Personalizing a living space is one of the happiness of having a home, and renters are alike. When they rent a home, they want to be able to make an artistic space in which they feel rested. But a rental property is different with an owner-occupied home – as renters and owners of single-family rental homes in Raleigh both know, and created to the interior of the home need landlord approval. When residents of your rental homes move beyond furniture and décor and decide to make unauthorized changes, this can put you as the owner in a trying position.
The ideal residents are those who ask before forming something different interior to your rental property. At times, after they’ve signed the lease, a resident will decide they desire to alter certain views of the home. Maybe they would want to paint several or all of the walls a different color, install modern bathroom fixtures, swap the blinds or other window coverings, install a stylish light fixture or ceiling fan, or perhaps even paint the kitchen cabinets.
Part of you might be pondering that if they prefer to refashion your home for you at their own cost, maybe it’s best to just let them have their way. But there are several things to consider before agreeing. Probably the most significant of these is quality. If your resident is making alterations themselves, there is no assurance that the quality of their work will meet any professional standard. Actually, if they do a really bad job of it, it could negatively affect the valuation of your property and then cost you even more money to repair it later.
Another crucial point to remember is that fashions in interior design come and go quickly. Painted cabinets might be famous today, but in a year or two, you might find that residents like more natural wood tones. While it is completely within your rights to charge a departing resident for any necessary repairs, preserving a neutral rental house is still the most profitable choice.
Usually, residents who disregard the terms of their lease and make unauthorized changes anyhow are liable to return the home to your liking when they move out. At any rate, some residents will try everything to evade the cost involved in repairing the home back the way it was when they first arrived, possibly leading to costly collections or even legal action.
When residents begin making unauthorized changes to your Raleigh property, it can be hard to know what is the next step. That is why you need the right property management company to keep track of things, choose quality residents who will take good care of your property for you, and do something to secure your real estate investment if and when it is required.
At Real Property Management Excellence, we offer all of these services to single-family rental homeowners – and more. Our expert property managers can make a maintenance program just for you while handling the problems in regard to lease violations. Would you like to learn more? Please contact us online or call us at 919-827-1107 for more 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.
