New Tenant wants to make improvements at their expense.
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Is there some working in the lease I could put such as "Sale value of property is X amount as of this date" (her move in date prior to her improvements or alterations) and will remain that amount even if improvements are made to property. Meaning if we decide to sell to her in a few years or so.. we of course would not up the price of the home simply because she made improvements that would not be fair to her but at the same time if we decide not to sell and she has made improvements/alterations want to know which of those should be left with the property when she vacates
Why would you agree to sell it to her at today's price at some unknown future point in time? There should be no mention of selling it to her. It's creating an additional complication. If you want to sell it in the future, determine the price at that time.
As others said, you should include in the lease that all changes made to the property remain with the property.
My reaction when tenants come in and want to start making decorating or structural changes is to reject their application. Those are people who do not understand who owns the property and what the landlord tenant relationship is all about. Your applicant, OP, has some confusion in her mind where she appears to think that she is buying the house and about who is in control.
I predict a lot of problems in the future with this tenant.
The majority of tenants don't make quality improvements, so you are just as likely to end up with damage that has to be undone and repaired.
I have to question the mental state of a tenant who wants to do thousands of dollars in upgrades when they know that they can be asked to move out at the end of the first year.
Another possible issue is that the worst slobs always apply with promises of expensive improvements at their own expense. Then the applicant never improves anything, or even cleans. It's almost a joke with landlords all over the country that when an applicant says they love to plant flowers that the garden is doomed because they won't water or care for it and all the landscaping is going to die.
but the Ll said the carpeting was maroon and understoond why she wanted to change it and was ok with it.
what the big dealk wether the LL or the tenant pad a carpet company to do the work.
he should be lucky she will pay for it and no have of passed up on the apartment for maroon rugs.
ida done the same thing.
also if a tenant pays for the carpeting herself, she is more lickley to take care of it better.
NOT all tenants are bad dirty people....
The problem with this carpet exchange thing is, who owns it? Let's say she moves out next year and the carpet is thrashed. Her explanation, which will likely hold up in court, she paid for it, she owns it, therefore, no cost to her. Your problem is the replacement is on you. Your previous carpet is long gone. If your previous carpeting was past its useful life anyway, then maybe this works but if it was perfectly fine except the tenant did not like the color, you may get the short end of the stick.
What I might have done is pay for it yourself and raise the rent to cover the cost. Then there is no confusion on who owns it and if it is damaged, no confusion on who is liable.
But what is done is done. I hope it works out for you
The carpet - she is having a carpet store install it. A regular business that is all they do is carpets and flooring. We have Dark maroon carpet throughout so don't really blame her on that one.
We won't let her do the deck although she was going to have that hired out by contractors also (no permits needed if a stand-a-lone deck that is not raised but still don't like the deck idea ~ carpet is one thing. She is OK with not doing the deck .. just spoke to her.
Thanks everyone...
Since it's a manufactured home in a park you would need the parks permission to enclose a deck anyway.
As far as the carpet does she think because she paid for it she can leave it ruined when she leaves, if so you will have to pay to replace it when she bails.
Donthcha love it when people ask for advice, get it (in this case, from PROFESSIONAL landlords), then ignore it?
Who said anything was ignored.. We bought the carpet the tenant did not she was going to at her expense but we decided to buy it. So yes no confusion on who owns the carpet and she is not going to do the deck or any other improvements etc without prior permission.
While NEW to having a long term rental we are NOT new to having "vacation rental homes" we have a few of those and have for about 5 years with no problems in renting periods of 3 days to 5 month terms.
This is the only long term rental we have. I checked previous references on past rentals and she has never been late on rent was allowed to do certain upgrades - she keeps things neat and tidy and is a very respectful, quiet and responsible tenant.
Not all tenants are terrible..
We just had our first tenant leave this home after a years lease as the husband got transferred to a different city for his employment thus why they left. It was a family of 3 husband, wife and a child of 6 years. They had the place so clean on the walk through you could have almost eaten off the floor there was nothing at all wrong with the place and we still call and communicate with the prior tenants actually plan on having them over for a BBQ this Summer.
Last edited by 1freespirit; 07-14-2016 at 10:32 AM..
Since it's a manufactured home in a park you would need the parks permission to enclose a deck anyway.
Was never going to be enclosed just wanted to replace our wood decking floor with composite planks that she already has in storage and add a roof or an awning to it or some type of covering to keep it out of snow and rain but she is not going to do it now so no need to even bring that aspect up again.
I am not a landlord so I guess I should not even respond, however in this case I think as long as you have an attorney look over the agreement, you could give the go ahead. You have checked her rental history and usually the past is a good indicator of the future.
I am a renter and while we have not made thousands in repairs, we have made some improvements. We did purchase a mantel for the fireplace-nothing fancy, just a block of wood to hang stockings at Christmas time and to put some candles and a picture on (it looks nice!) and will replace the front door because it is glass and looks really run down. We might ask to put a simple do-it-yourself backsplash in the kitchen, just over where the stove is. I realize this is not my home, but I live here and I take pride in my living place. I would not spend thousands of dollars though. We do have a lawn care service that comes out-locally owned and very affordable. My husband works two full time jobs (and goes to college), I have had two strokes and we have a special needs daughter that I homeschool. The lawn care man is putting in a granite dust path for me, has put shade plants on the side and we will be container gardening in the front, very sunny there. I thought about painting the outside, it is an ugly brown but reminded myself it is not my home. We have had a lot of hard knocks and I am thankful that our landlord took a chance on us. My husband does have an excellent work history and we have a good rental history, but our credit is horrible (again, medical bills for myself, our daughter has had heart surgery, spine surgery, etc., no pay raise in ten years from his main job, etc). We had to pay our security deposits in increments even after we moved in we were making payments towards it. We have a wonderful landlord who has been an incredible blessing.
Anyways, I am sorry to hear of so many bad tenants. Best of luck OP.
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