Awesome gift for awesome landlord
May 19, 2013 1:41 PM   Subscribe

We have a very awesome landlord whose house we're moving out of. We'd like to get her something to show our appreciation.

So we're leaving our cute little rented house for a house of our own. We love our landlord, who's been very kind to us and has taken good care of the house whenever we had any concerns (she lived in it before us and it was the first house she owned so it was her baby), so we'd like to get her something to say thanks. Some details:

- fairly young
- she has another house of her own with her partner outside of town in the country
- she has two big dogs
- she tends bar (so probably no booze)
- very social/outgoing
- house proud

Ideas? Budget is probably somewhere between $50-100.
posted by pised to Home & Garden (9 answers total)
 
A framed picture of the house. From the air if it has land.
posted by BenPens at 1:50 PM on May 19, 2013 [3 favorites]


Playing off of BenPens idea, if you have (or know anyone who has) any artistic talent, a nice framed watercolor of the house might be nice.
posted by firei at 2:01 PM on May 19, 2013


Does she garden, or like flowers? Maybe buy her a perennial for her garden, like peonies, or a nice hosta. Potted geraniums also fit the bill.
posted by MeatheadBrokeMyChair at 2:18 PM on May 19, 2013 [3 favorites]


Tree?
posted by oceanjesse at 2:29 PM on May 19, 2013 [1 favorite]


If the house is in a slow rental market, consider writing a letter of recommendation for your landlady to use for the next tenant(s) including a way to contact you via a (just for this purpose) email address. A great landperson may be a deal breaker for potential renters.

Also, leave the place as spotless as possible and if you notice any small repairs that may be needed as your furniture/stuff leaves, jot them down in a "Things (Landlady's Name) Would Probably Notice Anyway" list.

Another idea, a few years back I bought my mother a $50 Japanese hatchet weeder thing; she now uses it all the time but would never have considered buying it for herself. If you know of any projects your landlady will be doing on her own residence or this house, maybe buy her a "top of the line" type tool for that.
posted by jaimystery at 2:33 PM on May 19, 2013


Leave the house spotless with all of the light bulbs working.
posted by cmoj at 4:29 PM on May 19, 2013 [1 favorite]


I'm a landlord. I would say anything that involves fixing up the house would be a bit awkward (and noticing small repairs would be just stinging enough, so only do that as a matter of a move-out checklist or casually mentioned). But planting a tree or perennials, with pre-arrangement, would be a really nice way to improve the looks/rentability (assuming a cute place needs it) and provide a nice memory as well, and in fact act as a kind of reference ("that's the thank you tree from the last tenants"). A well-chosen tool would also be appropriate.

We also have drawings of our house done by a local artist, so those would be OK by me too.

But basically to make this a real thank-you I would separate it as much as possible from the business end of your relationship.
posted by dhartung at 5:58 PM on May 19, 2013 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: The place is very cute on its own and has already been rented (we'd happily write a letter of recommendation otherwise). I don't necessarily want to leave anything there like a tree or plant or something as she wouldn't be able to enjoy it because she doesn't live there herself. She doesn't do the gardening or lawn care there (there's not much to do anyway and she hires a service to take care of it) and I'm not sure if she does at her own house.

No worries about leaving the house spotless. I've already cleaned and I know she's getting cleaners in before the next tenants move in.
posted by pised at 6:23 PM on May 19, 2013 [1 favorite]


A gift basket with some really good food, and/or a nice bottle of wine, some good bread, cheese and salami. If you know your landlord pretty well, then a gift cert to a favorite store or plant nursery would be really nice.
posted by theora55 at 7:51 PM on May 19, 2013


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