As you’re wandering the aisles of your local home-improvement store, filling your cart with expensive items and reviewing your long list of repairs, are you struck with a feeling of deja vu? Home maintenance can be a living nightmare if the property is continually falling apart under your feet and over your head. If you feel like you’re spending every Saturday painting, hammering or gluing your home back together, it could be time to change tactics.

Fix it quickly.

Has the faucet been leaking for months? Seriously, you need to fix that ASAP. First of all, if you added up all the water you’ve wasted over that time period you might be astounded. Not to mention the water bill associated with all those gallons (yes, gallons) of water that went down the drain (literally). With many problems, if you put off fixing them, they’re bound to get worse. If you avoid regular home maintenance such as changing air-conditioning filters, you’ll end up with a bigger problem on your hands down the line.

Don’t sacrifice convenience for quality.

Duct tape fixes everything, right? It might seem like a good idea to adhere to this popular adage, but before you grab the nearest roll of metallic adhesive and start strapping down loose pipes and ceiling fans, consider the consequences. Going for a quick fix is definitely quick, there’s no denying that. But as for the “fixing” part, opting for the cheap or easy option might not be the most beneficial choice in the long run. While the above advice (fix it quickly) still stands, you have to find a happy middle ground between “haphazardly fixing the problem ASAP” and “putting it off for a year.” Take the time to fix it right, and you’ll be thanking yourself later when you don’t have to fix it again.

Hire a professional.

This one goes right along with choosing quality and taking the time to do it right. If the issue is out of your realm of expertise, you should seriously consider hiring a professional to complete the job for you. For one thing, if you attempt to make a repair and you don’t have the skill or knowledge to do it correctly, you could end up creating a bigger problem. This translates to more money, time and hassle on your part — certainly more frustrating than sacrificing your pride and calling a professional from day one. If you’re working with a property management company, ask your property manager for a list of repair companies they recommend for the job. Depending on your lease, the property managers might actually facilitate a repair at the owners’ expense. (Sounds like a winning situation for letting your pride take one for the team.)