A few years back, my wife and I were fortunate enough to
take a trip to Barbados. Due to the many
things we wanted to see on the island, it made sense to get a rental car. When I Googled how American tourists fared
driving there, the information that spit out was that driving was fine with two
caveats: they drove on the left side of the road which made things trickier,
and if we went off the highways, the local roads were narrow and could be
challenging. We didn’t plan on going to
any remote places, so I didn’t think much of the second issue.
However, when we got to the rental car agency and they went
through the costs associated with bringing back a damaged car, I got a little
nervous. I started moving past the shiny,
newer convertibles and went to the shabby, scratched-up section of the lot. My eyes landed on a weathered, small model
that had taken some rough driving in its day.
I picked it out and we drove off.
On the next to last day of our trip, we took the car up to some
tourist spot on the top of the island.
While driving there, the sky began to darken and the winds started to
pick up. When we got there, the tourist
spot was closing due to the weather and we were thirty minutes away from our hotel. It turns out a hurricane was forming and
power wound up going out across the whole island. Everyone was being let go from work and the
roads quickly filled up with bumper-to-bumper traffic. This was not good for a tourist driver!
Google Maps was working and it started to give us off-the-beaten
path directions to avoid the traffic. I
dutifully followed them and we were now on the local narrow roads where locals
were speeding home. My comfort level was
now really low. Cars were speeding by us
on the right side of the road and our clearance from them could be measured in
inches. To create more space, I was
hugging the left side of the road.
Unfortunately, I got too close to a curb and resulting in some tire and
wheel well damage. I was praying that we
could just get back in the vicinity of the hotel and not be left in the middle of
nowhere in a full-blown hurricane. Fortunately,
the car was able to continue on. My
prayer was answered and we were able to leave the car on the side of the road near
the hotel.
When I called the rental car agency the next day, they were
pretty busy and said they would pick the car up at some point. I was wondering what my deductible was and how
much of this car I was going to wind up buying.
But when I finally heard back from them, they said there was no issue- “No
problemo! Things are good.”
I didn’t ask any questions, but I have to assume the car’s
condition at pick-up left me a lot of room for damage.
I bring up this story because as Charlotte property
managers we are tasked at fixing up homes prior to new tenants moving
in. If tenants are asked if they want
new carpet and painting prior to taking possession, probably most would immediately
answer “Yes! Definitely!” But is that really what they should want? Sometimes it’s worth a discussion based on
their future security deposit return.
New carpet and painting will undoubtedly look great! But it starts a new cycle on their useful
life (we generally use a 7-year wear schedule).
If a tenant moves out after one year, there is an expectation that the
new paint and carpet would have incurred one year of normal wear and tear and
be useable for another six years. Any
wear and tear fix-up expenses outside of one year (a small amount of damage) would
be deducted from the security deposit (or billed back if the wear and tear costs
exceeded the security deposit). And costs
for these items have really shot up in the last five years!
Recently, we had a rental home with a very worn wood floor
that we hadn’t refinished for over a decade.
It was scratched-up heavily in a few places. I asked the incoming tenants if they
preferred that we refinish the floor or if they wanted the peace of mind that
we would not be charging them for any new scratches on it. If we finished the floor (a costly repair)
prior to them moving in, they would need to be very careful with it. They opted for peace of mind and some
well-placed rugs.
Rental homes that are scratched-up can be used to create
win-win scenarios for tenants and landlords alike. Not coming home to a hefty rental car repair
bill saved having a shadow cast on a really nice vacation!
Happy Landlording!
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