Renting a home is an excellent way to determine whether or not you like an area, such as Killeen, Texas, without any type of long-term investments being made. Just think of renting as a try-before-you-buy scenario. Renting does give you this great piece of freedom, but renting a home still means you have certain responsibilities. The property may not be yours, but you will be expected to maintain it. All of this maintenance should be outlined in your lease or your rental agreement. Here are some basic things that every renter should be doing to maintain their rental property.

The Yard
Renting a home is much different than renting an apartment. When you rent a home, there is not going to be a regular groundskeeper who takes care of the landscaping unless otherwise noted in the lease. This means that this responsibility falls on the shoulders of the renter. Caring for a yard can be a lot of work. If you don't have the time to take care of the yard at the rental property, then you may want to consider hiring a landscaping company to handle the job for you. If the yard needs any type of landscaping repair work done to it when you leave, you may be liable for the costs associated with this type of work.

Inside the Rental Property
You will be required to take care of the inside of the rental property as well. This means that you will need to regularly clean the inside of the property to ensure that it is in good condition when you choose to leave.

Can You Paint the Walls?
You may want to personalize the place a little to make it feel a little more like home. Some property owners have absolutely no problems with a renter painting the interior walls of the home, but as a renter you should always ask first. The property owners may have some objections to the color scheme you have chosen, especially if the colors are a little darker. It may be difficult for the property owners to cover up the dark color with a new coat of paint, and you will more than likely be paying for the new paint.

Caring for the Appliances
It will also be the responsibility of the renter to take good care of any appliances that may have been furnished with the property. This includes: refrigerators, dishwashers, garbage disposals, washing machines, dryers and air conditioning and heating equipment. All of these appliances will require some very basic routine maintenance in order to keep them operating in good shape.

As a renter, these are the basic things that you will most likely be responsible for when you rent a property. It never hurts to sit down and talk face to face with the property owner or the property management company to discuss what is required of you.

Our property management firm can be reached by phone at (254) 935-2392 or in person at our office locations, 1506 Paseo Del Plata, Ste. 200 in Temple, TX, and 3901 E. Stan Schlueter Lp., Ste. 100 in Killeen, TX.