I’m about to close on my first investment property and was wondering if it’s best to hire a lawn service to try and keep the yard up or just purchase a lawn mower and expect the tenant to cut the grass? I would rather my tenant keep up with the yard, but wanted to hear others experience with this issue.
Rental Property Investor · Greenwich, CT · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
7y
@Gabriel Carreras, I assume this is a SFR? Really depends on the property class. B-class plus, you're likely to have tenants that take a lot more pride in their property than C and D-class.
Rental Property Investor · Greenwich, CT · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
7y
@Gabriel Carreras, I assume this is a SFR? Really depends on the property class. B-class plus, you're likely to have tenants that take a lot more pride in their property than C and D-class.
Investor · Melbourne, FL · Member since 2017 · 159 posts · 116 votes
7y
I'd be too concerned with liability to buy a mower for a tenant to use. I used to hire a lawn crew for lawn care but it was a pain always checking that they actually did the work. I now put it on the tenants and they can cut it themselves or hire it out. B class homes
Sterman, MI · Member since 2017 · 378 posts · 306 votes
7y
I got quotes from a couple different lawn care people. They all said they mow every two weeks. Really?? Every two weeks. If they mow more that's extra. So I offer it to the tenants for less price and take it off the rent. Some places it's there responsibility to mow it. It gets mowed when it needs it not every two weeks.
Thanks for the feedback everyone! I think I will put the mowing on my tenants in our rental agreement and see how that goes. I’ve read too many posts about the liabilities involved with providing a mower, so I think it’s best to play it safe and check in regularly to make sure it’s being taken care of.
I got quotes from a couple different lawn care people. They all said they mow every two weeks. Really?? Every two weeks. If they mow more that's extra. So I offer it to the tenants for less price and take it off the rent. Some places it's there responsibility to mow it. It gets mowed when it needs it not every two weeks.
I think a lot of companies do every two weeks for simplicity of scheduling. Sometimes a week is too often and two weeks is not often enough. 10 days seems perfect, but I think it makes it more difficult for the company. Also, spring time, at least where I am, I sometimes feel I cut my lawn twice a week.
In my opinion it is probably best to hire a company to do it if you don't want to personally do it, that way you are sure it gets done. I only have two rentals, so I did my own lawn care. However, one of my tenants actually asked if I would buy them a push mower so they could cut their own lawn. I bought one for $100 and he enjoys doing it so I don't even have to make sure it gets done. And I saved 2 hours a month not having to do it.
Walnut Creek, CA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
7y
Tell you this right now.... if you're out of state or even non local.... hire it out. Build it into the rent and you won't have to worry about it.
I had some tenants do this just fine, but others.... they got me in trouble w/ code enforcement. No fines, but also really not many ways to enforce it. You're either going to spend money/time fighting it out w/ an eviction or paying a company to do it and trying to get repaid... Skip all that, pay for it now and build it into the rent.
Rental Property Investor · south Alabama · Member since 2018 · 121 posts · 88 votes
7y
I hire it out for new tenants now. I have one tenant that mows her own, but I often have to remind her that the grass is looking pretty bad, and she doesn’t use a trimmer so I occasionally have to go do that part myself or spray Roundup. Too much headache.