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As a property owner, you can design a pleasing exterior while keeping the safety of your property and your tenant in mind. Natural elements, smart landscape design, and strategic plant selection can be incorporated to keep your property safe. Check out these easy exterior solutions to safeguard your rental property.

Keep Walkways in Good Repair

Regularly maintaining the walkways of your rental property can help prevent injuries. Tenants and guests can easily trip and fall on a walkway, causing a lot of headaches for rental property owners. Make sure that the walkways around your property are in good condition. Clearly mark areas that are uneven, or any objects that are obstructing the path, and repair unsafe pathways as soon as possible. Keep the walkways clear of snow and ice in the winter to minimize the risk of injury.

Use Borders

Planting borders on either side of walkways and paths of your rental property will help keep renters and visitors within a natural barrier. Borders along main walkways will discourage foot traffic on the nearby lawn. This is especially helpful in keeping bare areas from turning into muddy pits during the rainy season or in wet climates.

Invest in LandscapingLandscaping

Not only do landscaped areas add overall beauty, interest, and even monetary value to your property, but they also help to protect certain areas of the building itself. Consider landscaping all around the base of your property in order to create a natural barrier to protect the foundation from vandalism. Landscaping also keeps equipment from getting too close to the building and causing a lot of damage.

Plant Hedges

Hedges are a great way to protect your tenants from people passing by and create a sense of division and privacy in the outdoor living space. A defined and manicured outdoor space can be a sought-after amenity in a rental property. Creating a barrier between neighbors also helps to protect your renters and the building itself from being vandalized. Those seeking entry into a rental property may think twice about doing so if there is a natural barrier that would hinder their quick escape.

Create Shade with Trees

Trees help create a desirable outdoor living environment for renters, providing comfortable shade and boosting the monthly rent. The shade from large trees can help you regulate the temperature in your units, which can be important in hotter climates. Shade will help cut down on energy costs as well as keep the building cooler and more comfortable for tenants. Planting trees is an investment that will easily pay off once the trees reach full mature size.

Keep Hydrants Clear

Fires are a real danger to rental properties. Ensuring that firefighters can easily access the fire hydrant is vital to keeping your tenants and your building safe from harm. Clear the radius around the hydrant on a regular basis and call the city if you think the hydrant needs to be repaired or repainted.

Ensuring that your rental property is safe for tenants, as well as visitors, is an important part of owning a rental property. Using natural borders and landscaping can also help to keep your building safe and in good repair, while increasing your earning potential. Make sure to consider all of these easy solutions to safeguard your rental property.

Emily Higgins is a writer and homeowner inspired by retro pinup–she is constantly working on revamping her fixer upper to have a more chic vintage style. When she’s not working on remodeling, she can be found tending to her organic garden and cooking for family and friends.