House Rentals: Landlords & Tenants chime in please !!!

Ok I am starting to get all my information together regarding renting out my existing house, so when I eventually find a new place I know what I have to budget for exactly.

I have a few questions regarding expenses for a house rental. I know for apartments the landlord pays for the heating. But I would think a house would be different. Say you are renting an ENTIRE house to a family. Who pays for what (lanlords and tenants can answer). They would obviously be paying for all the other utilities like electric and water (right?).

Who pays for the heating? If the tenant pays, what if it's oil? Does the tenant just get oil deliveries on their own? I am not sure on this, I would hope tenant handles this.

Who handles the service contract for the heating burner? I would think Landlord here, but if it's oil based typically you get oil + service contract together. How does this work?

What about landscaping? Do the tenants mow the lawn themselves? I would think if the grass grows too high and the town wants to issue a violation, that's going to the landlord's name.

What about extermination and pest control? I guess landlord here, but it would annoy me if the tenants are dirty people that attract more vermin.

Home Security? I would think the tenants would pay for this if they want it. Although I would want the tenant to use the security system already installed. Don't want any major electrical installs going on. Which leads me to my next question.

House has Cablevision. No FIOS. I don't want the tenants getting FIOS as that requires a major installation (same with Dish - don't want any satellite dishes on my roof). I guess I can write this into the lease. Can a tenant even get FIOS installed without the homeowners permission? I would say no... but will FIOS even ask this? And even if they ask, I guess the tenant can lie.

What is the best pet policy? I don't necessarially mind allowing dogs/cats since they are paying tenants and it could bring more attention to the house listing, but I am afraid my laminate flooring and carpets will get peed on (and destroyed) and my cabinets get all scratched up. Is it reasonable to charge an extra $100-200 on the rent to allow a pet plus an extra pet security deposit? What if the tenant tries to hide the pet to avoid the fee? I guess that would be lawsuit worthy.

Oh and final question, how "good" is the house rental market? I put an ad up on my local online classified on Monday and I have already gotten about 12 responses. Not sure if that's a good or bad response.

TIA.

Re: House Rentals: Landlords & Tenants chime in please !!!

My parents have rented out a number of homes and generally have had very positive experienecs with it. In the past few years, I've helped them manage their properties.

Heat--the tenant pays for it and sets up a separate account with whatever oil company they choose. This is written into the lease. The tenants should be given an accurate estimate of how much it costs to heat the house in the winter as it can add several hundred dollars a month to the monthly costs. Same thing with the electric bill.

Cable/FOIS--tenant's responsibility. Again, you can write into the lease that notihng permanent can be installed.

Landscaping--again, the tenant's responsibility but my parents have always provided a lawn mower and trimmer. It's important to ensure that the tenant and landlord are on the same page when it comes to the expectation of the upkeep of the house.

Extermination--not sure about this one b/c it's never been an issue. I would think that the landlord would be responsible for perhaps an annual/semiannual service?

Pets--that's totally up to you. Cats and dogs can do some major, long lasting damage so you may want to think about obtaining an extra security deposit if you allow pets. Make sure you are very clear on how many pets you will allow.

The key is to have a well written lease, enough security deposit to ensure peace of mind, and to do a good job screening prospective tenants. Good luck!

Re: House Rentals: Landlords & Tenants chime in please !!!

Posted by HappyWife

My parents have rented out a number of homes and generally have had very positive experienecs with it. In the past few years, I've helped them manage their properties.

Heat--the tenant pays for it and sets up a separate account with whatever oil company they choose. This is written into the lease. The tenants should be given an accurate estimate of how much it costs to heat the house in the winter as it can add several hundred dollars a month to the monthly costs. Same thing with the electric bill.

Cable/FOIS--tenant's responsibility. Again, you can write into the lease that notihng permanent can be installed.

Landscaping--again, the tenant's responsibility but my parents have always provided a lawn mower and trimmer. It's important to ensure that the tenant and landlord are on the same page when it comes to the expectation of the upkeep of the house.

Extermination--not sure about this one b/c it's never been an issue. I would think that the landlord would be responsible for perhaps an annual/semiannual service?

Pets--that's totally up to you. Cats and dogs can do some major, long lasting damage so you may want to think about obtaining an extra security deposit if you allow pets. Make sure you are very clear on how many pets you will allow.

The key is to have a well written lease, enough security deposit to ensure peace of mind, and to do a good job screening prospective tenants. Good luck!

Re: House Rentals: Landlords & Tenants chime in please !!!

In addition to landscaping in the summer, you need to think about snow removal in the winter. If you want your tenants to be responsible for that, you should have it in the lease.

