When residents move into a new rental home, what they often do first is add decorative components. This urge to personalize their rental home sometimes involves the home’s exterior as well. Numerous Southborough homeowners expect their residents to maintain the landscaping to some extent, and great residents would be more than willing. Residents like to take pride in their home even if they don’t own it.
But when your residents want to perform alterations to the exterior of the property, this is where things could quickly go awry. As the owner, you could get requests from residents who want to implement changes like creating new flower beds, planting new trees or plants in the yard, or turning a portion of the yard into a vegetable garden. Other alterations to the exterior that residents may ask to include new exterior light fixtures, doors, or even changing the color of the house itself.
You might consider allowing them to make certain changes, particularly if they are willing to pay for it themselves. However, it’s important to understand that not all changes are improvements. If the resident’s workmanship is of low quality, that could totally impact your property values and your ability to rent out the home further down the road.
You can always ask them to revert the property back to its original state, but if sod has been disturbed or plantings moved or changed, this might not be possible. Future residents might not want to deal with the upkeep involved in a vegetable garden as much as your current residents do, and it’s things like these that make prospective renters pass your property over for one with less maintenance.
If your rental home is in an area with a homeowners’ association, there may be limitations and additional permissions that you must heed before changes are allowed. If residents make changes to the exterior of your Southborough rental property without your permission, you should take the right next steps. But, what must you do? You can charge them for any repairs required and then hire someone to fix it or you could try to make them do it themselves. Although the best route is to hire a property management company that can both consistently monitor your properties for you and take care of unauthorized changes as they happen.
At Real Property Management Metro West-Worcester, we understand the stress that comes from unauthorized changes to your property. We are devoted to protecting your investment, and that means making certain your residents understand what is deemed as unauthorized changes and the consequences for making them. Our property maintenance programs are devised to maximize the potential of your investment while minimizing costs. For more information about our property management services, please contact us online or give us a call at 508-329-6000 today!
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
