Landlords, would you consider this proposal from your tenant?

Question

We are cream of the crop tenants - have excellent credit and pay rent on time, every time. We recently moved into a great home, albeit not perfect. We requested to paint since the landlord's son (the manager of the property) only touched up, but did so with a slightly different shade of paint. Oops. So we did and he liked it.

Well, now, we would love to work on the backyard. The son already said he asked the gardeners to pull up all the ice plant from the backyard, which we did since they didn't. I've planted some daylilies, and we've been working on leveling out the yard. I'm considering asking the son (to ask his parents) if they would consider turning some of our rent money into an allowance to update the backyard. Basically, if we spend up to $100/month on the yard (with receipts, obviously), can we deduct that from our rent? The yard is currently a dead lawn with dips. Absolutely nothing to brag about.

Would you, as a landlord, consider this proposal? They own 8 properties, some on the same block as us. They live in a different state (hence the son managing). We've done nothing but improve the property since moving in 3 months ago. They would essentially be getting free labor from us.

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Improvements to the property paid by tenants can be taken off the rent if the landlord agrees to it. You should submit a plan of all that you plan to do and a break down of expected cost so they know what they are getting into. This way they will know about how many months to expect lower rent if they agree to it.

Source(s):

I'm a property manager.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

Sounds good, thanks!

Answer 2

I would definitely consider it, but I would want to have full details and veto authority on what was being done. Leveling and fixing bald spots would be acceptable; installing raised rose beds with specialized irrigation would be a "no".

In a nutshell, very basic things that maintain the value of the property would be okay with me. Things that were attempts at increasing the value would be scrutinized a lot more carefully and more often than not turned down. If it was something that I would probably have to do myself anyway, I have no problem with the tenant performing some sweat equity and receiving some relief on the rent (occasionally) in return.

It can't hurt to ask and I would encourage you to do so, but don't be terribly disappointed if they come back with a negative response.

Answer 3

It depends.
I generally place rental properties into 2 categories.
Cat 1 - I like the property and want to hold onto it for long term. With the possible intention of passing it onto family in the future. This property is important to me and the goal is for rental income to pay the mortgage. It's important for the property to be in nice condition because if it doesn't go to family I want to sell it at a nice profit. If I have lousy tenants who make a mess of the place I'd be very unhappy. Any improvements made to this property would be made to work with future improvements I might already have in mind for this property.

Cat 2 - Rental income from this property is intending to pay for the mortgage and I really don't care what condition it's in because I may wind up selling it w/o a concern what condition it's in.

I would consider your idea for cat2, not cat1.

Answer 4

I would not agree to 1,200 a year, but maybe 200 a year. 1,200 a year is a lot for anyone to spend on plants, not many people can afford that.