As a landlord, you may come upon a complication when your tenants ask to install a hot tub on your rental property. Even as it can generate high tenant satisfaction and cost savings, hot tub installation has potential risks. If the hot tub malfunctions or creates damage to the property, you may be left with costly repairs and legal disputes. Likewise, poor tenant maintenance can instigate hygiene concerns or safety hazards.
As a result, prior to reaching a decision, it’s great to look at all the potential risks and benefits of allowing your tenants to install a hot tub. Examine about consulting with legal or insurance professionals to be sure you are legally safe and sound in case of any issues.
For property owners, deciding if tenants can have a hot tub depends on a good deal of factors. There are compelling reasons for allowing or not allowing it. Here are a few considerations for each option:
Reasons to Allow Tenants to Have a Hot Tub:
- Attracting and Retaining Tenants: Providing amenities, to cite an instance, a sauna bath, can make your property more appealing to potential tenants, permitting you to charge higher rent and retain tenants for longer time periods.
- Increased Property Value: Installing a hot tub can improve the overall value of your property, which can be a great deal if you plan to sell in the future.
- Competitive Advantage: In a lot of rental markets, incorporating a hot tub can give your property a competitive edge over others, helping it to be more noticeable and get rented more quickly.
- Tenant Satisfaction: Tenants who find pleasure in the luxury of a hot tub may be really pleased with their living arrangements, which could elicit low complaints and excellent relationships.
Reasons Not to Allow Tenants to Have a Hot Tub:
- Maintenance and Costs: Hot tubs require regular maintenance, for illustration, cleaning, water treatment, and some possible repairs. You may need to take charge of these costs or pass them on to your tenants, which could frighten off a lot of renters.
- Liability and Safety Concerns: Hot tubs can pose safety risks. There is a risk of accidents, injuries, or even lawsuits if someone gets hurt. You may need to shell out for additional insurance coverage to protect yourself.
- Potential Property Damage: There’s a risk that the sauna bath could damage the property, like the deck or plumbing, which may warrant costly repairs.
- Local Regulations: Quite a lot of local municipalities and homeowners’ associations may have regulations or restrictions on obtaining and using hot tubs. It’s critical to check and completely adhere to any such rules.
- Increased Utility Costs: Hot tubs consume electricity and water, which could cause higher utility bills. Carefully decide whether you or the tenant will cover these costs.
Assume you are open to allowing your tenants to put up a hot tub on your property. If that is so, there are several basic considerations to take into account, for illustration, ownership, the lease agreement terms, the removal and restoration process, cost responsibilities, and the approval process.
Formulating clear-cut guidelines and rules in the lease agreement is seriously recommended if you ever decide to permit hot tub installation. This can include essential issues, that is to say, maintenance and repair, responsibilities, and usage restrictions, which are quite important to ensure the safety of your tenants and protect your property.
If you’re managing rental properties in Braintree and would like more insight on how to write your lease agreement, the Braintree property managers at Real Property Management Associates can help. Contact us online or call us at 508-509-4485 today.
Originally Published on July 3, 2020