Repairs, where do you draw the line?

[Gabe G.]

I am sure everybody has encountered the nit picky tenant. They may be a good paying tenant, but they annoy you to death with every little thing wrong in the home.

Obviously I pride myself on getting real repairs, repaired quickly. Leaks, heat, water heaters, ac units, garage door openers etc.

But you get some people, that are like well the paint is getting moldy in the bathroom(even though it was painted just a year and a half ago), or there is no screens on one of the windows or doors, or even to the point that lightbulbs are burnt out, and expects me to hop over and replace. Or the chain on one of the toilets is broken.(you can get a chain at lowes for 2 bucks, and it takes a minute to put on) If you conform to all tenants requests, this won't be a profitable business, or you wont have the money when something real pops up, like a new furnace.

How do you handle it? I know some put a dollar amount in the lease, to state tenant vs landlord responsibility.  But I don't like that, because that could leave small leaks etc, turning into big ones, because the tenant doesn't want to pay to repair it. Where do you draw the line, and how do you relay that to the tenant?

Thank you!

[Account Closed]

I don't understand how you can expect a tenant to make any repairs. It's your house and therefore maintenance is your responsibility. Mold, no screens, broken toilet are "real" repair needs. If you were staying at a hotel and the toilet wasn't working, would you call the front desk or would you go down to Lowes and buy a "$2.00 chain"? So many landlords just want to collect rent and spend as little as possible on the property. I think that is shabby and unprofessional. If spending $2.00 on a chain and spending 1 minute installing it makes you 'unprofitable', then something else is wrong with your business model.