Included in the many difficult decisions rental property owners must make is who to entrust with landscaping maintenance work. Many Cumming property owners assume that their tenants will be responsible for keeping the yard in good order. However, that might not always be the best course of action.
There are both pros and cons to assigning landscape maintenance to your tenant. Likewise, there are also pros and cons of taking care of it yourself (or hiring someone to do it for you). You should take a closer look at the responsibility of landscaping maintenance from both sides so you can make the right choice for your property.
As the property owner, the most effortless way to ensure that property maintenance is getting done correctly is to hire a professional to complete 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 worry that your tenants will mistreat or neglect the lawn, trees, or other plants.
When given appropriate care, your rental house will always have great curb appeal, helping you better protect your property values. The availability of landscaping maintenance for your tenant might just become a big draw, helping you attract and keep higher-quality tenants who want the extra convenience and are willing to pay a little extra for it. Usually, 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. Even so, it is not a good idea to handle the landscape maintenance yourself.
To add to these concerns, if you plan to do the yard maintenance work yourself, you’ll need the time, skills, and tools to do the job right. If you don’t live near your rental property, this could be a big issue. Also, the time you spend caring for your property’s yard might not be the best way to go about it.
Conversely, hiring a professional landscaping company will be an additional expense. If you haven’t figured landscaping maintenance costs into your initial calculations, that could put an unwanted strain on your monthly cash flows. Affordable quality landscaping companies are also hard to come by. 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 address landscaping maintenance is to require your tenant to do it. This arrangement 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 for other things. This is also a good option since 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 may be capable of adequate yard upkeep.
However, not all tenants are willing or able to live up to landscaping responsibilities. When you fully rely on your tenants to do the maintenance, you do run the risk of doing serious damage to the yard. Inadequate care could lead to dead or dying plants. Your property’s yard could quickly become a neighborhood eyesore. What’s worse is that a corresponding reduction of your property value could be the result. Also, 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.
Even then, they may not know how to use such tools safely. You could end up with a situation where the tenant injures themselves, breaks or damages your landscaping equipment, or both. Any of these could result in unwanted legal problems unless careful steps are taken.
In the end, deciding on the care of your Cumming rental property’s landscaping will depend on your particular situation. By considering all the pros and cons and being realistic about your availability and budget, you can craft an arrangement that is mutually beneficial for you and your tenant.
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 Executives Greater Atlanta. You can reach us online or call us at 678-765-8383 for more information.
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