Customizing a living space is part of enjoying a home, and renters are no different. When they rent a residence, they want to have an appealing space that they feel comfortable in. However, a rental property is not like an owner-occupied one. As renters and owners of single-family rental homes in Jasper both understand, all changes done to the interior of the home need landlord permission. When your rental residents go beyond furniture and décor and choose to make unauthorized changes, this can put you as the owner in a tough situation.
The ones who ask before they do interior changes to your rental property are the best kind of residents. Occasionally, after they’ve signed the lease, a resident might want to alter certain aspects of the home. Maybe they want to paint a couple or all of the walls in another color, put in new bathroom fixtures, change the blinds or other window coverings, install a new ceiling fan or light fixture, or perhaps even paint the kitchen cabinets.
Part of you might be contemplating just letting them do it if they want to remodel your home for you at their own expense. However, there are a few details to remember before saying yes. Quality is perhaps the most important of these. There is no guarantee that the quality of the work will meet any professional standard if your resident is making changes themselves. As a matter of fact, it can negatively impact the value of your property and then cost you even more money to fix it in the future if they do a truly bad job of it.
Another vital point to keep in mind is that trends in interior design are constantly changing. Painted cabinets might be popular today, but you might find that residents prefer more natural wood tones in a year or two. Even though it is entirely within your rights to charge a departing resident for any repairs needed, maintaining a neutral rental house is the best financial choice.
As a rule, residents who disregard the terms of their lease and perform unauthorized changes anyway are responsible for returning the home to how you want it when they move out. Some residents will definitely try everything to avoid the expense involved in restoring the home to the way it was when they first arrived, potentially leading to prohibitively expensive collections or even legal action.
When residents begin making unauthorized changes to your Jasper property, it can be difficult to know what to do next. That is why you need the right property management company to oversee matters, select quality residents who are going to take care of your property for you, and take action to protect your real estate investment if and when it is necessary.
At Real Property Management Results, we provide all of these services to single-family rental homeowners – and more. Our skilled property managers can prepare a maintenance program just for you while handling the worries and troubles of dealing with lease violations. Would you like to learn more? Please contact us online or call us at 812-461-1676 for additional information.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
