I have 60 occupied and another 18 vacant. After 2 years the park is starting to look much better than it did before and residents are beginning to take pride in their homes.
Question: There are probably 10-15 mailboxes that look bad and need to be replaced. Do you charge to replace ugly mailboxes? Can I replace them and charge them if they are beat up? Some of the posts are crooked and need to be replaced and it’s probably not their fault that the post is crooked.
How do you guys handle this? I just raised the rent $35 this month so I’m gonna factor that in also. I found a decent looking mailbox for $26 with free shipping so might go with that one. I probably have enough surplus wood for posts but I might need to rent a post hole digger, which I could also use to put up all new signs.
It depends on who ownes the mail boxes. Do you or do the tenants.
I would be tempted to use the first 1-2 months rent increase to install identical boxes for all 78 lots but it still comes down to the question of who ownes them.
Are the boxes in front of each driveway or in a cluster? If they’re at the driveways check your lease and see who owns them. I’d be tempted to replace all and send a notice / update rules or leases to say “your responsibility going forward”
I would have one of my maintenance guys fix them. I would also amend the lease for everyone so that it’s their responsibility to fix/maintain them going forward.
Another option is to install a central mailbox system. I prefer this.
It keeps the postman off your streets and the central mailboxes look much cleaner.
Obviously, this is going to be pricey, but it ends the mailbox debate forever.
Talk to your local post master. When we install parcel boxes the post master helps us choose a location and sizing. Then they come and install the locks and issues keys to residents. At that point we’re totally uninvolved with the key fiasco.
As to Kris comments that WAS our experience when they were first put in. A different post master and all the NICE experiences ceased—time will tell!!! WE had the TOTAL responsibility with the change!!!
A friend of mine has a park with similar post master situation. He got sick of dealing with keys so he told everyone to get a PO Box and he pulled up the mailbox cluster. Kind of a cowboy move, but if you’re brave enough….
We literally just spent 10k installing locking mailbox clusters in two of our parks. Both parks had old style mailboxes that were seriously tore up. Half the residents were not even using them opting for PO boxes instead. Also having mail stolen. We just figured it was our responsibility.
We had to get USPS approved boxes so you don’t want to just buy anything you see on Amazon. Postmaster rekeys the main door and package bay locks. We keep copies of the individual boxes and replace as necessary with a fee. We did negotiate with the vendor too and saved $1000 or so on cost and shipping.
I was repeatedly going through this at my Park, and because the mailboxes are fixture of the park. The landlord is viable for them with that being said, I did A 60 day notice (Law requires 30) And personally hand-delivered to each tenant, letting them know that all mailboxes would come down, and we would be installing cluster boxes in the front of the park
