Quote from @Jay Flaggs:
@Max Gradowitz thanks for your response. Definitely considering a PM company when I can afford it each month. For now, I just have to ask questions to figure things out for myself. As a new landlord, I'll inevitably ask questions that more experienced landlords would find silly or obvious.
To answer your questions (not sure if they're rhetorical or not):
Wood flooring - Some wood floors need to be refinished every few years depending on use.
Grill - About 70% of the properties I've seen have a built in grill if not a full outdoor kitchen. Maybe it's more popular in my area.
Water heater - It might be a real question for a tenant who has never rented a house and doesn't know what to expect. Why leave it ambiguous when I can just throw it in the lease agreement along with the not so obvious things? When it comes to money I don't think anything should be left ambiguous, so I don't think this question should be discouraged or put down. I hope it's helpful for someone else who stumbles across this post later on.
IF your wood floors are designed to be refinished every few years, that would be normal wear and tear. I have a clause that states furniture on wood flooring needs to be covered. Scratches etc from furniture are tenant damage.
I have a fireplace clause that tenants must inspect, if they want to use it.
Grills aren't a thing here, so I don't have any info on this. If provided, I'd say it needs to be maintained by you.
Water Heater is ALL you, no question this is a habitability issue.
You shouldn't be writing your own leases and if you do, have an attorney review it or purchase one from Bigger Pockets :)
