Included in the several decisions rental property owners must make, who will tend to the landscaping maintenance is one that could be very hard. Many Salt Lake City property owners assume that their tenant will be responsible for keeping the yard looking pretty, however, that might not always be the best course of action.
There are both pros and cons to assigning landscape maintenance to your tenant, similar to the pros and cons of taking care of it yourself (or hiring somebody to implement it for you). To be able to make a good call for your property, it’s very important to take a closer look at the responsibility of landscaping maintenance from both sides.
As the property owner, the most apparent way to ensure property maintenance is getting done correctly is to hire a professional to complete it for you. There are clear benefits to taking this approach to landscaping maintenance for single-family rental homes. As an instance, you won’t need to worry that your tenants will mistreat or neglect the lawn, trees, or other plants.
With suitable care, your rental house will always have great curb appeal, helping you better protect your property values. Providing landscaping maintenance for your tenant might just become a big draw, helping you attract and keep higher-quality tenants willing to pay a bit extra for the convenience. When your rental property is rented, many states do not allow you to come on the property unless you give proper notice, or it is outlined in the lease agreement. In any event, it is not a good idea to handle the landscape maintenance yourself.
In addition to these issues, if you plan to do the yard maintenance work yourself, you’ll need the time, skills, and tools to do the job well. If you don’t live near your rental property, this could hastily emerge to become a major complication. On top of that, the time you spend caring for your property’s yard might not be the best way to undertake it.
At the same time, hiring a professional landscaping company will be an additional expense. If you forgot to figure landscaping maintenance costs into your initial calculations, that could put an unwanted strain on your monthly cash flows. It can further be complicated to look around for a budget-friendly company that does good work. This is in all likelihood the best part of having a property manager: they will have a list of service providers that may even do the work at a discount.
The most usual method property owners employ in landscaping maintenance is to require your tenant to do it. There are countless undeniable benefits in this manner. The tenant takes on the time and expense of mowing lawns, trimming bushes, and pulling weeds, freeing your time and money for other things. Other than that, tenants who have been renting single-family homes for many years often already have the tools and experience needed to do a decent job of things. They may indeed be able to have your rental property’s yard looking all neat and tidy throughout the whole year.
Undoubtedly, not all tenants are willing or able to live up to landscaping responsibilities. Through passing on such works to your tenant, you do run the risk of doing serious damage to the yard. Tenants may ruin or ignore the lawn and trees, leading to dead or dying plants. Your rental property could directly become a neighborhood eyesore. Worse, a corresponding reduction of your property value could be the result. Moreover, if your tenants don’t already have a lawnmower or other tools, buying them could present a serious problem. Many tenants don’t want or can’t afford to invest in expensive lawn care equipment.
In the same vein, they may not know how to use such tools safely. If you attempt to get over this nuisance by equipping them with tools, this could result in a situation where the tenant injures themselves, breaks or damages your landscaping equipment, or both. Any of these may perhaps lead to unwanted legal problems unless careful steps are taken.
Eventually, the choice of who will keep an eye on and take care of your Salt Lake City rental property’s landscaping will rely upon your specific condition. By assessing all the pros and cons and being realistic about your availability and budget, you can get to an easy solution that should benefit everyone.
If you need some advice on how to handle landscaping for your rental property or would like someone else to take care of it entirely, contact Real Property Management Wasatch. You can reach us online or call us at 801-889-1517 for more information.
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