Concerning rental home ownership nationwide, being aware of and keeping up with the state of each home’s exterior elements is just as crucial as forecasting when to replace the carpet or repaint the walls.
Whether you’re renting out an older property or a newly built home, taking into consideration the age of each item and how long it can appropriately be expected to last is an integral part of successful rental property management.
Importance of Maintaining Your Property’s Exterior
A good landlord or property manager very well knows the healthy lifespan of common exterior elements of your rental property. A product’s lifespan is the length of time it should last in compliance with standard conditions. For illustration: a quality cement patio remains intact for upwards of 50 years, by reason of the very durable nature of cement. By contrast, wooden decks only last about ten years, given their sensitivity to the natural elements.
As a quick guide, we’ve listed specific 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 critical to grasp how long an element is expected to last in your property, chiefly if your tenant generates damage beyond normal wear and tear. To cite an instance, if the vinyl siding, which is over 25 years old, gets damaged, the tenant shouldn’t be held responsible for the repair cost. But, as a matter of fact, if the vinyl siding is less than 25 years old, the renter would most likely be duty bound to pay some or all the repair costs.
Stay Ahead of Property Damage
Rather than spend time and money on a purposeless judicial process, the best option to take on is to be ahead of property damage. With the proper and useful information and a proactive system for property management, it’s clearly possibe to manage and keep every single component of the rental home – both in and out– in excellent form. Systematically, at regular times, replacing items beyond their effective, useful lives is one way to avoid bearing the full cost of repairs originating from tenant negligence. Another is pursuing regular property evaluations to thoroughly monitor various areas of the rental home.
Real Property Management Diamond grants a full property management program that encompasses preparing for the next few years with maintenance plans, property evaluations, and vastly more. We have the equipment and talent to check your Lewes real estate investments, developing them to be advantageously profitable for the possible future. Contact us online or at 302-313-7700 today!
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