Spring Has Sprung!

Written by Susan Bailey, MS

Spring is not far off. Hooray! The temperatures will slowly heat up the ground and soon it will be time to begin the yard work. Personally, I would rather work outside on the yard and in the flower gardens than be inside dealing with spring cleaning. After being cooped up for winter, and this pandemic, seeing the sun shining is a welcome sight. Time to get outside!

People may think that because they live in a rental property they cannot work on the yard. For Alton Real Estate, LLC, nothing is further from the truth. In fact, we encourage tenants to trim bushes if they are growing wildly or rake the leaves in the fall. Truth is, sometimes our employees just do not have the time to trim bushes or trees. As is, the tenants are responsible for mowing the grass. We have too many properties to try and mow every one.

We would like it if all the tenants took an interest in the outside of the property. They are allowed to plant flowers and gardens as long as they are maintained. If the tenants just bought a few flowers and put them in a flower box and sat it on top the porch railing, it would give the rental property a personal touch. Plus, colorful flowers are very nice to see when sitting on the porch.

It is also nice to have an outdoor space to grill and entertain. This may be a porch, or a patio, or even the yard. The yard can be made into a nice outdoor space by designating a certain area for entertaining. This can be done simply by setting up some chairs, a table, add a few tiki torches on the perimeter of the area. It can get tedious when it comes time to mow though; moving the furniture every single time gets old. I know because I started my outdoor space this way.

Doing yard work can entail a lot besides planting flowers. There is weeding to do. If a garden is planted, there is weeding there to do. Just mowing a lawn and forgetting to trim the grass along the sidewalk or around the house makes the task unfinished, not to mention it is an eyesore.

Every property is different. Some are single homes, others are multi-plexes. Multi-plexes are buildings with a lot of apartments or maybe a house with more than two apartments. In this case, tenants may not feel that they even have a yard if they must share with other tenants. This can be troublesome, especially if you set up an outside space and the other neighbors seem to think it is community furniture, or neighbor kids tend to hang out there, dropping food, garbage, or even break the furniture.

Regardless what rental property one lives in, take advantage of the spring weather headed our way. It will be nice to be outside and get some fresh air and sun after the dreary winter months. While outside, pick up a rake and gather those leaves from fall that never got done, pick up garbage, or clean the porch. There are loads of things to do outside. Get ready for summer!