My landlord (property manager, really) "pays" me (essentially, a rent rebate) to mow per occurrence. His landscape company would charge him more than that per month and would charge him year round. So, he comes out better at year-end.
@Dennis M. you do know the poison leeches into the ground water which someone might end up drinking right.
So anyone worried about it should drink bottled Evian and Perrier, with a Frenchie doing his business over the export water vats three times a shift, pour l'honneur de la France.
Financial Advisor · Blaine, MN · Member since 2014 · 477 posts · 387 votes
7y
@Charlie Moore In our lease we up the lease amount $200 and offer a $200 lawn care and snow removal credit. If they don't mow then we have someone mow and charge the tenant the extra $200. If they don't pay the extra $200 we start the eviction process. Our tenants pay rent online and partial payments are not an option so they either pay the full rent with the $200 or they pay nothing.
Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2016 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
7y
@Charlie Moore am I crazy to just say tell them, and then cut it yourself?
I’m not sure about where you are but I will likely have the lawns mowed 3 times this year (bi monthly). Which is like 80-100 bucks total..
So if they don’t do it, and it’s in your lease, I would just do it and have them pay for it. That’s going to be cheaper then paying the city violations you get, which will cost more then to do it yourself
Rental Property Investor · Seminole, FL · Member since 2014 · 85 posts · 68 votes
7y
@Charlie Moore: I'm a big fan of convenience. I'd probably just pay to get it cut once a month. Then when her lease is up, I would opt to not renew. Since this is one property, it may not be a big impact in the grand scheme of things. Good luck!
I’m new to this site but I’ll take a crack at this one.
People don’t take action if they aren’t incentivized. I don’t have any idea what your agreement is with your tenant but it does not sound like there is any incentive for her to cut your grass. You, on the other hand, have incentive because you have to hear it from the community.
I would hire someone to cut the grass each week. Other people might do it themselves but I personally don’t have the the time or inclination to do something that I can outsource for a relatively low cost.
You can then build that cost into you next tenant’s rent or you could eat the cost as an expense. That is your choice but I wouldn’t expect your current tenant to ever cut the grass. If she were going to do it, she would have done it by now.
Take action yourself and put that time and energy wasted on the tenant and the community into something positive that benefits you.
Wholesaler · Maywood, IL · Member since 2016 · 6 posts · 3 votes
7y
I usually included in my lease, I have three different prices the first price is $300 more than what I expect for rent. Then a $200 discount for paying before the first of the month and another $100 discount for lawn maintenance and snow removal. It makes life so much simpler when you spell it out.
@Jim K. People at Flint didn't get the memo about the importance of good drinking water
The people of Flint suffered the inevitable outcome of the arrogance and stupidity of a local government that made important unilateral decisions based on their layman's understanding of how their water delivery system infrastructure worked. The people making the decisions were not the people who understood the science behind what they were doing. Instead, they were the kind of people who were incapable of understanding the necessity of adhering to the empirical standard of truth best provided by scientific method, and who thought that their common sense beat out scientific study any day.
I am not an ignoramus because I am not afraid of a herbicide that has been overwhelmingly proven to be safer for you in small quantities than any synthetic insecticide every applied to any cropland or local garden, any alkyd-based paint every applied to any surface, any petrochemical fuel ever used to operate any machine. I'm just a guy who understands the current research and the current available alternatives.
If you get a prospect who wants to save the money and promises they'll mow the lawn, hire someone and include it in the rent anyway. If they need a discount that badly, maybe they should find someplace cheaper.
@Charlie Moore Hire someone to cut the grass and inform her of the increase in rent.
You can hire someone and bill her, particularly if provisions for such are stated in the lease. I'm no lawyer, but I believe any rent change for any reason needs a new lease, unless it's a month-to-month.
Investor · Olathe, KS · Member since 2017 · 123 posts · 99 votes
7y
@Scott Jensen how do you keep track of if they mowed each month or not? Do you drive by all the properties every week or two? I like that philosophy but I wouldn’t know whether to keep the charge on their monthly rent or take it off.
I don’t have a lot of problem with it. Mowing is pretty much expected in my area. My lease just states that if I get fined by the city (for any violation that is their fault) then I pass those fees on to the tenant.
Real Estate Agent · Southington, CT · Member since 2008 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y
@Wesley W. That’s why I threw in the “if possible”. Should have been clearer. Sorry about that.
If tenants have their own driveway we usually have them responsible for clearing it. On the other hand if there are sidewalks we usually handle clearing them because as you said, the town/city will fine the owner if it isn’t done.
Rental Property Investor · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2019 · 129 posts · 138 votes
7y
@Charlie Moore don’t be soft. Just go cut it yourself to get the township off of you, and then get on the renter. If they aren’t gonna cooperate, EVICTION TIMEEEEE. And yeah, next time include it in the rent.
Rental Property Investor · Oklahoma City, OK · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 412 votes
7y
@Sylvia B. Oh, this stuff happens. Just today. In one morning. Tenant candidate #1 looking at 400 sf studio apartment and has "7 pinball machines that are part of his income." Tell Tenant candidate #2 that they need to bring a pay stub and ID to a showing. "Well, never mind."