How Landlords Can Improve The Bathroom in a Rental

One of the best ways landlords and property owners can make their properties more appealing to renters is by making improvements to the bathroom. However, most new landlords probably don’t want to get caught up in an expensive renovation during times of economic uncertainty. The good news is, there are ways to improve the bathroom without breaking the bank:

Freshen up grout and caulk. New tiling can be a very expensive upgrade. A simple way to avoid those costs is to clean up your existing tiles by re-grouting and re-caulking around the sink and tub areas. Grout and caulk are relatively cheap, and can make such a huge impact.

Replace faucet fixtures. If your rental property’s sink and shower faucets are more than fifteen years old, they probably aren’t energy efficient. New fixtures don’t have to be expensive, and they will make your bathroom shine. Big box stores sell faucets starting around the $30-$40 range.

Add storage. If the bathroom space in your rental is small, tenant applicants will appreciate having more storage options.  Consider adding shelves or cabinets to a small bathroom area to make the space more appealing.

Don’t just paint the walls. If a new sink and vanity isn’t in your budget, consider sanding and painting the existing one. A fresh coat of paint can make an otherwise older, outdated vanity look brand new.  Accent the piece with new knobs and modern drawer pulls. Your tenants will not even know the cabinetry isn’t brand new.

Update the little things. Don’t overlook the smaller, inexpensive fixtures. Replacing old toilet paper holders, towel racks and adding a quieter, more efficient ventilation fan can bring your bathroom’s style & functionality into the new millennium.

Many real estate experts believe that updating a bathroom is a great way to add value to your property.  While a huge renovation may not be in the budget for 2013, even small upgrades to your bathroom will make a huge difference in the appeal of your rental. 

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Repaint main rooms between each tenant

Do you paint your rental unit between tenants? Should you? Everyone knows it’s easier to market and show a rental unit when it is aesthetically at its best; that means professionally cleaned carpets, a pristine bathroom, and a glistening kitchen. But what about the walls? Nicks and scuff marks on the walls can make even the cleanest apartment appear unclean and “used.”

Most people don’t ever wash their walls, but dust, dirt and residue from smoke, perfumes and other things can build up on them, making them appear dingy. Barely noticeable to a casual observer, if you look closely at a wall inside any residence, you can tell whether or not the room is actually really clean.

Repainting at least the most high-traffic rooms between tenants is always a good idea. Even if by some miracle your tenant hung no pictures or curtain rods that required any kind of drilling, screwing or nailing hardware into the walls, chances are they did have and move furniture inside the residence, leaving scuff marks and scratches on corners and in hallways.

Knowing that you’ll most likely be repainting frequently, don’t spend a lot of money on super-high quality, super-expensive paint. Select something neutral and bright, and include a stipulation on the lease that allows for the tenant to paint ONLY IF they agree to repaint to the original color before moving out. Last but not least, select a paint color (and write the exact color name, number and manufacturer on the rental agreement) by a high-profile, easy-to-find brand, so you’ll be able to match the color exactly the next time a tenant moves out

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Up in Smoke: When a Tenant Smokes, the Damage Can Be Devastating

If you asked, some landlords would say they wish there was one more detail a tenant screening service could tell them about a prospective tenant — whether or not the person smokes.

Many landlords don’t like to accept tenants who smoke because of the damage that cigarette smoke does to walls, carpeting and furniture (let alone the potential for burn marks on the floors and complaints by nonsmoking neighbors who live close by and prefer to breathe smoke-free air.) But many applicants are good at hiding the fact that they are smokers.

If you ask an applicant whether he smokes and he says “only outside” or “only occasionally,” consider that answer to be “yes.” Someone might usually smoke outside, but during those long cold winter months, you can’t be sure your tenant isn’t staying curled up in his living room for a smoke instead of shivering on his porch.

When you advertise your property, be sure to include that you’re looking for nonsmoking tenants only; that should help weed out many regular smokers. And even if the tenant you find says he or she doesn’t smoke, include the rule in the rental agreement that there will be no smoking on the premises, and make sure they initial it. You might even want to stipulate that if smoke damage is found on the premises, the needed cleaning and repairs will come out of the tenant’s security deposit. 

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Make the Move-Out Process Smooth for Tenants — And You

Most tenants have good intentions when they give their landlord a move-out date. After all, they want as much of their security deposit as possible. But often tenants, especially ones who’ve lived in the same rental property for multiple years, grossly underestimate the amount of time, money and effort it takes to effectively move all of one’s belongings from one place to another. When time gets tight and energy runs low, the first thing to go is the tenant’s attention to the rental unit he’s leaving behind. Unwanted items are left piled in empty rooms, the kitchen and bathrooms are not cleaned properly, sometimes even the refrigerator isn’t totally emptied.

