When new tenants move into a rental, they often want to put their signature touch on the property. For some tenants that could just mean new furniture, rugs or artwork. Other tenants may want a little more design input on their rental unit and may want to do things like paint or install new wall shelving which could pose a financial risk to your property if completed incorrectly. As reported in previous blogs, tenant paint jobs can often cause damage to the property by covering outlets and ruining floors. Wall shelving can leave bracket holes when removed or even lead to significant wall damaged if installed incorrectly. Instead of painting or installing wall shelving, you can suggest to your tenants that they try these easy and fun DIY projects that will not risk their security deposit and not damage your property.
Removable Wall Paper: Removable wallpaper has an adhesive that makes it easy to put up and take down. There are a lot of designs choices for removable wallpaper that can give tenants the feeling that they are putting their personal touch on the rental unit without the risk of causing extensive damage.
Radiator Cover: Some tenants may find that the radiators in their rentals are unappealing and even somewhat noisy especially in older buildings. If this is the case, you can suggest that your tenants make a radiator cover that can help reduce noise, beautify the space and create more shelving.
DIY Shelving: Many rental units may not come with enough storage space or shelving to meet tenants needs. As a result, tenants may drill into walls and hang up shelving that can leave countless holes when the shelving is removed. Instead of tenants installing shelving and potentially damaging the rental unit you can recommend different shelving options like a DIY copper pipe ladder or DIY shelving units.
Unfortunately, some tenants will not heed your advice and will paint, put up wall shelving or complete another project that can leave your rental damaged. Furthermore, depending on the damage, the security deposit may not be enough to cover repair costs. Therefore, it can be helpful to notify new tenants the damage that trying to complete complicated home improvements like painting can do to a rental unit. Once notified you can then document, when you notified the new tenants in your property management system in case you need to use the courts to get money for damage done to your property by the tenants.
This post is provided by RISSOFT Residential and Commercial Property Management Software, specializing in innovative and cutting-edge property management software for all 50 states. Request a demo or contact us today to receive more information.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this post in not intended to be construed as legal advice, nor should it be considered a substitute for obtaining individual legal counsel or consulting your local, state, federal or provincial tenancy laws.