Published on October 29th, 2025
By Brittany Benz

Maintenance is one of the biggest headaches and most time-consuming workflows for property management businesses.

As a property manager, you can make maintenance less cumbersome for your team, residents, and maintenance techs — and less expensive for property owners — by streamlining your processes.

With property maintenance, there are some things you can’t control. But with an automated system, even unpredictable maintenance issues can be handled efficiently and effectively.

There are four main challenges most property management businesses encounter when it comes to maintenance. Below, we break down each challenge and provide practical ways to overcome them and gain control of your operations once and for all.

Challenge #1: Too Many Maintenance Requests

Maintenance requests come in from residents daily, but there’s usually an ebb and flow in how many you receive.

Some seasons (like summer) tend to have more requests, though your busy times may vary based on:

• Your geographical location

• The types of residential properties you manage

• The age and condition of your properties

The size of your team and how you assign duties also matter. Smaller businesses with fewer employees can easily become overwhelmed — missing requests, falling behind, and impacting efficiency and productivity.

When maintenance requests take too long to resolve, it can lead to unhappy residents and higher resident and owner turnover.

Solution: Empower Residents to Self-Serve

Enable residents to submit maintenance requests right from their phone or computer.

A digital maintenance system gives you:

• Centralized visibility so nothing falls through the cracks

• Faster turnaround times

• Fewer phone calls and manual follow-ups

This allows your team to focus on delivering great service — not chasing paperwork.

Challenge #2: Finding Reliable Maintenance Techs and Vendors

Finding qualified maintenance technicians and vendors seems harder than ever for most property management businesses

In addition, today’s vendors have new expectations. Common frustrations include:

• Lack of visibility into projects

• Late payments

• Unclear expectations

These issues often push skilled professionals away from property management and into other industries.

Solution: Stand Out from the Crowd with Automated Tools

Differentiate your business by offering modern, mobile, and automated tools.

For example, the AppFolio Realm-X Maintenance Performer takes resident requests and automatically converts them into work orders for pre-approved vendors.

With this kind of digital system, vendors can:

• Instantly access work details

• Check status updates on the go

• Communicate easily with your team

The result: more transparency, consistency, and stronger vendor relationships.

Challenge #3: Dispersed Properties

Maintenance technicians often spend a lot of time driving between properties — especially if you manage single-family homes spread across a city or region.

Without a mobile system, techs must rely on phone calls to get updates or instructions, which slows everyone down.

Managing multiple vendors across different locations also adds complexity and makes it harder to track work orders.

Solution: Move to a Fully Mobile System

Switch to a fully mobile maintenance platform that allows your team and vendors to access information and complete workflows remotely.

With a mobile system, you can:

• Communicate instantly with techs and vendors

• Track work order progress in real time

• Coordinate multiple vendors more efficiently

The result is faster, more organized, and more cost-effective maintenance operations.

Challenge #4: Uncontrolled and Unexpected Expenses

Unexpected maintenance costs can seriously impact your bottom line and net operating income (NOI).

Every property has unique maintenance needs — and without a reliable tracking system, costs can quickly spiral out of control.

Property owners expect you to monitor and manage expenses carefully. If you can’t explain why costs exceed expectations, it can erode trust and damage relationships.

Solution: Take a Proactive Approach

The key is to stay ahead of costs with preventative maintenance and proactive budgeting.

Use property management software to track:

• Maintenance expenses

• Unit turns

• Budget performance

For example, the AppFolio Unit Turn Board helps you manage all the work required to minimize vacancy time and control spending.

By tracking maintenance costs year-round, you’ll reduce surprises and better predict future expenses.

Maximize Maintenance Efficiency

You owe it to your team, owners, technicians, and vendors to maximize efficiency in all areas of your business — especially maintenance.

By automating maintenance requests, moving to a mobile system, and taking a proactive approach to repairs, you can:

• Overcome common maintenance challenges

• Improve vendor and resident satisfaction

• Strengthen owner trust

Once you streamline your processes, you’ll be better positioned to attract and retain quality vendors — and deliver a superior experience to both renters and owners. For more ways to maximize your maintenance operations, check out this guide.