When we rented, we shared a house with other tenants, so the landlord paid for the heat. There was no other way to split it fairly.

We had separate electic meters, and separate bills in our own names, so we were each responsible for our own bills.

When we were searching for another home to rent (full house, no sharing with landlord or other tenants), most said the tenant was responsible for the heat, electric, water (all utilities), cable and lawn maintenance.

If you really want to make sure the grass is mowed, hire a landscaper. I think only really good tenants will make the effort to mow the lawn. Just my opinion.

Re: House Rentals: Landlords & Tenants chime in please !!!

As tenants, I will agree with the above posters. All utilities are typically borne by the tenants.

As for pets....this is a major peeve of mine from the point of view of finding a place. I think your home will be more marketable if you allow pets. There are many places we would have been interested in had they allowed animals....and we woud never consider moving without our kitty. That being said, we would never consider paying extra monthly to have one. I think asking for an additional security deposit to cover any damage is more than reasonable however and we would have gladly paid it if asked. I have never gotten a satisfactory response to why some people/place charge extra monthly "rent" for pets. If that is the case I would expect to pay extra monthly rent for having children too

Re: House Rentals: Landlords & Tenants chime in please !!!

Posted by HappyWife

My parents have rented out a number of homes and generally have had very positive experienecs with it. In the past few years, I've helped them manage their properties.

Heat--the tenant pays for it and sets up a separate account with whatever oil company they choose. This is written into the lease. The tenants should be given an accurate estimate of how much it costs to heat the house in the winter as it can add several hundred dollars a month to the monthly costs. Same thing with the electric bill.

Cable/FOIS--tenant's responsibility. Again, you can write into the lease that notihng permanent can be installed.

Landscaping--again, the tenant's responsibility but my parents have always provided a lawn mower and trimmer. It's important to ensure that the tenant and landlord are on the same page when it comes to the expectation of the upkeep of the house.

Extermination--not sure about this one b/c it's never been an issue. I would think that the landlord would be responsible for perhaps an annual/semiannual service?

Pets--that's totally up to you. Cats and dogs can do some major, long lasting damage so you may want to think about obtaining an extra security deposit if you allow pets. Make sure you are very clear on how many pets you will allow.

The key is to have a well written lease, enough security deposit to ensure peace of mind, and to do a good job screening prospective tenants. Good luck!

Message edited 8/13/2009 3:00:22 PM.

Re: House Rentals: Landlords & Tenants chime in please !!!

when we were renting, the only thing the landlord took care of was the landscaping and maintance of the house.

she had accounts w/ an oil company, a gas company, a water co, an electric co and we had to put them in our name b4 we moved in and then back to her name b4 we left.

we paid for all utilities. we arranged the oil deliveries directly w/ the oil co.

we also had to take of snow removal.

the landlord handled all service contracts, not us.

the landlord was also incharge of pest control.

the house was equipped w/ cablevision, so that's what we got too.

there was no home security system.

we did not have pets, but if we did, there would have been an extra fee in the rent for it.

Re: House Rentals: Landlords & Tenants chime in please !!!

I agree with most of what was already said, but wanted to chime in about landscaping and snow removal. I would do both of these if I were the landlord.

As a homeowner, I have a hard time keeping up with these things myself. Lots of renters won't bother, won't have the equipment, or will let it go for a long time before they do anything. I was a renter in 2 different houses. One, the landlord took care of the lawn and the other one the landlord did not. Guess which house always looked better? My roommates in the second house didn't care about how often the lawn was mowed and it showed.

For snow removal, I would worry about liability. If the tenant doesn't do it and someone trips on the ice or snow, you could get sued. I would pay someone to take care of it, so I know it was done.

As for pest control, I would also take care of that as the landlord. You could argue that the cleanliness of the tenant would affect how often or if this needed to be done, but I would want to protect my investment and just have it done when needed.

Message edited 8/13/2009 3:35:00 PM.

Re: House Rentals: Landlords & Tenants chime in please !!!

If i rented a house that needed lawn care, I wouldn't mind doing it (well, DH would do it) but I would expect the equiptment to be there.. I wouldn't want to have to go out and buy a mower, weed wacker, etc.

Re: House Rentals: Landlords & Tenants chime in please !!!

As a tenant looking for a new rental, here are the things I've seen and things we are looking for:

Utilities: I've seen all sorts of arrangements, but for whole house rentals it's mostly the tenant paying for heat and electric and the landlord paying for the water. Some instances have the tenant paying just for electric so the landlord can ensure the tenant doesn't let the oil get down to nothing and leave it empty. As the homeowner, I would think this is preferable to ensure equipment isn't ruined. As a tenant, I prefer this option.

