A few questions for landlords who rent out part of their house

[AndreaII]

Originally Posted by LIguy257

Andrea (and any other landlords), do you care if a new tenant wants to paint the bathroom right away? How should I address something like that with the new landlords? Right now the bathroom is extremely... feminine... and I want to paint it (I also want to change out the formica around the sink because it's pink but one thing at a time...)

Just not sure what the etiquette is in a case like this.

You must ask permission to paint anything, remembering the LL owns the property and everything has to be cleared through them regarding change. Maybe they love that bathroom and want it to stay the way it is, and say they give you permission to paint it with the stipulation that after you move they're going to have it repainted to restore it to the way it was, and the cost to repaint will come out of your security deposit. Not saying that it will definitely happen, but it could. On the other hand, they may welcome the free paint job, and maybe you could bargain something off your rent in exchange for the work you'll do.

Also, LL's don't like bright-colored paint. Very difficult to change back to white - usually takes two coats and costs more $ than one coat.

The problem I would have with a tenant painting anything is that there's a really good possibility that the person doing the painting will do a bad job - spattering paint where it shouldn't be, knocking over a can, etc. In short, doing a sub-par job. I like things done correctly and wouldn't take a chance on someone's "expert" paint job. Nor would I allow a tenant to "fix" anything either - perhaps what they would consider fixing I may consider a botched up job. But that's just me - all LL's are different.

The basic thing is to ask permission and see what kind of answer you receive.

[LIguy257]

Oh yeah, I wouldn't paint without asking... I'm just not sure how to bring it up. I've been in my current apartment for so long and have a great relationship with the landlords to where if I wanted to change something they were always fine with it.

The problem with the new place is that it's probably the girliest bathroom I've ever seen in my life, and I'm a single 29-year-old guy, it just doesn't work. I was secretly hoping that once I was officially moving in, they would change it themselves since it's blatantly clear that a guy wouldn't want that bathroom, lol. The pink formica around the sink is bad enough but that's a little more involved than painting.

Would you be offended if you painted it yourself and new tenant was basically like "this is terrible can I do something else", haha. It seems like a stupid thing to worry about but this is how my brain operates.

[AndreaII]

Just tell them flat out the bathroom is too feminine for your taste, and do they have any suggestions as to how to ungirly the place. Landlording is a business, and an experienced landlord wouldn't take offense at a reasonable question like that.