Renting a House - Should I Pay to get a Tree Removed?

I think the important question is how much removing the tree would cost. I don't know. I would have to ask the landlord to get that quote from the tree service guys.

Edit: And for the record, I'm not thinking of paying for this out of the goodness of my heart. I'm thinking of paying it because it might save me money in the long run and would save the hassle of going back and forth with the landlord and listening to her complain about the cost of repairing damages next time something like this happens.

I would think that a tree guy who shows up to trim it would probably try to convince the homeowner that it's a better idea to take the whole thing down. Maybe let that happen.

Woody wrote: I would think that a tree guy who shows up to trim it would probably try to convince the homeowner that it's a better idea to take the whole thing down. Maybe let that happen.

They did multiple times. The pest control guys said the same thing. I don't think she understands how close the tree is to the house.

Beer Baron wrote:

Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote: In reply to Beer Baron: When we were renting that is what we did. I would fix things around the condo and we would deduct the cost from the rent, with prior approval of course.

That is common practice for us. I generally handle small repairs and they agree to deduct cost of materials plus a bit extra for my labor from the next rent check. I'm sure I've saved them a healthy chunk of change because my labor rate is a lot cheaper than calling a handyman or plumber.

I had a similar arrangement with my last landlord for dealing with minor repairs and stuff. After I moved out and my former roommate's GF moved in, they started making some more substantial improvements to the place on their own dime, replacing carpet and crap like that, with the idea that they were going to someday buy it.

I don't know exactly what was discussed between my roommate and the landlords, an elderly couple in their mid-late 80s (husband actually died while I was still living there), or whether any sort of actual agreement was reached, but the landlord's tune changed somewhere along the line and they decided they weren't interested in selling (probably after the old man's death when their kid started to get more involved.) So the former roommate and his GF ended up being out of pocket a pretty substantial chunk of change on a place they're now getting ready to move out of.

Dumb on their part, but the moral of the story is unless there is an agreement in writing, you are only improving it for someone else and have no guarantee of seeing the benefit long term.

I think agreeing to cover the up-front cost and have some portion deducted from rent each month would make sense. If we don't buy the house, we're not actually out anything. If we do buy the house before whenever it would be paid back, I'd be fine eating that cost because it would still have saved me money vs. paying for a special trip to remove the tree later.

Bribe the tree service to refuse to do the work unless it's done "properly", i.e. taken down. "We can't do that, it's a code issue, it has to come down, blah blah blah."

Edit: or bribe them to give a substantially higher quote for trimming than for removal. Make sure the word "safety" gets used a lot.

Actually I wonder if it is a code issue. That would make it the landlord's legal responsibility to take care of properly. Roots could be damaging the perimeter drains and even the foundation if it's as close as you say.

You are blaming the tree for the pest getting into the attic. How do they get in ?

Find the source and eliminate it.

I have trees and squirrels, they were getting in through a hole in the eves. Had that plugged. No more squirrels.

iceracer wrote: You are blaming the tree for the pest getting into the attic. How do they get in ? Find the source and eliminate it. I have trees and squirrels, they were getting in through a hole in the eves. Had that plugged. No more squirrels.

Raccoons use this tree as access to the roof. From there, they walked across the roof to the chimney where they made a hole by pulling off a couple slats of siding and gnawing through some plywood. This hole will be repaired. But the raccoons created the hole and another could do it again as long as there's easy access for a critter that size to get up on the roof.

It's not like a brick chimney. It's above a mostly-decorative gas fireplace. So it's actually just a rectangular facade around the smaller chimney inside.

The pest control guys and tree trimmers have both said, "this tree needs to come down, or this will probably happen again."

In reply to Beer Baron:

Mention foundation. That will get their attention. Foundations scare property owners. Raccoons do not.

Just point out (or have pest control folks, etc) the tree could likely damage the foundation if it hasn't already if not removed.

That's not a $3000 tree removal. Probably more like $500. Should be an easy decision for the landlord.

If you were thinking about buying your neighbors house, and he made the same decision as your landlord, would you offer to pay for the difference? Until you have a purchase agreement, it's pretty much the same with the house you are renting. If you are worried about it later, just tell the landlord that the tree being gone is going to be a condition on any offer you make and let him decide if he wants to cut it down now or later.

Taking the tree down is easy, you just have to start at the top and cut off manageable chunks until you get to the ground. Any decent chainsaw will go through a tree that size in seconds, just take it down 2' at a time.

What if you did a bit of leg work and got a few estimates on how much it would cost to hire someone to cut it down?

And then present the quotes to the landlord? It might ease their mind about the cost of the tree removal.

I went through this with the landlord of my rented house, but with the roof. Reroofing the house is way less expensive than fixing water damage.

I told the landlord we'd want the tree taken down if/when we buy the house. Her response was that she doesn't think the front would look as pretty without the tree and that it had never caused a problem before.

I may send another e-mail to the effect of "Dude, three experts all said that tree needs to come down if we don't want to get raccoons again," or I may just let it go and deal with it if/when we make an offer.

Land lord "should" pay for it. It is his property and, thius, his responsibility. However, in my experience as a tenant, I've paid for things that I shouldn't have had to just to have it done. I've worked on plumbing, electrical, etc. as if I were the owner just because I didn't want to have to wait for the landlord to come around a month later.

Long story short. Landlord should definitely pay to remove it, but if he's dragging his feet or otherwise unwilling to pay for it, I'd probably just pay for it myself if I had the means just do avoid the hassle. I like my home to be a place of peace and sometimes fighting with a landlord destroys that peace for me.

It's not your house, and it sounds like you have nothing on paper regarding the future potential purchase of the house - not that it would matter.

It's not your decision to make. You've asked, she said no. Time to get over it.

Zomby Woof wrote: It's not your house, and it sounds like you have nothing on paper regarding the future potential purchase of the house - not that it would matter. It's not your decision to make. You've asked, she said no. Time to get over it.

That's where I'm at. I've strongly encouraged her, but won't fight about it. Offered to front the money, but not cover the expense.

If I decide to buy this house, I can make removal of this tree a contingency, or deduct the cost of removal from the purchase price. That would cost them extra money, not me.

Hmm... I've also considered we might be able to get some sort of wrap to put around the trunk to prevent/discourage raccoons from climbing it. Might suggest this to the landlord, but not until I'm absolutely certain she's not going to see the sense of just removing the tree.

I have it on good authority that killing the raccoons will prevent them from getting into the attic at all.

If you're in the city or the suburbs, a high power slingshot makes no noise.