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Lawn Maintenance For Your Rental Property
Should the landlord mow the lawn for their rental property? Should the tenant have to trim trees? Does the landlord have to provide a lawn mower to the tenant?
Rental investing is great until your tenant does not follow through with their agreement with something as simple as mowing the property’s lawn.
Let’s be honest, it happens. As a landlord or property manager, you are bound to have tenants that don’t do what they agreed to do.
In this article I discuss 5 common questions that landlords have regarding their rental property’s lawn, and provide input about how I handle these situations with my own properties!
Additionally, be sure to read through the three important tips about avoiding lawn issues with your rental investment!
1. What Happens if My Tenant Does Not Mow The Lawn?
For all the property investors I have spoken to, everyone has a written statement that the tenant will care for the lawn of the property. The only time this is different is if an HOA does lawn care.
Answer: Here are 3 steps to address tenants that do not mow the property’s lawn:
1. Notify the Tenant
It is first important to notify your tenant professionally about the situation. This is usually best via mail, as it is more official than an email, but a phone call can also be a good route of communication.
Some landlords will take a photo and text or email it to the tenant to let them know they’ve noticed the lawn looking poor.
2. Hire Lawn Service and Add Charge the Tenant the Fee
How much does it cost to hire lawn care for your rental property?
This will be around an additional $30 that gets added to their monthly rent.
If they do not pay this extra fee, you can send them a notice of late rent and include the fee with it. Be sure you look at your lease agreement, though, to see if you are allowed to raise the rent or add fees. Additionally, some states have different laws regarding fees and rents.
When it comes to my own properties, I don’t have to worry about this issue of contacting my tenants, dealing with extra charges, and so forth. I use a property manager that does it all for me!
Be sure to read about 5 reasons you should use a property manager for your rental investment so you won’t have to deal with difficult tenants!
3. Take the Fees Out of the Deposit
If you are not able to raise the rent due to lease agreement conflicts, you could inform the tenant that you’ll take out the additional monthly fees from their deposit until they begin mowing the lawn again.
3. Should I Hire Lawn Service For My Rental Properties?
Answer: It is best practice to have a statement in your lease that mandates that the tenant does their own yard work!
However, if you do not have a mandate in your lease agreement that the tenant cares for the property’s lawn, then you could hire out a lawn service to do bi-monthly lawn mowing.
If your property cash flows well, the additional $30 a month may not be such a big deal, but if your rental does not have good cash flow, then this may not be a good option.
Unfortunately, if you do not have information in your lease about lawn maintenance, you are likely going to be stuck doing the work or hiring out the work yourself. Just be sure to either include it in the lease agreement or to plan to hire out lawn service!
I will say though, it may be good to have that extra set of eyes on your property in case there may be any suspicious activity happening at the home!
4. Should I Hire Landscaping for My Rental Properties?
Answer: It is best for the property owner to take care of tree maintenance while the tenant cares for small, routine landscaping upkeep.
This is another common question, especially regarding tree maintenance and for shrubs.
For my properties, I drive by them every month to check how the plants, flowers, shrubs, and trees change. This is by season, too.
I purposefully do not plant any greenery that will take upkeep. In fact, I usually uproot plants and replace it with rocks or other aesthetic pieces like lava rock.
Like lawn mowing, upkeep of the property regarding routine landscaping should be included in the lease agreement. However, if this is your first lease for a property of yours, or if you forget to add this into the agreement, then it may be best to keep track of how much money per month it costs to upkeep all the trees and shrubbery. Then, add this cost into your next lease!
But, this differs with trees, in comparison to clipping some leaves on a bush.
When it comes to trees, it is almost always the property owner’s job to maintain the trees. This way it does not cause property damage or safety issues.
5. Should I Provide a Lawn Mower to My Tenant?
Answer: Providing a lawn mower to your tenant is not a smart choice.
This is a great idea out of fear that your property may not be kept up, but it just sets you up for liability and repeated maintenance issues down the road.
The last thing you need is for the mower to hurt your tenant. In addition, if it isn’t kept up well, you could find yourself making multiple trips over to a property to fix it.
If you do choose to leave a mower with the tenant, it is common to have in the lease stating that you are not responsible for maintaining or fixing the lawn mower.
3 Tips to Avoid Lawn Issues:
1. Do Thorough Screening for Your Tenants
This tip seems simple but is pivotal to avoid lawn issues with your future tenants!
Tenants will poor history are not likely to take ownership in your property. Good luck getting them to trim the bushes and care for flowers in the front yard!
Instead, be sure to not just choose the first application you receive. Taking the time to find a good tenant may save you huge headaches later on!
2. Have Details Written in Your Lease
The best way around any lawn issues with your rental property is simply to have it written explicitly in your lease agreement.
If you don’t have something written in the agreement, trying to argue it later on won’t work well in your favor. Be sure to have a professional to look over your documents prior to handing it over for a signature.
3. Be Compassionate and Professional
It is best to let your tenant know of all the responsibilities up front. If you have a property manager, be sure that they outline all of these responsibilities to the tenant.
Additionally, if there are any issues that arise, being courteous and professional is the best way to maintain a good relationship with the tenant. Friendly phone calls are a much better option that sudden eviction threats.
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