Personalizing a living space is part of delighting in a home, and renters are no different. Residents want to be able to create a comfortable aesthetic space when they rent a home, but a rental property is not like a home where the owner resides in it. Renters and owners of single-family rental homes in El Segundo are aware that any changes made to the interior of the home require consent from the landlord. When residents of your rental homes go beyond furniture and décor and choose to make unauthorized changes, this can place you as the owner in a difficult situation.
The best residents are those who ask permission before making changes to the interior of your rental property. After a resident has signed the lease, they will sometimes decide they want to alter some aspects of the home. Perhaps they want to change the paint color a couple or all of the walls, install new bathroom fixtures, change the blinds or other window coverings, install a new light fixture or ceiling fan, or possibly 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, but you need to keep in mind a few things before saying yes. Probably the most crucial of these is quality. If your resident is making the modifications themselves, there is no guarantee that its quality will meet any professional standard. Moreover, if they do a really poor job of it, it can have a negative effect on the value of your property and subsequently cost you even more money to fix it.
Another vital point to keep in mind is that trends in interior design are constantly changing. Although painted cabinets might be popular now, residents might prefer more natural wood tones in a year or two. Though it is wholly within your rights to charge a departing resident for any necessary repairs, keeping a neutral rental home is still the most cost-effective route.
As a rule, residents who go against lease terms and make unauthorized alterations anyway are responsible for reverting the home back when they move out. Of course, some residents will do their best to avoid the expense of involving putting the home back the way it was when they originally came, possibly leading to expensive collections or even legal action.
When residents begin doing unauthorized changes to your El Segundo property, it can be tough to know what to do next. This is why you should get the right property management company to keep an eye on things, choose quality residents who would take care of the property, and take action to protect your real estate investment if and when it is required.
At Real Property Management California Coast, we provide all of these services to single-family rental homeowners – and more. Our skilled property managers can customize a maintenance program just for you while also taking care of the stresses and headaches of dealing with lease violations. Would you like to learn more? Please contact us online or call us at 310-535-2150 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.
