Together with the many decisions that rental property owners must make, deciding on who will do landscaping maintenance can be difficult. Many Rolesville property owners assume that their tenants will be responsible for keeping the yard in good shape. However, that might not always be the best course of action.
There are both pros and cons to assigning landscape maintenance to your tenant. Similarly, there are pros and cons of taking care of it yourself (or hiring someone to do it for you). When you take a closer look at the responsibility of landscaping maintenance from both sides, you can wisely choose the best option for your landscaping needs.
As the property owner, the most uncomplicated way to ensure property maintenance is getting done correctly is to hire a professional to do the job. There are clear benefits to taking this approach to landscaping maintenance for single-family rental homes. For example, you won’t need to think about whether or not your tenants are neglecting the lawn, trees, or other plants.
With sufficient care, your rental house will always have great curb appeal, helping you to better protect your property values. Pre-arranged provisions for 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. After 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. Nevertheless, it is not a good idea to handle the landscape maintenance yourself.
To add 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 right. This would pose a big problem if you don’t live near your rental property. Also, the time you spend caring for your property’s yard might not be the best way to go about it.
Hiring a professional landscaping company will be an additional expense. If you have not included landscaping maintenance costs into your initial calculations, that could put an unwanted strain on your monthly cash flows. Affordable companies who do quality work are often hard to find. This is arguably 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 common way property owners deal with landscaping maintenance is to require your tenant to do it. Doing this has a lot of benefits. The tenant takes on the time and expense of mowing lawns, trimming bushes, and pulling weeds, freeing your time and money to do other things. Besides, 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 taking care of your yard. They would be able to do a decent job of taking care of your property’s yard.
But you should remember that not all tenants are willing or able to live up to landscaping responsibilities. Another thing to consider is that you do run the risk of doing serious damage to the yard with this arrangement. Insufficient care could lead to dead or dying plants. Your rental home’s yard could quickly become a neighborhood eyesore. A corresponding reduction of your property value could be the result because of that. Another thing is 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.
They may not know how to use such tools safely. That could be a big problem. This could escalate into a situation where the tenant injures themselves, breaks or damages your landscaping equipment, or both. Any of these could lead to unwanted legal problems unless careful steps are taken.
At the end of the day, deciding on your Rolesville rental property’s landscaping needs will depend on your particular situation. Consider all the pros and cons and be realistic about your availability and budget so that you can come up with a mutually beneficial arrangement for 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 Raleigh. You can reach us online or call us at 919-481-0008 for more information.
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