If you own a rental property but had a tenant trash it when they leave then make sure you read this article because we’re addressing the all-too-common problem that landlords have when they say, “Help! My last tenant trashed my Raleigh – Durham house!”
Do you own a rental property? Have you ever had a tenant leave it in a little less-than-perfect condition? It certainly happens! In fact, it’s an experience that probably every landlord has faced at least once. If you looked at your empty rental property and said, “Help! My tenant trashed my house” then here are some things you can do about it…
Decide if it’s worth going after the tenant?
You need to first do a thorough assessment of all the damage and decide if it’s worth going after the tenant. Unfortunately, it often isn’t worth the hassle because it may be a time consuming and even expensive effort to get the tenant to pay you back. However, if the damage is significant enough, you may choose to do this.
Is it worth it to you to repair the damage?
From missing or broken toilets to holes in the walls to accidental (or purposeful) flooding – we’ve heard of just about everything you can imagine! Sometimes a bit of drywall and paint will fix the problem, in which case you may want to fix it up and rent it out again, and then just accept the inconvenience as the cost of doing business. However, if the damage is not worth repairing yourself then you might be interested in a couple of other options:
You could lease your house to a handyman
One sneaky landlord hack that is actually really helpful is to find a handyman who wants to rent the house. In exchange for a discount on rent (or even free rent) they can fix up the house for you to make it a nice rental property again. Make sure you have a timeline all spelled out, though, to avoid then staying too long without a lot of work getting done, and make sure you do regular inspections to make sure that work is getting done.
You could sell the house
Another option is to simply sell the house. It may just be the tenants, it may be the area the property is located in, or it may be that the neighborhood has simply changed over time. Regardless, sometimes it’s just best to sell and move on from owning a frustrating rental property. However, be aware that if you try to sell the house on the open market, you may have to fix it up first in order for the agent to list it. Another option is to sell privately to a professional house-buying team like ours. We buy houses in as-is condition and we’ll fix them up ourselves so there’s never any money out of your pocket, and we can close on your schedule.
Leave a Reply