Who Does the Maintenance in a Rent to Rent Deal?

The question about maintenance and who is responsible is a variation of a common theme. 

·       If the fridge breaks, who fixes it?

·       If the washing machine breaks, who fixes it?

·       What if a tenant destroys their furniture, who replaces it?

·       What if the boiler breaks? Who pays for the engineer?

·       What if a water pipe bursts? Does the landlord pay?

My answer every single time is - it's up to you. You can negotiate anything you want. This is your deal and your business. Who do YOU want to pay for things?  

Now, of course the first answer that comes to your mind is; “The landlord. If I get to choose I'd rather the landlord spend the money.”

That's great and sounds good in theory and there’s no reason you can’t propose that to the landlord. But why should he accept that deal? What are you offering in return? 

The key part of every single Rent to Rent deal (and the key part in every single business offer to be honest) is understanding how you are adding value to someone else's life. No one will want to pay you if you aren't offering them value in return. 

So if you just go to the landlord; “Hey, I'm going to pay you less than market value rent, you have to do all the maintenance and cover all the costs whilst I'm going to manage your property”... that might be a bit of a struggle.

To find out more regarding maintenance costs and how to successfully manage this with your landlord, watch our short video here.