chabridgettumusiime8994]

❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉here by algorithm... thank you so much.i own two tiny rooms i built after watching tiny house living videos during lockdown COVID 19. But i have suffered. A tenant left without paying 6 months and we went through a nasty repair, paint etc it was my brand new Room. Then at the beginning of August a tenant died in another room , he used to drink and smoke stuff. Good story now i got New tenants for both rooms through a real estate broker and after redoing the rooms . I feel a relief. Have you dealt with scenarios like mine ?

[@nelsonsantiago651]

I am a property manager in Las Vegas. Owners who don’t see the long term always have more expenses and more turnover. You don’t want turn over every year.

[@SNAPPINGTURTLEGUARD]

Great info. Thank you

[@CoachChadCarson]

Thx for watching!!

[@randiclark1]

Excellent!

[@CoachChadCarson]

Many thanks!

[@ryanclark2645]

Curious how that red oak flooring would be if you had someone below you in a duplex…is there something you would put below it to prevent noise ?

[@TheRileyaok]

Great video, thanks for the info. Do you recommend the IBC water heaters for single family? Or mainly multiple unit

[@LumberjackLandlord]

Great question. Yes. I use them for everything that has natural gas utility as an option. I have seen a reduction in bills immediately when we deploy an IBC. They are near maintenance free. We have deployed about 33 of them over the last 7 years. Sometimes we use an IBC per unit and a couple instances where we have one IBC unit services the building of multiple units. Dealers can get a dealer kit and the units are so elegantly designed they have only 7 parts. Often any change or service is less than an hour. That's been my experience. Hope that helps.

[@TheRileyaok]

@@LumberjackLandlord ok great. thank you for your time in responding! Appreciate it

[@LumberjackLandlord]

@@TheRileyaok np! Happy too

[@krishnathenappan6563]

@@LumberjackLandlord what would you recommend for SFH rentals that have only electric? Stick with tank? Thanks so much !

[@LumberjackLandlord]

@krishnathenappan6563 what do you mean? I'm happy to help!

[@dawnfoster6530]

The only difficulty I have with implementing some of this is - you have to hire a licensed plumber in my state, you can't do your own plumbing :-( Electrical, no problem but plumbing and anything attached to the local sewer/water supply - super strict

[@LumberjackLandlord]

It is in my state too on rentals. But these things still add massive value

[@smith899]

5:12 I disagree! I lived in AL for 30 years. The first place we lived had a heat pump and WE FROZE in the winter!!!!! I now live in Florida, and we did install a heat pump for our heating, but the other southern states DO get cold! Just for much shorter amounts of time. We had 2-3 weeks of 20°F weather in Huntsville, AL. Yes, it is only 3 weeks, but it was a bitter, cold 3 weeks with that miserable heat pump! (Yes, there was the auxiliary heat option, but we were newly wed and poor! We were told our electric bill would double if we used it.)

[@franko2348]

What about Air conditioning does that unit work?

[@mikekroupa]

Question about LVP. I understand that the two key specs are wear layer and thickness. What wear layer and thickness should I look for to get good durability and good value?

[@CoachChadCarson]

I don't know the answer to this. I've researched it before but can't remember the exact specs since it's been a couple of years. I know the commercial grade was much thicker than the residential grade. I also looked at warranties - and if they're willing to guarantee it longer that usually meant the thickness and quality was better. But perhaps someone handier can chime in!

[@bradholt8755]

The wear layer is comparable to years 6 mil = 6 years and 12 mm = 12 years . I wouldn’t install anything under a 12 mil wear layer.

[@CyndiLH]

20 mil wear layer is my go to

[@RoqueExclusives]

So do you put carpet on the stairs and carpet on the rooms upstairs? Doesn’t it look weird? I assume it has LVP on the lower level also.

[@jimross2101]

Low-maintenance generally does not mean low-cost and seldom equals the best profit.

[@aao449]

Valuable info but Too much background noise.

[@CoachChadCarson]

sorry about that. we were recording live next to the live event. Wasn't sound proof room unfortunately.

[@janitoronfire]

Wow. Vegas is paying dividends. Matt is a beast. ❤

[@CoachChadCarson]

It was a full weekend for sure! A couple more interviews coming.

[@noahcash]

How does he know what the call rate of his competitors is ?

[@rickertpropertygroup]

Great video Chad! Love your work! Oh, Go Lobos! 😊 Good luck on Friday should be fun NCAA tourney!! Mark Rickert

[@CoachChadCarson]

Thanks Mark! Looking forward to game. I hear the Lobos are favored!

[@rickertpropertygroup]

@@CoachChadCarson appreciate you!!!

[@ddjgirl3619]

Electric baseboard heater is the cheapest to maintain.

[@davidpiccuta2276]

Why glue down lvp vs. floating?

[@PathmaMahananama]

Thank you I am from Sri Lanka, how can I get your help to rent my house.

[@pawelwisniewski6849]

You need to call my friend in Poland and he knows some people in Nigeria that can help you .

[@AndrewWoodford]

Interior IBC Water Heater Tenants want a Chevrolet Movie Theater

[@Jkburd]

Testing

[@thelight3112]

PEX is wonderful. When I bought my home, I ripped out all the CPVC and put in PEX. Only downside over copper is that rodents can chew it, so you need to make sure you don't have a rodent problem.

[@auntbea1664]

I think Pella has an app for that which will automatically turns off the water. 😅

[@ajm9238]

glue down lvp is the best of the lvp's

[@CoachChadCarson]

Interesting. I have used that and floating. Is it because of durability?

[@davidpiccuta2276]

Why glue down be floating?

[@davidpiccuta2276]

Why glue down vs. floating ?

[@ajm9238]

@@davidpiccuta2276 more durable, easier to repair a small section and from my experience floating always seems to slightly curl up on edges which over time in a rental property only gets worse. Floating planks usually shift under traffic and to me it never feels like a solid floor. Kinda like walking on a piece of plywood that's laying on a lawn. These are just faults on floating lvp from over the years that i've notice.

[@edwinstar100]

How about helping your tenant purchase your property by writing them a morgage.

[@CoachChadCarson]

I've done that many times, most recently last year.

[@ShadareaRapt]

QuietRock me like a Hurricane

[@hoskinfamily5166]

a 200k btu combi boiler will not provide enough on-demand hot water for 4+ apartments

[@CoachChadCarson]

Out of my expertise here. Lumberjack can perhaps comment on what he uses

[@AllNighterHeider]

He had said 4 people not units. Otherwise I would agree unless everyone wants just a thimble of hot water 😂

[@practicallandlording2787]

Same color all the way thru on everything possible.

[@CoachChadCarson]

do you use same color for trim and walls?

[@Coast_to_Coast]

Lumberjack!

[@gradosa8272]

🙄rental is never passive. you have to check on your investment and make sure tenants don’t eat up the profits. I got a multi family and managed for 14 years. Sold it4 years ago. But I’m kind of itchy again for real estate. 😂😂😂

[@KieranMullen]

and take more houses off the market for purchase from others and turn everything into rentals.

[@bahaacuner3171]

Great video but tell the people in the background to shut up

[@CoachChadCarson]

Yeah - sorry about that. Rowdy crowd at Zuber's conference 😂

[@HappyPenguin75034]

Heat. Who cares about AC. 😂

[@fishmonger7020]

Investors are lame. This explains why most rentals are made of bubble gum and cardboard. They don’t know anything about the world except what is on their laptop.

[@rhamacoulter8686]

You also need to pronounce your Ks better😂

[@CraigCastanet]

Rats love to eat through PEX if they get in.

[@CoachChadCarson]

Not surprised. Do you like copper better?