Renting a House- Who Pays for this?

[LabsN'Hounds]

Here's a question for you guys........

We are currently renting a house from an individual. He's a fantastic guy who got a divorce then moved across the city to basically get away from the ex wife. We can tell he doesn't have a ton of money to throw around so I hesitate to ask for things that are nonessential repairs.

The yard currently needs some work. We are obviously taking care of the big things like mowing it and we even reseeded it this spring. However, the flower beds need new weed barrier. The weeds are getting pretty out of control in the flower beds and there is no way you could keep up pulling them all. They also need new mulch. The front porch needs to be repainted and the back deck needs to be re-stained. I'm worried if these things aren't done it will rot and he will have a bigger expense. We don't mind doing the work on these things ourselves if he buys the material or lets us deduct it from rent.

So if you were a landlord would you pay for these things?

[SunDance]

The porch/deck should definitely be his responsibility. I'd ask about the flower beds/mulch...offer to do if you want as long as he pays for material.

There really should be a written contract spelling out responsibilities, I think.

[LabsN'Hounds]

The lease says we just have to cut and water the grass. He went over that with us when we rented it. Apparently the last renters were not very good about keeping the grass up, which is why I had to reseed it this spring. It was all dead in the back yard. He seemed shocked that we paid to reseed it ourselves. We had some really muddy dogs after it rained so it was important to me to get some good grass growing back there.

[smartrock]

If the porch and deck do not pose actual safety issues he's probably under no obligation to do anything about it. I'd offer to do the labor if he pays for the materials. The worst he can say is No.

[SunDance]

The lease says we just have to cut and water the grass. He went over that with us when we rented it. Apparently the last renters were not very good about keeping the grass up, which is why I had to reseed it this spring. It was all dead in the back yard. He seemed shocked that we paid to reseed it ourselves. We had some really muddy dogs after it rained so it was important to me to get some good grass growing back there.

Good. My first answer still holds...now more than ever. (and I agree that if safety's not involved, the porch/deck may not be a priority of his but still his responsibility if anything's done...at least the $$$ part)

[LabsN'Hounds]

Thanks for weighing in. My fiance and I are pretty understanding renters. He owns a house in another state from his previous marriage and he's had to say no to some home improvements (but they were rather ridiculous). He also just got done paying for an AC repair man to go out and change the air filters because they called and said the AC wasn't working. It turns out they just hadn't changed the filters. We try really hard not to be those kind of renters.......

We will be renting this house for at least 2 years so we would like to keep it as nice as possible and we are willing to pay to do some things. At the same time we don't want to pay out of pocket if it's something the landlord should do. We both have never rented a single family home and we are finding that there is a lot more grey area than if you rented an apartment or condo. I will be really glad when we can finally buy our own house.

[windycanyon]

It's been almost 30 yrs since I rented, but at the time, we rented a farm house that the owner/ farmer/ landlord actually grew up in. It was an old house at that time and because he knew we were fresh out of grad school and saving to build a house, he cut us a nice deal on rent (~$350 back then!). I don't remember what if anything was in writing but basically he said he expected not to be bothered w/ the minor repairs. I think we repainted a couple rooms and hallway possibly... and always kept the lawn and flowers decent. He was sad to see us go when the house was built! I would suggest just talking to him, and tell him that these things would help w/ resale or value. Maybe he'd be willing to pitch in on the materials if nothing else. If your rent is below average for the value of the rental, then to me it makes sense to take care of more of the "luxury" improvements.

[Maxx&Emma]

I agree with Anne, (WindyCanyon). I think just talking to him would be a good idea. Maybe he would be willing to pay for the materials and give a rent credit for the bigger items that could be spaced out over several months. You never know until you ask!

[bett]

i would think these things should be spelled out in the lease. nothing really that says he should keep your flower beds the way you want them, i think.

[arentspowell]

Minor repairs are on you unless the lease says differently. You should definitely talk to the Landlord though about the deck.