Referring to rental home ownership nationwide, grasping well and being alert to the state of each home’s exterior elements is just as essential as expecting when to replace the carpet or repaint the walls.
Whether you’re renting out an older property or a newly built home, ascertaining the age of each item and how long it can typicaly be expected to last is a vital part of successful rental property management.
Importance of Maintaining Your Property’s Exterior
A good landlord or property manager perceives the healthy lifespan of common exterior elements of your rental property. A product’s lifespan is the duration it should last observing standard conditions. Such as a quality cement patio endures for upwards of 50 years, arising from the greatly durable nature of cement. However, wooden decks only last about ten years, given their sensitivity to the natural elements.
For clear reference, we’ve listed some 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 very important to learn how long an element is expected to last in your property, specifically if your tenant sets off damage beyond normal wear and tear. As an illustration, if the vinyl siding, which is over 25 years old, gets damaged, the tenant shouldn’t be held responsible for the repair cost. But, on the other hand, if the vinyl siding is less than 25 years old, the renter would possibly be accountable for paying some or all the repair costs.
Stay Ahead of Property Damage
Rather than spend time and money on a meaningless judicial process, the prudent option to actually apply is to be ahead of property damage. With accurate information and a proactive system for property management, it’s definitely possible to manage and keep every single component of the rental home – both in and out– in the right state. Properly replacing items beyond their useful lives is one way to avoid bearing the full cost of repairs due to tenant negligence. Another is complying with regular property evaluations to check and monitor various areas of the rental home.
Real Property Management Greater Madison Metro provides a full property management program that integrates preparing for many years to come with maintenance plans, property evaluations, and way more. We have the resouces and skills to work on your Madison real estate investments and make them productive for the prospective future. Contact us online or at 608-310-1290 today!
Originally Published on March 22, 2019
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