How to Prep Your Manufactured Home Community for Spring

Image via Public Domain Pictures

As days are getting longer and warmer,  managers of manufactured communities should be preparing for some spring cleaning. After an unprecedented year during which residents spent most of their time indoors, a detailed inspection of both the homes and the common-area amenities is more than welcome.  

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Property managers should make sure all the amenities and common areas of the communities are safe for the residents to use. Here’s a checklist that every property manager should keep in mind:

1. Check the roads for cracks and potholes. Low temperatures might have damaged the integrity of the asphalt or concrete over the winter and this issue should be addressed before it gets worse;
2. Check outdoor spaces such as playgrounds and make sure swings or slides have not been damaged;
3. Tend the landscaped common areas. This includes parks, gardens or other green areas around the community;
4. Check ventilation and air-conditioning systems, both in the communal spaces and in the homes, before the warm weather sets in;
5. Depending on the temperatures in your area, uncover the pool—if your community has one—clean it and prepare it for the swim season.

Last but not least…

With the pandemic still in the picture, property managers should encourage residents to do quick inspections of their manufactured homes themselves and to report any problems as soon as they detect them. To make the task easier, managers can prepare a short checklist for residents with things they can look for in and around their homes to make sure the assets have not suffered damages during the winter:

• Check sprinkling systems;
• Take down any leftover holiday lights and decorations;
• Check gutters for clogging, overflow and poor drainage;
• Maintain the area around the home, for both esthetic and safety reasons, by trimming the lawns, removing any winter debris such as dead leaves, animal droppings and other items that the snow might have hidden from sight;
• Check doors, windows, hinges and locks.

As residents inspect their own homes and find issues, property managers should be prepared for a higher number of maintenance requests than usual. Good communication and organization are essential to ensure all issues are resolved as quickly and with as little trouble to the residents as possible, especially when a specialist is needed to fix a problem.