Classified among the countless decisions rental property owners must make, who will do the landscaping maintenance is one that may be the most tough. Many Raleigh property owners assume that their tenant will be responsible for keeping the yard looking attractive, though that might not always be the best course of action.
There are both pros and cons to assigning landscape maintenance to your tenant, the same as there are pros and cons of taking care of it yourself (or hiring somebody to carry out it for you). To make the right choice decision for your property, it’s imperative to take a closer look at the responsibility of landscaping maintenance from both sides.
As the property owner, the most obvious way to ensure property maintenance is getting done correctly is to hire a professional to accomplish 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 treatment and care, your rental house will always have great curb appeal, helping you better protect your property values. Entrusting landscaping maintenance to a professional 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. Whenever 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 way, it is not a good idea to handle the landscape maintenance yourself.
Besides these difficulties and disadvantages, if you plan to do the yard maintenance work yourself, you’ll need the time, skills, and tools to do the job correctly. If you don’t live near your rental property, this could quickly turn into an immense issue or problem. Additionally, the time you spend caring for your property’s yard might not be the best way to handle it.
At the same time, hiring a professional landscaping company will be an additional expense. If you didn’t figure landscaping maintenance costs into your initial calculations, that could put an unwanted strain on your monthly cash flows. It can likewise be burdensome to locate and get a rather affordable company that does prime and quality work. This is possibly 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 usual way property owners run landscaping maintenance is to require your tenant to do it. There are various veritable and real benefits to this method. The tenant takes on the time and expense of mowing lawns, trimming bushes, and pulling weeds, freeing your time and money for other things. On top of 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 could be able to keep your rental property’s yard looking neat and tidy all year round.
Certainly, not all tenants are willing or able to live up to landscaping responsibilities. But be aware that by delegating such duties to your tenant, you do run the risk of doing serious damage to the yard. Tenants may mistreat or overlook the lawn and trees, leading to dead or dying plants. Your rental property could instantly become a neighborhood eyesore. Worse, a corresponding reduction of your property value could result. Besides, 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.
Likewise, they may not know how to use such tools safely. If you attempt to help them by giving tools to them, you could cause a situation where the tenant injures themselves, break or damage your landscaping equipment, or both. Any of these could quite possibly bring about unwanted legal problems unless careful steps are taken.
In the end, the option of who will attend to your Raleigh rental property’s landscaping will largely depend on your circumstance. However, by balancing or weighing all the pros and cons and being realistic about your availability and budget, you can reach an agreement that should help and 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 Excellence. You can reach us online or call us at 919-827-1107
for more information.
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