How to take some control over your property maintenance
Landlords can take the worry out of looking after their investment property.
Tenants have a right to ‘quiet enjoyment’ of the rental property so a landlord cannot keep driving by every week to see if the place is being kept in a reasonable condition. So what can you do to have some control over the upkeep of your property?
Example
Today I drove past a property that most would say was “obviously a rental” because there was no garden as such. The property has no front fence and there is no lawn as such. Why? Because what would have been lawn is not knee high! Up against the carport posts, along the side fence and along the front of house the grass is almost waist high.
Now truly, someone has got to wonder about that. I really would love to know if the property is not a rental but a privately owned property.
But let’s assume it is a rental.
Fixing the problem
Where the landlord could have a problem here is that the wooden fence starts rotting because it is always wet at the bottom because it is covered in long grass and the long grass against the house could be the greatest place for termites to start finding a home within the walls of the house.
Obviously a clean up is required and I would imagine that the tenants would be due for that cost, but in a case like this I would raise the rent and have the lawn mowed by a professional.
This is all assuming that the tenants are good payers of their rent and look after the inside of the property.
Including lawn care in the rental price is a huge relief for busy people. When mum and dad both work the lawns can be a bit of a ‘bug bear’ so if a professional turns up every few weeks and keeps them tidy the relief is well worth $5-10 extra a week.
The property management team would be sure to have good contacts for that sort of work and it relieves the headache for everybody.
Filed Under: Property Investment Tips
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