This leaves the landlord with a mess and a hassle – and if you’ve already got new tenants slated to move in right away, you could be left scrambling for a professional cleaning service to come at a moment’s notice and undo the damage done by the previous tenant.

The good news is there’s a simple way to help avoid all that. When a tenant gives his 30-day notice that he’ll be leaving the property, an effective landlord should be proactive and immediately give the tenant three things:

1. A copy of his signed rental agreement with any requirements for move-out and the return of the security deposit highlighted, as a memory refresher.
2. A copy of the move-in sheet that should have been filled out and signed by both tenant and landlord upon the tenant’s arrival. This should list, room by room, any damage or issues that were present when the tenant moved in. That will give the tenant a good guide when he’s getting ready to leave about what, if any, repairs he needs to make in order to leave the rental unit in the same shape he found it.
3. A move-out guide that gives a basic cleaning checklist for a tenant. Some tenants won’t remember to clean the oven or defrost and clean the freezer unless it’s written on a handy to-do list. 

Arm your tenant with all the information he needs to make a smooth exit and ensure he receives all, or at least most, of his security deposit.

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Rent Control in NYC

Rent control has long been a contentious issue between landlords and tenants, and in New York City where thousands live in rent-controlled buildings, the issue is a huge one. That’s why last week’s ruling by New York state’s highest court is so important: It has ruled against rent-stabilized tenants who were fighting to prevent landlords from raising the rent by $45. It is said that the decision will affect more than 300,000 apartments in the city with rents under $1,000.

Splitting 5-2, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a 2008 Rent Guidelines Board move to allow small dollar increases on rent for apartments with one-year leases that have been occupied for at least six years. In doing so, the court overturned lower court rulings on the issue. Rent regulation legislation in the state already allows landlords to raise rents on some regulated apartments by 4.5 percent, but landlords have argued that the proportional increase doesn’t allow them to keep up with the cost of repairs.

Tenant advocates say the decision might help rally support behind the claim that rent laws need to be strengthened to properly protect tenants.

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Tips for Renting to College Students

March Madness is upon us, in more ways than one. Of course this is the time of year our attention turns to college basketball, tournament brackets and underdogs. But college students also are in a state of March Madness of another reason — housing issues. Specifically, now’s the time they start scrambling to secure off-campus housing for the coming school year.

Here’s what you should know about renting property to college students:

1. Make sure that the college students renting the apartment make enough money to cover the rent, or have their parents cosign the lease.

2. Make sure they understand the rental agreement is for one full year, not just during semesters. If they’re going to head “home” for the summer, they’ll need to find someone to sign a sub-lease or they’ll have to cover the rent themselves.

3. Make sure each person on the lease is responsible for the entire rent amount. College students sometimes switch roommates and housing mid-year due to personal conflicts, internships or studying abroad, so each tenant has to understand he/she is responsible for paying the entire rent amount until a new roommate is found and the lease is transferred.

4. Get a full security deposit to protect your assets from potential damage. College students are largely a responsible bunch who will respect your property while they live there, but parties and other gatherings will bring plenty of people through your place who might not be so respectful. It’s best to get a healthy security deposit and go over just what kind of cleaning and repairs will come out of that deposit if necessary.

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How Well Do You Know Your Applicant?

We have become a very transient society, never sitting still for long. Sure, there are still people who are born, reared and live their whole lives in the same small town. But the majority of us move from city to city, state to state, throughout our lives. Because of all this movement, those in property management often needs an atlas to decipher a prospective tenant’s rental application. Previous addresses and employers are often listed in multiple towns and states, and even a tenant’s personal references might not be in the area, or even in the state, where the rental property is located.

None of this is out of the ordinary or suggests that a person won’t make a good tenant, but it does raise the importance of a thorough tenant screening. Doing an in-depth background check on every prospective tenant will give you access to previous eviction notices and criminal records. Tenant screening also includes national searches in criminal sex offender databases that will give you peace of mind as well.

Gone are the days when you’d recognize a prospective tenant’s name or face, when you’d know their aunt or grandmother or boss. These days you are far more likely to have a complete stranger vying to live in your investment property. So do your homework and get to “know” them — thoroughly and promptly — before you have them sign a rental agreement.

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