Steep Driveway Dilemma

[Jennifer F.]

I'm new to this and in the process of renting out my single family home for the first time. I've read previous forums about the pros and cons of providing snow removal/lawn care but my situation is unique as the house is on a steep hill in New England.

I'm worried that the driveway could be a deterrent but my biggest concern is liability. I was initially thinking of either providing a snow blower (I have 2 extra ones) or providing plow service for the driveway only (tenants would be responsible for clearing snow from the stairs, walkway and the area around their cars). My lawyer informed me either of these options could open me up to liability (injury by snow blower or slip and fall claiming my plow service didn't do an adequate job).

So another thought I had was to factor the price of snow removal into the rent but advertise it without snow removal. If I find a prospective tenant that is otherwise interested but balks at the hill, I could "throw in" snow removal with no change in the rental price. This way they'd feel they got something "extra" for the price if it came up. (I do realize I can't start out by advertising it with plowing and reduce the rental price if the tenant offers to do it without opening myself up to other issues.)

I should add that my realtor said that otherwise the house should be an easy rental. It is updated (cherry/granite kitchen, great neighborhood, private fenced yard). Even with the rent increased "in case" I need to include snow plowing, it seems to be reasonable based on what other homes in the area are renting for on Zillow. I do realize however, that I'm losing money every month it remains empty. Thoughts on any aspect of this?

Jen

[Account Closed]

I do property management in a ski resort town. Lots of hills and lots of steep driveways. I always put in my leases that the tenants are responsible for their own snow clearing. I have never had a single tenant balk at this.

I would not provide them with a snow blower. Even if there are no injuries, if it breaks, they would expect you to fix it or replace it. Just let them take care of it. When people live in snowy areas, they expect to deal with snow removal.