Tenant damage to appliances and pool deck

[Connie Murphy]

this is my first rental (my personal home that I'm renting) so the house is much nicer than what a typical rental would be.  That said, I am getting a premium on my rent ($1.90/sqft).  Anyway, found out my tenants had a dog AND a cat and asked them to leave after only 4 months.  The house was dirty and they weren't maintaining anything.   So I suggested I let them out of the lease and give them a couple weeks to leave.  They did.  Now they want their deposit back.  I went over there today and took photos (have photos of the house time stamped right before they took possession).  The $2000 SS Fridge has a scratch and some weird stuff on it that won't come off.  Same thing with the dishwasher ($1000 new).  Everything in this house is high end.  One screen broken and burn marks on my pool deck in 4 places, I suspect fireworks.    The only thing I can actually fix is the screen.  How much should I charge for deterioration of the appliances and the damage to my pool deck?  Thank you in advance for your advice!  

[Thomas S.]

Personal homes are never purchased totally with rental potential in mind. The purchase price is driven by the home owner market not a rental market. In essence they are over priced based on rental market expectations. They are also usually purchased with personal preference in mind not necessarily the most appropriate for tenant use.

Most SFHs make for poor rentals due to having only one tenant and high maintenance costs...they do not cash flow although some investors feel otherwise. It depends on the area. Low valued SFHs can cash flow, higher value homes can not.

Purpose built properties, such as multi plex units are built and designed explicitly for the use as rentals and are priced accordingly (or should be).

A personal home is not a investment, it is a life style choice that will ultimately cost more to the owner than it will ever be worth (except in certain areas like CA where no one understands the value of money). A personal home for investors is understood to be a liability as it costs money and does not generate a income. A personal home turned rental is high risk due to insufficient cash flow. 

I would never invest in a SFH as the economics of a single tenant/single building does not add up. Business wise it makes little scenes unless you speculate on appreciation but it is a indivulaes personal choice and I acknowledge there are many different investment criteria's. Many ask and are told it is a good idea to rent their personal home, I believe it is vary rarely a good idea.

I prefer to invest where my money will earn it's keep.