Why Does the Age of Your Ellicott City Rental’s Exterior Matter?

When looking into Ellicott City rental home ownership, you need to know and track the condition of each of the home’s exterior elements. This is just as important as correctly identifying when to replace the carpet or repaint the walls. It doesn’t matter if you’re renting out a property you just recently built or one that you’ve owned for many years, 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 Ellicott City. A product’s lifespan is the number of years it gets when used under standard conditions before it needs to be replaced. To illustrate, a quality cement patio lasts upwards of 50 years. This is due to the highly durable nature of cement. On the flip side, wooden decks get roughly ten years since they can be quite sensitive to 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

Lifespan, as a concept, becomes extremely important when your tenant causes property damage that surpasses normal wear and tear. For instance, if your vinyl siding is 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.

Instead of wasting so much time and money on a lawsuit, it would be smarter to stay ahead of property damage. With the proper information and a proactive approach to property management, you can keep all elements – both inside and out – of a rental home in great condition. Regular replacement of items beyond their useful lives is one way to avoid bearing the full cost of repairs caused by tenant negligence. Another way is to perform regular property evaluations to keep updated with the condition of every part of the rental home.

Real Property Management Essentials offers a complete property management program that includes, among other things, planning for the future with maintenance plans, property evaluations, and much more. We have the information and the expertise to see to it that your Ellicott City real estate investments remain profitable for a long time to come. Would you want to know more? Please contact us online or give us a ring at 410-832-3138.