Personalizing a living area is part of the pleasures of a home, and renters are the same. Residents want to be able to create a comfortable aesthetic space when they rent a home. Nonetheless, a rental property is unlike an owner-occupied home – as renters and owners of single-family rental properties in Thousand Oaks both know, any modifications performed to the interior of the home needs landlord consent. When residents of your rental homes go past furniture and décor and opt to make unauthorized changes, this could put you in a difficult situation as the owner.
The finest residents are ones who ask before performing changes to the interior of your rental property. Sometimes, after having signed the lease, a resident will come to a realization that there are certain aspects of the home they want to change. Maybe they want to install new bathroom fixtures, change the blinds or other window coverings, set up a new light fixture or ceiling fan, paint the kitchen cabinets, or perhaps even paint some or all of the walls a different color.
A thought might occur to you that if they want to remodel your home at their own expense, maybe it’s better to just let them have their way. There are a few things to keep in mind, however, before saying yes. The most vital of these is probably quality. There is no guarantee that the quality of the work will meet any professional standard if your resident is making changes themselves. 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 important matter to keep in mind is that interior design trends come and go quickly. Although painted cabinets might be popular now, residents might prefer more natural wood tones in a year or two. While it is entirely within your rights to charge a departing resident for any essential repairs, maintaining a neutral rental property is still the most cost-effective choice.
As a rule, residents who ignore the conditions of their lease and go on making unauthorized changes are responsible for returning the home to your liking once they move out. Obviously, some residents will attempt to avoid the expense involved in putting the home back to the state of when they first arrived, potentially resulting in pricey collections or even legal action.
It can be hard to know what to do next when residents begin making unauthorized changes to your Thousand Oaks property. That is why you should have the right property management company to keep an eye on things, pick quality residents who will take care of your property for you, and take action to safeguard your real estate investment if and when it is needed.
At Real Property Management Ventura County, we provide all of these services to single-family rental homeowners and more. Our professional property managers can create a maintenance program just for you while taking care of the hassles and headaches of handling lease violations. Would you like to learn more? Please contact us online or call us at 805-387-3682 for further 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.
