Handling Damage to Rentals
As a lessor of a property, you want your tenant to take good care of the premises during the entire tenancy period. But there is no guarantee that there will be no damage to the property at the end of the lease agreement. Even if you have made sure that the tenant is responsible and of good reputation, there are accidental damages that could happen to the premises.
Differentiate Types of Damages
As a lessor, you should know that damages to rental properties are not all the same. It can be accidental such as when the tenant accidentally spills wine on the carpet or upholstery, or when a window gets accidentally broken. There is also malicious damage, where the tenant acted irresponsibly, leading to the damage. One good example is a tenant kicking the door to force it open. If the tenant acted with ill will, then you can consider this as malicious.
Another type of damage is regular wear-and-tear, which the tenant can do little to prevent. This can include paint colour fading and diminishing quality of floor surfaces and other furniture in the premises.
Make Clear Lease Provisions
To help ensure that the tenant will take good care of the property during the term of the tenancy, it is important to make clear provisions in the lease agreement. Sit down with the tenant to discuss their responsibilities under the agreement.
Be as specific as possible with the provisions that you provide in the lease. For instance, if you do not want tenants to punch holes into the walls, state so in the lease. You should also let the tenant know the repercussions of breaking the provisions involving alterations and damage to the property. Typically, the security deposit is kept to cover for any damage that the tenant caused. If the tenant knows this, then they will be more careful not to damage any part of the rental.
If you are not up to explaining or sitting down with the tenant, our property manager at Bunbury Real Estate can handle the discussion with the tenant.
Conduct Regular Inspections
It will help to conduct regular inspections to see if the tenant is in fact taking care of the rental property. At Bunbury Real Estate, we can help you with all aspects of the management of your investment property, including inspection of the premises. You can leave it to us to set up a schedule with your tenant for the regular inspection.
Inspections will give you a better insight on how the tenant is treating the property. In addition, the inspection will also let you know if there are parts of the premises that will need repair or preventive maintenance.