How much would you fix up a rental?
 

I have a rental while I'm spending some time with family but it needs some love. Would you spend money fixing up a rental? Or just try to ignore the crap that bothers you?

I mean some land scraping, painting, faucets suck.

Unless the landlord approves the improvements and allows you to deduct the cost from your rent its not worth it. You'll only be making him money otherwise.

It may be someone else's property, but you are the one living there. Make the fixes that you wish to make. It makes no sense being miserable or unhappy when it can easily be fixed.

As a landlord I would be pissed if you made changes without my permission.

*Landscaping, what if I don't want mulch beds that now have to be maintained after you move?
*Painting, what if you change what I feel are more neutral colors to colors that you prefer but might make it harder to rent after you leave?
*Faucets, who is doing the work? What if there is water damage from a bad job?

Sit down with the landlord and put in writing what you plan to do and have him sign it or you could be breaking your lease.

I'm up north right now suing a commercial tenant for damages to property I own.

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agreed, talk to the landlord. he'll prolly cover the expenses if you can talk him into it

As L-Pink has said... not a good idea to do anything at all. What you consider an improvement in your eyes is often a liability in the eyes of the owner. Best thing is to not do anything, especially if its a temporary place.

no landlord who knows what they are doing would ever offer rent discounts..

get approval first and ask for cash for the upgrades, he probably wont have any problem with that.

i agree with sly.. its where you live, you must be comfortable

i would just ask them to replace certain things if they are in poor condition. if its a big company that owns, they might not think twice. i complained about the windows being drafty once when i was renting and they went and replaced all the windows.

I would not trust a tenant to do a quality job with any repair. I'll make any repair a tenant needs just to make the tenant happy.

A couple weeks ago a tenant asked us if we could replace a bunch of light bulbs, because most of them had burned out in the past few months. The only answer was "of course" because they are extremely difficult bulbs to replace. They're those flush-mount halogen accent bulbs, and they're all over the house. I almost fucked up the ceilings myself messing with them... I wouldn't want to think about the liability of having the tenant doing it.

I've made deals with landlords before where they've pay something. In one case, they bought the paint, I did the painting. A friend got first month free by doing the "make ready". So as others have said, talk to the owner (landlord).

I have spent money on rentals. Including restaining hardwood floors, moving walls, replacing faucets, adding electrical, painting everything, new moldings, ettc...

I finished a basement in one house I rented..

I always feel out the owner first but I don't necessarily tell them..

I would stay away from bathroom stuff so you don't risk opening a can of worms.

In the end you have to live there.. Just consider how long you will be there for and how much it could cost.. If it's worth it to you do it..

That is different how?

You violated any lease agreement that was worth as much as the paper it was written on.

Since we are violating leases here, I fail to see how electrical work is any different than plumbing. Both are supposed to be done by licensed contractors.

Finishing a basement puts a landlord on the hook for more maintenance.

Staining hardwood floors can go terribly wrong if you do not know what you are doing.

Moving walls may make the place better for you, but may prevent the next person from renting.

Painting, well most are fine if you return it to the original color before vacating.

The lease I used with tenants always included a cost to re-paint if they changed the color and didn't go back to it. By doing that they always knew what they were getting into and it made it easier to justify keeping a portion of their security deposit.

paint..
never put capital improvements into a rental unless your landlord can work out some kind of perk.
ds

off the top of my head? It's not something you can write off as a landlord for taxes, its not something the tenant can right off. It interferes with your cash flow on the property, which will effect your earnings. if they aren't qualified to make the fixes they could cause major damage that will cost you more and because there was no contract suing them will not be easy--not to mention you will have to pay to have it fixed twice. If they spend too much and want more money you can get burned with spending more and because there was no contract they can claim anything they want.

If you instead got them to come up with a quote, you accept it sign a simple agreement and then pay them that way you are covered for all those.

so yes, there is a difference..

i'm surprised you didn't get sued for doing that. in most places you need permits to do electrical or finish a basement.

A lot of "defendants" posting here. :1orglaugh

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I've only rented apartments and that was back when I was young, and I never had any issues with anything. If anything didn't work we just made a phone call and had it fixed.

I'm a landlord now myself, and the guy renting from me is my best friend. He's a handyman and he does great work so he can do whatever.

counts on the time period if your staying there for awhile hell yeah!

So? That's for my lawyer to worry about.

I'm really not concerned with some landlord suing me, lol.

Obviously I've always used professional licensed contractors.

Obviously you've never done a major reno if you think electrical can be compared to plumbing or changing a bathroom.

Replacing a bathtub or shower could open a very expensive can of worms depending on the history of the home.

More maintenance? wtf are you talking about. You mean the extra carpet? :1orglaugh

It raised the house value by more than $100k and made it more desirable to EVERYONE.

How the fuck can staining a hardwood floor go terribly wrong?

Obviously you hire someone that knows what they are doing.

You sound like you have ZERO experience doing home renovations.

Obviously common sense must be used. Any changes I make to a place only improves it.

Always use common sense when doing things.

Most places? USA is not most places - FYI - Needing a permit depends on A LOT of factors.

Why are people afraid of being sued?

They are poor.

If you don't have any money to spare, I'd still worry about litigation. A judgement or a lien could still haunt you down the road.