Your Guide to Rental Home Repairs!
“That house was perfect when I lived there!”
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Ah… If only I had a nickel for every time we have heard that!
When it comes to renting out your property, there are a couple of things that you should keep in mind when addressing the potential list of repairs that a tenant can generate. First off, whenever a new occupant takes possession of a property, there are bound to be a few things that they would like corrected. It is actually pretty surprising how much you can miss while living in a home. Once a fresh pair of eyeballs arrive on the scene, they tend to be able to spot a lot of things that your brain may just subconsciously gloss over.
Secondly, things that you may not consider to be broken, may be considered to be broken by the rest of the world! For example, you know that sliding door that you have to lift slightly, while pushing with 5 pounds of pressure, while standing on your head, and jiggling to open? That probably isn’t going to fly. How about that garbage disposal that you have squeezed 40 years of service out of? Sure it still works “perfectly” as long as you don’t attempt to dispose of 
anything with a hardness above that of Jello. Guess what? It isn’t going to fly.
The bottom line is that it is in your best interest to keep your tenants happy! Happy tenants mean long-term tenants. Long-term tenants means less vacancy. Less vacancy means MORE money for you.
Brilliant post! Keep them coming!
Hi John,
As a tenant, I couldn’t agree more. We love the house we’re renting. It was in great (not perfect) condition when we moved in and we want to keep it that way, minus regular wear-n-tear. The owners of the house are very gracious people and the last thing we want is to constantly bug them for things. Being that the house was is very good condition when we moved in, I think long and hard before I call for them to repair something. It is only when I have exhausted all other possibilities that I make the call. Fortunately, I’ve only had to call in twice in a year and a half, and that’s only because both repairs were beyond my expertise; otherwise I would have never called in. My family and I want to stay here for as long as we can, and though we’ve never been landlords, I’m assuming that the quickest way to be asked to leave a rental home is by being pain-in-the-neck tenants. Sorry for such a long post.
Thanks for contributing Francisco! While we do love it when tenants are able to handle minor repairs by themselves, we do want to make sure that home owners realize that everyone has a different point of view when it comes to what “works” and what is broken. It is always best to err on the side of caution and try to ensure that everything is in top notch condition BEFORE a tenant moves in. Thanks again!