Question for Landlords Who Have Tenants Do Lawn/Snow Care

[Desmond Fielding]

Hello,

My wife and I are going to be moving out of our primary residence soon so we can do a house hack and will turn our current house into our first SF rental. I had a few questions for other landlords who have lawn/snow care as part of the tenants responsibilities. In my area, I see a lot of other rentals posted with lawn/snow care as part of the tenants responsibilities and I would like to do the same. For other landlords who have tenants manage lawn/snow do you provide any equipment to them  (push mower, weed whipper, etc)? Also, the house has an in-ground sprinkler system. Do you let tenants manage the sprinkler system and choose whether they want to run it or not or should I just do away with it all together so it's one less thing to worry about? 

Thanks for your help and advice!

[Eunice Villarroel]

I have tenants that do their own lawn care. Changing that soon since one of them destroyed the sprinkler, and does not really care for the lawn at all. I recommend you state that sprinkler repairs are their responsibility and have PROOF THAT SPRINKLERS WERE IN GOOD WORKING CONDITION TO AVOID THE “SPRINKLER WAS ALREADY BROKEN” LINE. 

ALSO AD INTO CONTRACT SPECIFICS ON HOW OFTEN THE LAWN CARE SHOULD BE DONE AND WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES WILL BE IN EXACT DOLLAR AMOUNT IF FAILURE TO DO SO. 

DONT EXPECT YOUR TENATS TO HAVE COMMON SENSE WRITE CONTRACT AS DETAILED AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN