[I~love~pie]

Im wondering if anyone cares on sharing some info with me. As we may be renting out our house soon.

If you do rent a home, how much is your rent? what state are you in?
Do you do things such as mow the lawn, general yard work, raking, putting out trash?

We had a rental agent come to our house last night to talk to us, we put out there we may want to rent our house for a year or 2 so the market can pick up a bit before we sell. I found it odd she was giving me figures about haveing people come out to mow and do maintence in the spring to fall, and to do trash removal (as in bring the trash to the curb). If you where renting a house, why wouldnt the tenants mow? or put out there own trash) she said if we want to have our family come do this we can????
I understand if you where living in a apt building but a house? Now I do understand cutting of bushes and such but to mow the lawn every week seems crazy. not to mention putting the trash on the curb LOL just curious if this is what your landlords do for you

 

[suburbmom]

We rent out a townhouse and a one bedroom condo. Both the townhouse and condo has an association that does the yard work. But it's very minimal since it's a townhouse. The tenants are responsible for taking the trash out twice a week. We do not do that. That would be something that they are responsible for. From the area that I am at, the tenants are usually responsible for yard work. We do have a cleaning service come out once every 4 weeks to clean the kitchen and the 4 bathrooms. We rent out the townhouse for about $2300 a month. The condo is rented out for $1350 but that included all utilities except for phone and cable. It was part of our condo fee. HTH

 

[mamadelbosque]

I rented in college... and we always took care of the lawn & trash & such. I'd guess that sort of stuff would be if you weren't going to be around to do it when you *didn't* have tenants?

 

[Denvergirlie]

3 BR/ 1 BA rental house in Denver - $850 a month (below market value, but we've also been very stable tenants)

No grass, only weeds when I moved in. We cut the weeds with neighbors lawn mower. Neighbor is also a rental, their landlord provided a lawn mower with the house.

We have taken out all the weeds and put in grow boxes for a garden.

Trash... we take it out to the dumpster in the alley.

Most of the landlords that I know that provide lawn service, etc do it as an investment in their own property. They want to make sure that the property is kept up to their standards, so they pay for it. Also, heard a poster here in MDC has a cleaning service comes into the house once a month to do a deep cleaning. Not only do they know that the house is thus being maintained and clean. But once again it's an investment back into their own house.

 

[cappuccinosmom]

We rent several houses, ranging from $400-$650/month. I would ask an agent or someone who knows the business in your area what an appropriate rent would be.

Our tenants do the mowing. Dh, however, deals with any maintenance issues and big problems in the yard (water pressure problems, fallen trees, whatever). The tenants take out their own trash. We did have to include trash removal into the rent in one place, because in that city it's included in our property tax and it's hundreds of dollars a year.

One thing to remember is that ultimately, you are responsible as the owner. So if the tenant doesn't do it, you can be held responsible (if the state of the yard or house breaks city code, or if they don't pay a utility bill). So make sure these things go in the contract if yo uexpect them to mow and take out trash so you at least have some legal backup.

 

[I~love~pie]

I guess.
For the pp that has rental property. We are trying to figure what we should charge for rent, and I cant tell if this is alot. the way im figuring it out is our mortgage payment($1528) +$620 a yr HOI, +$350 a year water bill + 15% rental agency fee (this im making up im not sure yet what it would be but I figure this would probably be the highest amount) am I forgeting something?

 

[Angelorum]

We're renting the top of a house, there are some younger guys that rent the basement apartment. It's in our lease that we are to keep the lawn mowed and reasonably neat looking, though the lawn mower and weed wacker belong to the landlord.

And of course we take out our own trash

: That's just silly to hire someone to roll the trashcan to the curb.

We're paying $800/mo for a 3 bedroom house with 2 car garage and large yard including all utilities, internet and satellite TV. We live in Utah, and that rent is pretty cheap for what we're getting, though he's about to sell the house so we're going to have move.

 

[ItsBasilThyme]

Maybe it depends on the region. I live in central Florida and every house I've ever rented has included lawn service. I just assumed it was for the landlords protection - I mean, it's hard enough to make some tenants care about the interior of a place. Can you imagine what a yard would look like after a year of neglect?

I've never heard of the trash thing though. Was she really suggesting you hire someone to carry trash from door to curb? That's bizarre.

 

[Purple Sage]

We rent a 3br/2ba house for $1250. We're responsible for all yard work and taking out our trash, and I honestly would not want anyone coming over here to do any of that anyway. We pay all utilities including water and trash removal. It's in our lease that we have to keep the house and yard in good condition, and we're to call the owner's handyman whenever something needs his attention so that they can take care of it right away.

 

[Missinnyc]

When we rented houses we were never responsible for lawn stuff or trash. In fact, while in college one of my DH's jobs was working for a local landlord, going from house to house, taking out the trash and weedwhacking the lawns.

We paid 800/mo for a 3 BR house in a not so great neighborhood. No utilities included.

 

[Jenn_M]

2 br/1ba, ~1000 sq ft house in a rural town (Midwest) for $350/month

We do all the outdoor stuff. Mowing, raking, snow removal (though if it's really deep our landlord comes over and does it with his snowblower). And we definitely take out our own trash

.

