Landlord philosophy: Its my house but its your home.

[td91]

When I briefly owned a rental I always thought it was up to the tenant to maintain things like the grounds. Just like if you lease a car you don't take it back to the dealer every time it needs a wash. Same goes with a house, it's up to the tenant to mow the lawn and make sure the gardens are tidy.

I don't mind too much on gardens though, as long as the edges and lawns are done I don't mind too much. I would expect the tenant to maybe tidy up the gardens every few months.

[mrsaneperson]

That group has always been there. Think how mercilessly work cars get thrashed. Rental properties are no different. If a person thinks the landlord is milking them within an inch of their lives, rightly or wrongly, they are most unlikely to feel any need to do more than the bare minimum or nothing.

The better and more human the relationship with your tenants, the better they will - in theory - treat the home.

Mrsaneperson, you seem to be getting some benefit from that kind of relationship?

Yes in the main i have . I've always felt if they are good tenants & you try & make them happy & comfortable it pays both ways. I also dont mind doing improvements to the place , adding insulation, or bettering a run down kitchen etc especially if they will look after those investments. Conversely i've had some untidy& unruly tenants staying in the house next to me; some doors & chattels were damaged by the tenant & his 2 teenage sons. My philosophy in this situation was dont bother replacing the damaged doors or upgrading the place as they would more than likely damage them again.
Repairs were initiated after they'd moved out .I even had to replace a toilet pan that had never been cleaned once in 3 years since there tenancy started!

A tenancy order awarded us substantial costs & the tenant is paying back $100 per month. Initially $200 per month . It was take it or leave it.