Among the several decisions rental property owners must make, who will overlook the landscaping maintenance is one that is probably quite stressful. Many Duchesne property owners assume that their tenant will be responsible for keeping the yard looking quite fine, but actually, that might not always be the best course of action.
There are both pros and cons to assigning landscape maintenance to your tenant, much like there are pros and cons of taking care of it yourself (or hiring a certain person to fulfill it for you). To make the best decision for your property, it’s vital to take a closer look at the responsibility of landscaping maintenance from both sides.
As the property owner, the most outright way to ensure property maintenance is getting done correctly is to hire a professional to execute it for you. There are clear benefits to taking this approach to landscaping maintenance for single-family rental homes. For instance, you won’t need to worry that your tenants will mistreat or neglect the lawn, trees, or other plants.
With appropriate handling, your rental house will always have great curb appeal, helping you better protect your property values. Imparting 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. In case 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. One way or the other, it is not a good idea to handle the landscape maintenance yourself.
On top of these burdens, if you plan to do the yard maintenance work yourself, you’ll need the time, skills, and tools to do the job fine. If you don’t live near your rental property, this could right away become a large nuisance. At the same time, the time you spend caring for your property’s yard might not be the best way to cope with it.
Also, hiring a professional landscaping company will be an additional expense. If you neglect to figure landscaping maintenance costs into your initial calculations, that could put an unwanted strain on your monthly cash flows. It can, furthermore, be hard to locate a reasonable company that does terrific work. This is most likely 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 typical approach property owners do with landscaping maintenance is to require your tenant to do it. There are numerous valid benefits to this practice. The tenant takes on the time and expense of mowing lawns, trimming bushes, and pulling weeds, freeing your time and money for other things. To top it off, 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 thus be able to secure and keep your rental property’s yard looking neat and tidy over the year.
Without a doubt, not all tenants are willing or able to live up to landscaping responsibilities. But it’s true that by entrusting such chores to your tenant, you do run the risk of doing serious damage to the yard. Tenants may damage or forget the lawn and trees, leading to dead or dying plants. Your rental property could swiftly become a neighborhood eyesore. And much worse, a corresponding reduction of your property value could result. Likewise, 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.
Along the same lines, they may not know how to use such tools safely. If you venture to go around this little problem by giving tools to them, this could result in a situation where the tenant injures themselves, break or damage your landscaping equipment, or both. Any of these would probably set off unwanted legal problems unless careful steps are taken.
Conclusively, the choice of who will monitor and take care of your Duchesne rental property’s landscaping will mostly depend on your particular circumstance. Though by considering all the pros and cons and being realistic about your availability and budget, you can organize an arrangement that should be good 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 Uintah. You can reach us online or call us at 801-889-1517 for more information.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
