When it comes to rental home ownership nationwide, taking into account and being informed of the state of each home’s exterior elements is just as salient as thinking when to replace the carpet or repaint the walls.
Whether you’re renting out an older property or a newly built home, discovering the age of each item and how long it can adequately be expected to last is a principal part of successful rental property management.
Importance of Maintaining Your Property’s Exterior
A good landlord or property manager properly considers the healthy lifespan of common exterior elements of your rental property. A product’s lifespan is the period it should last, in keeping with standard conditions. As a sample: a quality cement patio stays upwards of 50 years, owing, in fact, to the highly durable nature of cement. By contrast, wooden decks only last about ten years, given their sensitivity to the natural elements.
For your trouble-free reference, we’ve listed a handful of common exterior items and their average lifespan:
- Garage Door: 15 years
- Automatic Garage Door Opener: 5-10 years
- Wood Fence: 10 years
- Stucco Exterior: 20-50+ years
- Vinyl Siding: 25 years
It’s beneficial to be familiar with how long an element is expected to last in your property, precisely if your tenant causes damage beyond normal wear and tear. To cite an instance, if the vinyl siding, which is over 25 years old, gets damaged, the tenant shouldn’t be held responsible for the repair cost. But, as a matter of fact, if the vinyl siding is less than 25 years old, the renter would most likely be obligated to pay some or all the repair costs.
Stay Ahead of Property Damage
Rather than spend time and money on a non-profitable judicial process, the recommended option to fulfill is to be ahead of property damage. With valuable and helpful information, and a proactive system for property management, it’s highly possible to manage and keep every single component of the rental home – both in and out– in good form. Properly replacing items, at scheduled intervals, beyond their suitable and useful lives is one way to avoid bearing the full cost of repairs owing to tenant negligence. Another is implementing regular property evaluations to carefully monitor various areas of the rental home.
Real Property Management Metro offers a full property management program that includes preparing for the coming years with maintenance plans, property evaluations, and so much more. We have the resources and proficiency to attend to your Towson real estate investments, making them highly profitable for the imminent future. Contact us online or at 410-290-3285 today!
Originally Published on March 22, 2019
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