How do you charge (if at all) for bare spots left in the yard by a tenant? For example, thinks like firepits that burned the grass, a small "Kiddie pool" left on the grass for extended periods, etc. I have two areas on a recent house...one of them quite large at about 25' diameter...caused by a dog on a leash and a screw into the dirt where the dog ran in circles and there is no grass at all in the circle...completely dirt.

I know the materials are cheap, but the time involved in getting grass to grow back by constant watering is a problem.

Thoughts?

Hoosier,

My lease is clear: $65 per spot plus materials.

This can be labor intensive to rough up the soil where the dog has packed it down. Consider hauling in some good top soil or potting soil to rehab that soil.

Consider renting an aerator to break up that soil. Faster than a rake!

There are a lot of landscape guys needing work right now - no grass to mow, no snow to push.

BRAD

Some time ago I wanted to upgrade all of my Single Family Homes upon each vacancy. So when I retired, I'd have no emergency repairs. Part of each properties upgrade was tearing up the soil in the front, back and side yards. Installed new automatic sprinklers and then bringing in SOD (Square of grown grass.

The cost at that time was easily $5,000 per home just for having a nice plush lawn.

Then Los California went thru a drought and water was rationed.

The Utility raised rates so that any use beyond Tier 1, was seriously expensive. All of my tenants called me frantically because their lease made the tenants responsible for damages to the lawn. Their normal water/sewer bills were around $200 to $300 every two months. Now with the drought, their water/sewer bills were over $1000 every 2 months. They could not afford that, and I understood. So we sacrificed the back and side yards, only keeping the front lawns green.

So I just lost around $2,000 in new SOD on a dozen plus homes. Ouch.

So a small three foot area in your lawn should be no concern. Some seeds, fertilizer and water will solve your problem for under $20.

For my homes, in tough neighborhoods, I just figure doggo repair is just the cost of a good security system. One time, when a homeless guy was harassing me as I worked on a project outside one of my houses, the tenant's big pittie was at the front storm door, barking his head off, telling the homeless guy, " leave Ms. Busy alone, or you'll have me to deal with." The guy left, as I talked to doggy, asking if he'd like to come outside. Yay!!! Extra head pets for doggy!

To repair lawns, I purchased a cheap Sun Joe lawn scarifier that I ran over the yard last year where a tenant temporarily had a pool, given to her kids by their Grandma. After scarifying, I tossed some top soil to fill holes, used my 40" lawn leveling tool (available at golf course suppliers online) to level lawn area, spread seed, tossed straw, tenant watered. Sparrows really hit the seed hard, so about a month later, I added some more seed. It looked really good going into winter.

I tend not to nickel and dime tenants on repairs , instead charge a rent rate that covers those things nicely, and, that makes tenant NOT reluctant to report minor damages before they get bigger. Not that those of you who charge for every damage are doing something wrong; each method can work, or fail, depending on how its applied. I go with what works for MY personality.

Hoosier,

My judge taught us we can charge an appropriate amount for the repair. How and IF we fix it after the move out is up to us.

Maybe for selling you can in down some of that grass seed/straw mat to help your buyer feel comfortable.

Hoosier,

My judge taught us we can charge an appropriate amount for the repair. How and IF we fix it after the move out is up to us.

Maybe for selling you can in down some of that grass seed/straw mat to help your buyer feel comfortable.

Probably $2,000