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View Full Version : Landlords/Tennants - "Lawns included?"



Jess9
11-11-2007, 08:03 AM
If you have a rental property, do you do the lawns/gardening? It seems to me a good opportunity to keep a eye on the place, as well as ensuring street appeal is maintained to the landlord's standard. Tennants also get the obvious advantage of tidy grounds at no effort. What arrangement works or doesn't work with tennants in regard to access etc for this?

Thoughts from either landlords or tennants would be appreciated...

rmbbrave
11-11-2007, 08:27 PM
I am neither yet.

But in Feb 2008 I plan to be a tenant.
I have been looking at ads on Trademe and see a few with "lawns included in the rent".

If I chose to rent a place like this I intend to ask the landlord to lop $20 off the rent and say I'll do them myself.

It's not true to say that the "lawns are done for free" - when the LL does the lawns the rent must be higher than it would otherwise be or the LL is running an inefficient business.

I personally wouldn't want the LL coming around every week to do the lawns and peep through the windows at my crop of hydroponic "tomatoes" in the spare room.

Yossarian
11-11-2007, 09:22 PM
yeah get your nose of it son

rmbbrave
13-11-2007, 11:34 AM
yeah get your nose of it son

I'm afraid this just doesn't make sense.

KJ
13-11-2007, 02:56 PM
If you have a rental property, do you do the lawns/gardening? It seems to me a good opportunity to keep a eye on the place, as well as ensuring street appeal is maintained to the landlord's standard. Tennants also get the obvious advantage of tidy grounds at no effort. What arrangement works or doesn't work with tennants in regard to access etc for this?

Thoughts from either landlords or tennants would be appreciated...

As an ex-landlord (for about 10 yrs) I found it better to build it into the rent and pay
someone to mow them fortnightly.Most tenants will not bother to mow them regardless
of what they tell you.That is my experience.
If you get someone to mow them it is tax deductible.

Yossarian
13-11-2007, 02:58 PM
I'm afraid this just doesn't make sense.

I'm agreeing with you rmb - he should keep his nose out of his tenant's affairs and leave them in peace.

rmbbrave
13-11-2007, 08:27 PM
As an ex-landlord (for about 10 yrs) I found it better to build it into the rent and pay
someone to mow them fortnightly.Most tenants will not bother to mow them regardless
of what they tell you.That is my experience.
If you get someone to mow them it is tax deductible.

But I would mow them.

You got to keep the grass in order if you want to play back yard cricket.

limegreen
23-11-2007, 01:49 PM
Dunedin student rentals almost always have lawns done (no shock there).
I was originally mowing the lawns for my tenants, but they've taken it over and doing a reasonable job.

A LL I know has the explicit cost of the mowing guy built into the price. The discount is then available to the tenant, as long as it is done to the same standard. It mostly seems to work, although I note the lawn on one of his places is pretty long at the moment.

Jess9
25-11-2007, 09:16 AM
All going well so far, block of flats look real tidy and tennants happy to enjoy nice surroundings for no garden effort... may get a "lawn crew" onto it later, but for now it provides me good excerise and some much needed sun and fresh air, after too long each week in an office.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Greyhound
04-12-2007, 05:49 AM
We're lucky with the latest tennent..he's got a lawn mowing bizz.Never asked for a discount cause he would mow them himself... between tennents we shoot round and tidy the garden ,weed spray and fertilise.We expect them to do their lawns and if they want them done we have told them it'll be more.no problems so far.

rentex
24-05-2016, 06:15 AM
That's great Greyhound, tenants with a lawn mowing business keep the grounds tidy!
Jess9, that's the way. See how you go.

In Auckland we almost always have tenants doing the lawns and small weeding.
Exceptions are generally when there are multiple dwellings on a smaller site, or the property has one dwelling on a large site ~1000m2.
Larger sites still, like lifestyle properties or farms are generally tenanted by people who can handle a large lawn so they take care of it. All as you would expect.

limegreen, I'm not surprised Dunedin flats would always include lawns!

Recently it's becoming more common for tenants to arrange lawn mowing contractors at their cost and we always recommend this if they are busy people and struggling to get around to it.
Most properties require annual hedge/tree trim which is at the owners expense.