Management Questions for Primary Residence Turned Rental

[Amy Lindblad]

Hi all, 

I am just starting on my real estate investing journey with my current primary residence in the extended suburbs of Minneapolis. We are planning to list it as a long term rental. The house has a few amenities (large fenced yard & hot tub) that I think will help draw potential tenants in, but I am not quite sure how I should be managing them. Since I moved in 4 years ago, I have been getting the lawn to look mostly decent and am worried about maintaining it with a tenant. 

What do you recommend for watering, fertilizer/weed control, and general weeding? 

The other question I have revolves around the hot tub. I am thinking that if the tenant would like to utilize the hot tub, they would need to maintain it. There are two main questions here - water usage and winterization. 

Is it reasonable to require the tenant to alert us if the hot tub is not being used so it can be properly winterized? Are we going to get notified?

What are your thoughts on handling water usage/billing at the property? I am happy to pay for necessary watering of the grass in the summer, but I don't think I want to sign up for all the water usage on the property.

Any insights or feedback would be greatly appreciated.