Tools Every Landlord Needs

The Turnover Kit: Between Tenants

Every tenant turnover involves the same tasks: patch drywall, touch up paint, clean, replace hardware if needed, change locks. Your turnover kit needs: a drywall repair kit (joint compound, mesh tape, putty knives in 4-inch and 6-inch widths, a sanding block), a paint roller and tray (9-inch, 3/8-nap for walls), an angled brush (2.5-inch for cutting in), a screwdriver set, and a cordless drill with bit set.

Keep a gallon of the standard wall paint color at the property or in your truck. Matching paint after the fact costs time and never looks right. Pick one neutral color for all your units and stick with it. Sherwin-Williams Agreeable Gray or Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter are safe bets that tenants won't argue about.

The Emergency Kit: Midnight Calls

A plunger (flange style for toilets), an adjustable wrench, a pipe wrench (14-inch), Teflon tape, a flashlight, and a bucket. This handles 90 percent of after-hours plumbing emergencies: running toilets (replace the flapper, $5 part), leaking faucets (tighten the packing nut or replace the cartridge), and clogged drains (plunger first, then a hand-crank drain snake if the plunger fails).

A non-contact voltage tester and a GFCI outlet tester handle electrical calls. Dead outlet? Test whether the GFCI upstream tripped. No power to a room? Check the breaker. These two tools diagnose 80 percent of tenant electrical complaints without calling an electrician.

A smoke detector battery stash. Keep a box of 9V batteries and a box of AA batteries. Tenants will remove dead smoke detectors instead of replacing batteries. This is a liability issue. Replace them yourself during inspections.

The Lock and Security Kit

A lock rekey kit or a set of Kwikset SmartKey locks lets you change locks between tenants in five minutes without replacing the hardware. You should rekey every lock at every turnover. No exceptions. Former tenants keeping copies of keys is a liability you don't need.

A deadbolt installation kit (hole saw and jig) if you ever need to add or replace a deadbolt. A door reinforcement kit (the $15 strike plate with 3-inch screws) turns a hollow-frame door jamb into one that actually resists being kicked in. Install these on every exterior door.

Appliance Troubleshooting

A multimeter for testing whether appliances are receiving power. A nut driver set (1/4, 5/16, 3/8) for accessing appliance panels. A level for installing washers, dryers, and refrigerators that walk across the floor. A stiff putty knife for cleaning drip pans and removing old caulk.

Most appliance service calls are caused by one of three things: it's unplugged, the circuit breaker tripped, or the filter or drain is clogged. Check all three before calling a technician. A clogged dishwasher filter or a kinked dryer vent hose is a 5-minute fix that costs nothing.

Frequently Asked Questions