 

[Kaitnbugsmom]

We rent the top half of a house in the midwest. College town, seconds from campus, etc. Twenty acre city park with playgrounds etc across th street. 4 bedroom 2 bath, with basic cable, wireless internet, electric, water, sewer and city trash & recycling included. We pay $700 a month. As a 'bonus' DH {who previously owned a landscape maintence company in Arkansas} and I do the landscaping, yard plantings, etc including snow removal directly in front of the house and usually make about $200 a summer from that.

The garage apartment at the back of the house {semi-detached, only connected to the house by an enclosed breezeway type area off the garage} is a 2 bedroom 1 bath 1k square feet with only water/sewer/trash/recycling paid is $550 a month.

As for rolling trash cans to the curb, that's wild. We take ours down ourselves, as well as our landlord's {he sets the bags & recycling box on the porch between our front door and his} and the back apartment is responsible for their own as well..

 

[angelcollector1]

I have rented a house in the past until just the last 2 years. I did not have the equipment to do yard work or plowing the driveways, I always made sure that yard work and snow removal were included in the rent because I wasn't physically able to do the work. As far as trash, I always put it out, how hard is it to drag your trash cans to the curb?!
I lived in RI at that time, my rent was $1000 per month. That was what I paid for rent with no increases from 1998-2006 and that was with 2 different houses that I rented.
I currently live in FL where I rented condos, one that was privately owned, and because it was in an HOA, the yard maintenance was included as was water, trash and sewer, with all kitchen appliances and washer/dryer. So I paid $850 a month, and was responsible for electric, cable/internet/phone. All maintenance was included.
But otherwise I wasn't responsible for anything else. The condo I rent now is corporate owned in a large complex and the lawn maintenance is included. I am responsible for rent of $835, water/sewer and trash that's about $50 a month, electric, cable, internet and phone. All house maintenance is included in the rent.
Good luck in whatever you decide to do. I do know that the owner of the condo I rented used a realtor for the tenant he rented to before me and he was very unhappy with them, they didn't do anything that needed to be done, they charged him one or two months' rent for their services. He said never again. If you're a good landlord who knows how to get a background check done on your potential tenants and are a good judge of character, you should do fine on your own.

 

[Delicateflower]

Renting from agents is different from private rentals. Generally agents will get everything taken care of for a tenant, where a private landlord would let things go.

Lawns are tricky, a lot of renters won't own a lawnmower. And as a rule, most renters don't care for a garden well. But it's always been our responsibility, even if we got the professionals to come and mow. If you're planning to sell, I would get the lawn service (weekly seems a lot!)

To find out the market rate, look at Craigslist. $350 wouldn't get you an unplumbed unheated shed here.

 

[AllisonK]

We pay $945 for a 3 bd 2 bath 2 car garage house with a HUGE yard and shed. We pay all utilities and are required to mow/take care of the lawn and flower beds. Our landlords are awesome and let us have chickens and a huge garden but no indoor pets.

 

[SandyMom]

You can work it any way you like.
Just put all the specifics about yard care, trash removal etc in the lease and be very specific about expectations with your tenants. I think a lot of it will come down to finding the right renters for your situation. As you can see by this thread, some ppl will prefer to have the yard care done - and some will want to do it themselves. You can select tenants that are the best fit for your situation.
As for rents - you could check out the rentals on Craigslist in your area to see what similar properties are going for. many of the listings have pictures and give sq footage etc so you ought to be able to get a good idea.

Good luck!

 

[mnnice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by I~love~pie I guess. For the pp that has rental property. We are trying to figure what we should charge for rent, and I cant tell if this is alot. the way im figuring it out is our mortgage payment($1528) +$620 a yr HOI, +$350 a year water bill + 15% rental agency fee (this im making up im not sure yet what it would be but I figure this would probably be the highest amount) am I forgeting something?

Check what similar rentals are going for. Your expenses will tell you what your break even point it is, but not really what it a reasonable amount of rent to expect. Market rent could be way below or way above the your expenses.

 

[lalaland42]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mnnice Check what similar rentals are going for. Your expenses will tell you what your break even point it is, but not really what it a reasonable amount of rent to expect. Market rent could be way below or way above the your expenses.

:

Where I live now yard maintenance is included but that is because the city will fine the owners if the yard isn't up to spec. (pretty strict too) You should also include some amount for repairs. Maybe $100/mo?

 

[Purple*Lotus]

2BR/1BA house in WV, $420 a month.

We do our own lawn maintence and supply everything ourselves to do it, like the lawnmower, etc. We also do our own trimming of the shrubs. We take our trash to the curb, I can not imagine anyone not doing this themselves, unless your landlord is used to renting to elderly persons, even then I don't see why a neighbor wouldn't do it for them. We also supply our own trash cans. I know that various depending on the city you live in.

 

[Sharlla]

We rent a 2 bed 1 bath duplex. We do not pay for water or sewer but we do pay for trash and we have to do lawn care. The rent is $350 a month and we pay an additional $25 a month for the pets.