Where to draw the line--managing tenants

[Nick Ferrari]

I officially have a needy problem tenant and I would like all your advice on what you would do permanently.

I have a class A-B townhome in a good neighborhood in the suburbs of Philadelphia.  I just recently added a new tenant and at first everything was great but as time past issues started to occur...with everything.  This woman the day we did our move in move out checklist wasn't happy with anything the window sills weren't clean enough.  The Air conditioning wasn't turned on before she came in and it was too hot (tried saving electricity no one in home).  The toilet seat a few days later was somewhat wobbly.  The ceiling fan remote's button is hard to press in a bedroom that she doesn't use and she wants it wired to the wall.

Now i'm all for treating your tenant's well because if they treat you well the same often times is reciprocated, so naturally we paid to bring out an electrician and contractor to do some of these minor fixes and moving forward there shouldn't be much to complain about.  Although she cancelled it last minute and now I have to reschedule (topic for another time).

My question is how do you draw the line with your tenant with what you will repair and what you won't?  Do you fix only what is broken?  Do you throw them a bone and go above and beyond no matter what?  

Also bonus question I am considering adding an amendment for future leases stating any repairs after move in the first $100 the tenant is responsible for repairs; makes sense to me they are after all the ones living in the home and responsible for wear and tear and it should deter from ridiculous fixes like several of the one's I mentioned earlier.

[Nathan Gesner]

The property will be "broom swept to MY standard. If your standards are higher, you are welcome to clean it more. When you return it to me, I expect it to be returned in the same condition it was received."

The rest can probably be ignored because it's nit-picky but I suppose that depends on the quality of the home and the renter. 

One suggestion: politely talk to the tenant about their complaints. Tell her to get settled and create a list of maintenance issues. Once she's got it down, offer to send your handyman over for an hour to handle the "bigger" issues. If she still doesn't calm down, politely tell her she has unreasonable expectations and you would prefer she move somewhere else.