General Maintenance

Maintaining a house takes a lot of time, energy, and planning. You are required to take care of many minor maintenance items at your house and handle items like housekeeping, pest control, and lawn maintenance unless otherwise agreed upon in their lease. Some of these items may be best left to a professional. We are happy to provide recommendations if you’d like to hire someone to handle these items for you.

Routine Housekeeping:

Properly care for carpeting by vacuuming and cleaning up spills promptly. You must have carpets professionally cleaned upon move out and provide a receipt to the Landlord.

Fire Prevention Tips:

Ashlee explains the importance of fire safety and fire prevention.

Pest Control:

You are responsible for treating fire ants and other pests including roaches, fleas, bedbugs, and rodents.

Pest Control Tips

Routine pest control is a good idea for any Florida residence. As all insects are looking for food, water, and shelter, eliminate these sources and you will be less likely to have a pest infestation. Keeping the grass cut and raking all leaves helps drastically reduce the number of pests you have as well. Do not keep standing water around your property, and keep all exterior lights off at night. Here’s a few tips to treat some common pests.

• Cockroaches: Unfortunately, the occasional large cockroach will come inside. We worry more about small cockroaches, as these are the type to cause an infestation. These cockroaches are attracted to food. They are often present when a home is not kept tidy and food particles are left out. Make sure your lawn is well kept to keep these intruders from living in your yard. Eliminate any water leaks and standing water from outside. Store items in plastic totes as opposed to cardboard boxes.
• Ants: Regularly treat for ants and eliminate ants before they come inside! Use vinegar to neutralize the pheromone trail if they have been inside.
• Fleas: If you have pets, one of the best things you can do is have flea and tick prevention. It is nearly impossible to keep fleas out of your home in summertime if you do not.
• Wasps: Treat wasp nests early to avoid a larger nest from producing. Ensure outside trash cans are closed so wasps cannot enter and gather food sources.
• Bed Bugs: The best thing you can do to treat bed bugs is to catch them early. Check your beds monthly for signs of bed bugs which include reddish or rusty stains on sheets and mattresses, dark spots on the edge of furniture or mattresses, or red, itchy bites or welts on your body.
• Termites: Termites swarm annually around May. If you notice a few termites inside your home near vents, like the bathroom exhaust and kitchen stove exhaust, this is typically a passing swarm. Keep all lights off during this time so as not to attract the termites. If this happens and turning lights off prevents it from happening further, the swarm has likely passed. If you see any termite tubes inside or out, or notice any repeat termites, contact our office immediately. Termite treatment is the landlord’s responsibility, and termites can quickly cause serious damage to your home.

Alan Little with Tombstone Pest Control teaches us how to reduce troublesome pests in the Pensacola area.

Landscaping:

Unless the lease agreement states otherwise, you are responsible for all lawn maintenance and landscaping at the property which includes the following:

• Maintaining the yard with mowing, edging, trimming, trash removal and watering.
• Maintaining the bushes, shrubs, and small trees in and around the property and fence line.
• Shrubs against the home should be kept less than 4 feet tall.
• Trees growing into the property or hanging over the property should be reported in writing to management as the landlord is responsible for tree care and gutter maintenance.
• Keeping flower beds weeded and edged and adding fresh bedding once a year if it was present upon your move in.

Damage to Lawn:

You are responsible for keeping the grass growing and watering the yard, even if no sprinkler system is present. Furthermore, you are responsible for any damage to the yard caused by you parking on the grass or placing a large item in the yard. You are not able to drive or park on the yard, inside the property, or anywhere else that causes degradation to the property.

Other repairs for which you will be held responsible:

1. Those outlined as tenant responsibility in the lease, tenant handbook, and outlined for you here.
2. Damages caused by your neglect. A great example of this is mildew growth on a bathroom ceiling. If this is occurring, it is likely from not taking preventative measures.
3. Repairs needed from damage such as:
   1. Damage to fences, outside walls, shrubbery, trees or plantings caused by residents, pets or guests.
   2. Damage to siding or roof from installing fixtures/equipment or from grills and other sources of heat.
   3. Replacing or repairing damaged cabinet catches, knobs or handles.
   4. Excessive patching and painting needed after move out due to hanging more than two pictures per wall or a large item like a TV mount with big anchors.
   5. Any unusual damage or extraordinary wear on any of the floors, walls, or ceilings, caused by pets, animals, children, guests, smoking or any unusual or unreasonable use.
4. The owner is not responsible for damage to screens, doors, locks, or windows caused by forced entry or break ins. If any guests and/or residents cause damage to doors, door frames, locks, screens, or windows by forced entry, this is unfortunately your responsibility to pay for and repair. These incidences must be reported to management immediately. If forced entry is caused by an unknown party, a police report must be submitted with a maintenance request.