On the subject of owning rental homes in North Hollywood, knowing and keeping track of the condition of the home’s exterior elements is every bit as important as knowing the proper time to replace the carpet or repaint the walls. It makes no difference if you’re renting out a property you’ve had for years or a home you just finished building, knowing the age of each item and how long it can be reasonably expected to last is an important part of successful rental property management.
A good landlord or property manager understands the healthy lifespan of common exterior elements of your rental property in North Hollywood. A product’s lifespan is the number of years it is expected to last under standard conditions. To illustrate, a quality cement patio lasts upwards of 50 years. This is due to the highly durable nature of cement. On the other hand, wooden decks last a relatively short ten years because of how sensitive they are against natural elements.
For reference, we’ve listed a few 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
The concept of a lifespan is important especially when there is damage dealt by your tenant to your property; and even more so if you can use it to establish that the damage goes beyond normal wear and tear. As an illustration, let’s say your vinyl siding gets damaged, but it is more than 25 years old, the tenant shouldn’t be held responsible for the cost of repairs. If the vinyl siding is fewer than 25 years old, the tenant would likely be responsible to pay some or all of the cost of repairs.
The wiser thing to do, instead of throwing your time and money into a futile lawsuit, is to stay ahead of property damage. With the relevant information and a proactive approach to property management, keeping every element of a rental home is indeed possible. Regular replacement of items beyond their useful lives is one way to avoid bearing the full cost of repairs caused by tenant negligence. One more way is to conduct regular property evaluations to keep track of the conditions of the different parts of the rental home.
Real Property Management West San Fernando Valley can help you get ready for the future with maintenance plans, property evaluations, and much more. All of this is part of their complete and thorough property management program. We have the knowledge and the tools to keep your North Hollywood real estate investments profitable for a long time to come. Would you want more information? Feel free to contact us online or by phone at 818-727-0100.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
