Rental Property Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2017 · 104 posts · 64 votes
Hey everyone, I haven't posted about it but I closed on my first duplex in February & now I am so happy I can finally call myself a rental property investor.
But sure enough Into my first month I learned this one tenant loves to text and call to request a bunch of minor fixes that seem to be something that I'm not sure if I should be responsible to fix or if the tenant should fix it.
Like this photo I got a text about this falling down in the middle of the night but clearly I can see that its too much weight being put on the bar. I already texted her to clean the space out and I will have someone put it back up.
But I wanted to know what is some of the things in a unit the tenant should be responsible for?
@james Nix A lot of good answers here! Do the repair and inspect the property while you're there. Bill the tenant for the materials. I don't trust tenants to do any repairs other than the following:
- change batteries smoke detectors
- change out air filters (show them how to do this and provide one so they know what size to buy)
- change out simple light bulbs (if the job requires an extended ladder such as bulbs for vaulted ceilings bill them for the bulbs but do it yourself)
State these repairs as tenant responsibility in your lease. If your tenants are on a month to month, get them to sign a new lease or check with laws of your state if you can issue notice of change in terms of tenancy.
Good communication with your tenants also includes educating them on what is an necessary repair ( leak under the sink) and what isn't (new knobs for cabinet drawers).
Good luck to you and congrats on your first investment!
I know this post is old but i just found it and have the same problem. What if the tenant just moved in a month ago after the old tenant moved out? Is it my responsibility to fix it?