Personalizing a living area is part of the pleasures of a home, and renters are the same. A resident wants to have a comfortable aesthetic space when they rent a home. But, a rental property is unlike an owner-occupied home. Owners and renters of single-family rental homes in Houston both know that any modifications made to the home’s interior require permission from the landlord. When residents of your rental homes move past furniture and décor and choose to make unauthorized changes, this can put you in a hard situation as the owner.
The best residents are those who ask permission before making changes to the interior of your rental property. A resident will occasionally decide they want to change certain features of the home after they’ve signed the lease. Perhaps they want to change the paint color of 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 thinking that if they want to change up your home for you at their own expense, maybe it’s better to just allow them to do it. But there are a couple of things to keep in mind before agreeing to this. Probably the most important of these is quality. You have no guarantee that the quality of the resident’s work will meet any professional standard if they are doing the modifying themselves. In fact, if they do a truly bad job, it could reduce the value of your property and then eventually cost you even more money to fix it.
Another important matter to keep in mind is that trends in interior design swiftly change. Although painted cabinets might be popular now, in a year or two, you might learn that residents desire more natural wood tones. While it is entirely within your rights to charge a departing resident for any repair needed, maintaining a neutral rental home is still the most cost-effective option.
As a rule, residents who choose to ignore the terms of their lease and still do unauthorized changes are responsible for restoring the home to your liking upon moving 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.
When residents begin doing unauthorized changes to your Houston 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 Prestige, we offer all of these services and more to single-family rental homeowners. Our expert property managers can customize a maintenance program made only for you while handling the stresses and problems stemming from lease violations. Would you like to find out more? For additional information, please contact us online or call us at 281-532-5455.
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.
