Among the various decisions rental property owners must make, who will take charge of the landscaping maintenance is one that may be difficult. Many Saratoga Springs property owners assume that their tenant will be responsible for keeping the yard looking great, but truth be told, 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 anyone to accomplish it for you). To make the appropriate decision for your property, it’s essential to take a closer look at the responsibility of landscaping maintenance from both sides.
As the property owner, the surest way to ensure property maintenance is getting done correctly is to hire a professional to carry it out for you. There are clear benefits to taking this approach to landscaping maintenance for single-family rental homes. For example, you won’t need to worry that your tenants will mistreat or neglect the lawn, trees, or other plants.
With the right treatment and 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. If 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 whatever case, it is not a good idea to handle the landscape maintenance yourself.
Side by side with these drawbacks, if you plan to do the yard maintenance work yourself, you’ll need the time, skills, and tools to do the job properly. If you don’t live near your rental property, this could instantly turn into a big problem. However, the time you spend caring for your property’s yard might not be the best way to deal with it.
Furthermore, hiring a professional landscaping company will be an additional expense. If you didn’t add landscaping maintenance costs into your initial calculations, that could put an unwanted strain on your monthly cash flows. It can, moreover, be tedious to seek a reasonable company that does superb work. This is quite 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 tactic most property owners use to handle landscaping maintenance is to require their tenant to do it. There are some accurate benefits to this system. The tenant takes on the time and expense of mowing lawns, trimming bushes, and pulling weeds, freeing your time and money for 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 things. They should be able to preserve your rental property’s yard to look neat and tidy for the whole year.
Not all tenants are willing or able to live up to landscaping responsibilities. Be aware that by giving such responsibilities to your tenant, you do run the risk of doing serious damage to the yard. Tenants may destroy or forget about the lawn and trees, leading to dead or dying plants. Your rental property could speedily become a neighborhood eyesore. And even worse, a corresponding reduction of your property value could result. On top of that, 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.
Similarly, they may not know how to use such tools safely. If you do your best to go around this annoyance by giving tools to them, you could bring about a situation where the tenant injures themselves, breaks or damages your landscaping equipment, or both. Any of these might bring on unwanted legal problems unless careful steps are taken.
In the long run, the solution of who will take the lead for your Saratoga Springs rental property’s landscaping will rely on your individual situation. By simply thinking of all the pros and cons and being realistic about your availability and budget, you can organize something that should assist 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 Utah County. You can reach us online or call us at 801-889-1517
for more information.
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