Cable: I think it's more than reasonable to not want Fios and would just put it in the lease.

Landscaping: I never understood why the landlord would handle this (aside from wanting to keep the property looking nice). I wouldn't mind keeping up with the landscaping, provided the equipment is available to me. But I certainly don't expect a landlord to come and shovel me out.

Extermination: I think the landlord should handle this.

Pets: You will definitely attract a larger response if you allow pets. I would LOVE to be allowed to have a small dog. An extra security deposit is certainly reasonable. Extra rent, however, I don't think is reasonable.

My feeling is your lease should reflect the type of tenants you want. DH and I have a small 1 bedroom and we help our landlords out when we can. We'll take the garbage or recycables out to the curb, shovel ourselves and them out, etc. I lower the heat and use less electric to help reduce their costs. I treat it like I would our own house. If we rented an entire house, I would certainly do the same. Unfortunately though, there are people out there who just don't care.

Good luck in your search for new tenants!!

Re: House Rentals: Landlords & Tenants chime in please !!!

We are renting out our house down in Fl through a Property Management co and they handle everything for us but this is what we did:


Who handles the service contract for the heating burner?
We have CAC with heat and the AC and our Property Manager would get the call then let us know about and we would give the go ahead to get it fixed and it comes out of the rent for the month.

What about landscaping?
We have the tenants do it themselves. We left our lawn mower and a few garden tools there for them. They are allowed to plant as long as it looks decent per the property manager approval.

What about extermination and pest control?
Our property Manager calls someone then takes it out of our share of the rent money that comes to us.

Home Security?
We have a security system and we pay for that only becuase we have a 3 yr contract with the company and have 2 years left. If we broke it we would owe alot of money. So we decided to pay and they can use it.

House has Cablevision.
Our tenants only pay for cable nothing else is allowed and we wrote that into the lease they signed. IF the property manager sees anything out of the ordinary they will be asked to take it down. Always good to put it in writing if you don't want FIOS or satellite dishes.


What is the best pet policy?
We have a under 25lb limit for any animal and they charge an extra fee a month just in case of extra expenses. Also they don't get back the pet deposit in the beginning when there are damages from an animal. So make sure you put that in the lease that if there is any pet ruins like a carpet or walls the pet deposit originally put down doesnt get returned. This way your not screwed if you have to clean up

Oh and final question, how "good" is the house rental market? When we got our ad up in May alot of calls came in within a few days and it was rented out within a month. That was in FL but 12 is a good response and make sure you run background checks and credit check. This is what our Property Manager did to get the best tenant for us and one who would make timely payments.


Good luck in renting and hope you find your dream tenant!!

Re: House Rentals: Landlords & Tenants chime in please !!!

Hello everyone. Thanks for the good responses.

I have one question/issue for those of you who have no problem "lending" your garden tools for the tenants to use.

Don't you worry about any possible liability issues? What if the tenant is using a lawnmower (or edger) that you provide and they injure themselves? Of course it would probably be due to their neglect, but I can see a window of opportunity here for the tenant to say they got injured because your mower malfunctioned or something.

Sounds like a liability issue. Just asking.

Re: House Rentals: Landlords & Tenants chime in please !!!

Posted by Blu-ize

Posted by HappyWife

My parents have rented out a number of homes and generally have had very positive experienecs with it. In the past few years, I've helped them manage their properties.

Heat--the tenant pays for it and sets up a separate account with whatever oil company they choose. This is written into the lease. The tenants should be given an accurate estimate of how much it costs to heat the house in the winter as it can add several hundred dollars a month to the monthly costs. Same thing with the electric bill.

Cable/FOIS--tenant's responsibility. Again, you can write into the lease that notihng permanent can be installed.

Landscaping--again, the tenant's responsibility but my parents have always provided a lawn mower and trimmer. It's important to ensure that the tenant and landlord are on the same page when it comes to the expectation of the upkeep of the house.

Extermination--not sure about this one b/c it's never been an issue. I would think that the landlord would be responsible for perhaps an annual/semiannual service?

Pets--that's totally up to you. Cats and dogs can do some major, long lasting damage so you may want to think about obtaining an extra security deposit if you allow pets. Make sure you are very clear on how many pets you will allow.

The key is to have a well written lease, enough security deposit to ensure peace of mind, and to do a good job screening prospective tenants. Good luck!

I agree with most of this. The differences are:

Landscaping: Landlord. I wouldn't trust someone else to maintain this. Hire a landscaper and you know it's done.

Otherwise, good luck!

Re: House Rentals: Landlords & Tenants chime in please !!!

Posted by HappyWife

My parents have rented out a number of homes and generally have had very positive experienecs with it. In the past few years, I've helped them manage their properties.

Heat--the tenant pays for it and sets up a separate account with whatever oil company they choose. This is written into the lease. The tenants should be given an accurate estimate of how much it costs to heat the house in the winter as it can add several hundred dollars a month to the monthly costs. Same thing with the electric bill.

Cable/FOIS--tenant's responsibility. Again, you can write into the lease that notihng permanent can be installed.

Landscaping--again, the tenant's responsibility but my parents have always provided a lawn mower and trimmer. It's important to ensure that the tenant and landlord are on the same page when it comes to the expectation of the upkeep of the house.

Extermination--not sure about this one b/c it's never been an issue. I would think that the landlord would be responsible for perhaps an annual/semiannual service?

Pets--that's totally up to you. Cats and dogs can do some major, long lasting damage so you may want to think about obtaining an extra security deposit if you allow pets. Make sure you are very clear on how many pets you will allow.

The key is to have a well written lease, enough security deposit to ensure peace of mind, and to do a good job screening prospective tenants. Good luck!

Re: House Rentals: Landlords & Tenants chime in please !!!

Re: House Rentals: Landlords & Tenants chime in please !!!

For the $30 or so a week, I would definitely hire a landscaper. Removes the liability issue, and you are guaranteed that the job will be done timely.

Re: House Rentals: Landlords & Tenants chime in please !!!

Posted by Blu-ize

Posted by HappyWife

My parents have rented out a number of homes and generally have had very positive experienecs with it. In the past few years, I've helped them manage their properties.

Heat--the tenant pays for it and sets up a separate account with whatever oil company they choose. This is written into the lease. The tenants should be given an accurate estimate of how much it costs to heat the house in the winter as it can add several hundred dollars a month to the monthly costs. Same thing with the electric bill.

Cable/FOIS--tenant's responsibility. Again, you can write into the lease that notihng permanent can be installed.

Landscaping--again, the tenant's responsibility but my parents have always provided a lawn mower and trimmer. It's important to ensure that the tenant and landlord are on the same page when it comes to the expectation of the upkeep of the house.

Extermination--not sure about this one b/c it's never been an issue. I would think that the landlord would be responsible for perhaps an annual/semiannual service?

Pets--that's totally up to you. Cats and dogs can do some major, long lasting damage so you may want to think about obtaining an extra security deposit if you allow pets. Make sure you are very clear on how many pets you will allow.

The key is to have a well written lease, enough security deposit to ensure peace of mind, and to do a good job screening prospective tenants. Good luck!

I agree with most of this. The differences are:

Landscaping: Landlord. I wouldn't trust someone else to maintain this. Hire a landscaper and you know it's done.

Otherwise, good luck!

Re: House Rentals: Landlords & Tenants chime in please !!!

Re: House Rentals: Landlords & Tenants chime in please !!!

we rented an entire house last year.

the owner kept all of the utilities in his name, and when the bills came in the mail, we paid for them via money order. it was so much easier this way than having to switch back and forth.

we paid for everything, electricity, water, oil heat, fios. we used the same company that our ILs used - can't remember the name - but we didn't need a contract, which was great. if the tank needed servicing we called the landlord.

we worked it out with our landlord that he would pay for landscaping and we would be in charge of watering the lawn. he had a guy come very 2 weeks to mow the lawn and that was usually enough.

if anything broke, the landlord asked that we contact him first. the only thing we had a problem with was the A/C leaking and he took care of it right away.

you should work it out with your tenants if you want them to call to have something serviced, and you pay the bill later, or if you want them to contact you first. if you are going to be close by i suggest the latter so you have more control over who comes to fix your appliances if need be.

as far as extermination, my guess is that you would be responsible - it's part of the general maintenance of a house and something that no tenant would be responsible for anywhere they rent. if they are dirty, evict them

sorry, don't know about a security system.

as far as fios, you're wrong about that the house we moved into was hooked up for cable and the fios guys came in and just rewired for fios - NO major installation whatsoever. they used the same spaces that the cable was installed in. actually the way they rewired the house was SO much neater than the azzhole cable guys who had put the lines in all along the outside of the house. and yes, all the tenant has to show is proof of residence to have fios installed, they don't need to prove they are the owner. verizon never even asked.

our landlord allowed cats but no dogs b/c he hated dogs - we thought that was odd since cats can make just as big a mess but we only had a cat at the time so we respected his wishes. make sure you ask for a separate pet security deposit - but i would not raise the price of the rent. i would say and extra $300 per pet is sufficient. if that doesn't cover it you can use the other security deposit. if the people had a lot of kids would you charge them extra rent?

i don't know much about the rental market, but good luck!