What's Your Take on Window A/C Units?

[Derek Luttrell]

Hi All, 

I'm under contract on my first buy and hold, and there isn't any central A/C (not too uncommon here in Chicago.) For landlords who have similar units, do you always provide the a/c units come summertime and go install them yourself, or do you put in your lease that the tenants are responsible for their own cooling methods? Every room in the property also has a ceiling fan. 

I feel like there's a good amount of liability if you allow a tenant to install their own unit, and if I were the tenant I know I would appreciate the landlord taking care of something like this for me. With that comes added time and cost for the landlord, though, so I'm curious about what the status quo is. 

[Thomas S.]

Never allow a tenant to install anything. The liability is too high and when not installed properly can and does cause considerable water damage. If you can not do it yourself have a qualified contractor do the initial instillation to insure it is done properly and bill the tenants for the install costs. You should be able to do it yourself each year after that.

Never allow a tenant to do anything in or to your property...they are all to be considered incompetent.