Cheryl Isaak wrote:
"brooklyn1" wrote:
Jeff Thies wrote:

I'm in need of some landscaping
I'm doing some real estate investing and am buying a couple of
starter houses (as rentals)

You don't want to do landscaping for tenants... maybe one low
maintenence shade tree, and strong fencing to keep vehicles on the
paved area.

I disagree. A good long term tenant likes to have a little eye candy in the
yard. Encourage him/her to add their own touches.

Good, let them hang curtains, and clean the terlit... tenants are
tenants for a reason, they are not responsible.

There's no way to know how long a tenant will stay (there's no way the
tenant knows how long they will stay) and the vast majority are very
transient, that's just the nature of the beast, no prospective tenant
ever tells the truth about why they are moving, they often don't have
the foggiest idea about why they are moving other than they couldn't
pay rent at the last place. Other than non payment of rent the two
most popular reasons why a tenant is moving is due to change of
employment or a divorce/separation (two good reasons to be short of
cash). And even those who stay a couple three years (the outside of
long term) rarely will do any landscape maintenence, most won't
remember to water their own potted plants. I've had rental properties
for more than forty years, often as many as a dozen at a time, and at
nearly 70 years old I still have a couple of rental properties. I
never expect a tenant to tend to the outside, I'm happy to have the
rent paid and that they don't destroy the place. There's money to be
made with rental property but expecting tenants to do any maintenance
is the last of priorities, tenants are far more likely to be abusive
because it's not their property, folks don't treat rental cars very
well either. Tenants resent paying rent, tenants don't like that
they're tenants, they're tenants because if they want a roof they have
no other choice... they are not going to spend any money or make any
effort to improve the landlord's property. And in fact I don't like
tenants to be long term, better they leave after a year, or two at the
most. Tenants are typically on their best behaviour early on but at
about a year they begin to act like they own the place and the
landlord is the interloper. I don't let my tenants dig in the ground,
they'd just make a mess... if they want to landscape they need to buy
their own property... if they want to garden I tell them to buy a pot
and keep it on a paved area. Now I do all the rental landscape
maintenance but previously when I had more properties I hired a
professional or the condo association did. I strongly suggest that
anyone contemplating becoming a landlord that they make sure their
head is screwed on correctly and divest themselves of any pie in the
sky altruistic attitude... the reality is that you own the property
and have all the responsibility, the tenant owns nothing and couldn't
care less about what's not theirs... the first time they can't pay the
rent (and it will happen) you'll believe me... all tenant's actually
believe that they should be permitted to owe the rent the same as they
owe on everything else that they put on plastic that eventually they
never pay. Anyone who thinks a tenant is going to buy a lawnmower is
nuts, even if you give them a lawnmower and the fuel they still won't
mow, they'll probably sell the mower and say someone stole it... you
really don't want a rental property that has a lawn anyway... the best
rental properties are condos (no outside maintenance) or are a simple
house on minimal land, just barely enough side yard for a walking path
and with a postage stamp yard. Now my rental house is on the property
where I live and I do whatever needs to be done outside... my other
property has no residence, it's a 90 acre hay field that I rent to a
farmer who raises beef on his land two properties down the road, he
does the haying and pays my taxes... meanwhile in seven years that
property has appreciated, very conservatively, threefold. Investing
in rental property is a lot more involved than most people imagine,
you had best have a great sense of humor and a cast iron temperment.