Home Rental House needs some maintance work.

[MichelleCarmen]

Background: We moved into the house we''re renting last May. The owner tried to sell the house but couldn''t get her asking price and so she put it up for rent. We''re paying $1800 a month.

Okay, so here''s the deal and I feel SUPER uncomfortable about this situation. Basically, people (in general) always say that renters don''t take care of houses but for me, I feel that it''s more about the owner looking needing to work with the renters in communication and attending to what needs fixing or keeping nice looking.

Is it normal for the owner to have a walkthrough once a year? It''s been SO long since I''ve rented that I''m out of touch. . .

Some of the things include:

The paint on the tool shed is chipping off (it''s a very cute shed and adds character to the yard, so this is a biggie, IMO).
One of the blinds in the front window has had one of the strings snap so I cannot open the blinds on that side (now the living room is dark on that side).
The bathtub sealing stuff around the edges is starting to split and needs to be resealed.
A lot of the white paint around the outside around the doors, etc., is starting to look a bit icky and would look better with a fresh paint of coat.

Nothing super important but things that will keep the house fresh and up to the way it should be.

We also had a leaky toilet and I had called around and got a few quotes from plumbers and then contacted the owner and asked if she''d like my DH to fix it for half the price of the lowest quote and take that off the rent and she said yes. . .so we have fixed one thing.

What about the rest? Do I ask her about fixing this stuff? She''s very much given us our space and like I said, I do feel funny about asking her since we''ve been here doing our own thing. . .(I''m even able to do a lot of the work. . .)

So anyone have any experience as either an owner or a renter?

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I have very liberal landlords, so I might be in the minority, but I''d fix these things myself and pay for them myself. None of them are expensive or affect the house structurally. If it were a major fix like the toilet I''d call in the landlord, but the other stuff is so minor that she probably can''t be bothered.

My landlord''s rule is nothing structural. We can change out fixtures and paint however we like with the caveat that we''d paint it neutral before we moved if she didn''t care for the color (we avoided this by painting with neutrals).

 

[MichelleCarmen]

When we moved in, I painted two bedrooms and the closet with my own money, but that was because I wanted to change to colors. One of the rooms was peach and it wasn't appropriate for my son. She's pretty much given us freedom to do what we want.

The shed though is fairly big - about 8' X 10' so it would take me days to chip off all the paint and repaint it. That doesn't seem like something the owner should pay for since it's not an optional thing since it needs to be done by the end of summer?

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

But it is optional. It''s aesthetic. I definitely think you should approach her about these changes (certainly the painting) and ask if she''s willing to contribute, but I don''t think she''s 100% responsible for fixing something that''s offending to you aesthetically.

 

[neatfreak]

You can certainly ask. But know that she can certainly say no.

Unless your lease or state law requires it, no landlords do not have to do yearly walkthroughs nor do they have to fix things that are cosmetic.

I''d do it myself if I really wanted it done.

 

[cara]

Do you personally want to fix this stuff (either yourself or with your $$) or are you looking for your landlady to do it?

Stuff that is out-and-out broken you can ask her to fix. Like the shades. Though if its easy and/or cheap to fix you might just try yourself, if there''s little potential for harm.

Stuff that is falling into disrepair or getting shabby... is not going to be easy to get the landlady to fix unless keeping up the place is what she wants to do. So for the paint stuff, I would ask permission for you to fix it or live with it. Or you could try telling her it needs to be done, but I wouldn''t hold your breathe. The bathroom sealing is kind of in between. You can say it is in need of resealing, but that is the kind of thing my landlord wouldn''t do until the bathtub didn''t hold water anymore or the whole place was growing mold. Oh, wait, that''s happened a few times already

.

 

[packrat]

If it''s just a few spots of paint that have peeled/chipped away, I wouldn''t worry about that..but if it''s a lot gone and it''s down to bare wood, the paint helps protect it, so it would be in her best interest I would think, to have it painted. I hated living in our house when it was in desperate need of a paint job-I felt like we had this poor white trash house, even tho we had beautiful landscaping, it detracts. Ask her if you guys can paint the shed and house and take it off your rent. If we didn''t own the house, we wouldn''t pay for it ourselves b/c just our tiny house, to buy the primer and paint and have someone paint it was well over $600-(this was in 2005 and we had it done cheaper b/c my cousin and uncle did it), and that''s not pocket change, you know?

The tub sealant-we have issues w/that too-and now we have rotted floors and walls and it''s going to be a big overhaul whenever my husband and father decide they have the time to fix it-which is hopefully before the tub falls thru the floor. (We have a leak in the pipes too tho, so that''s part of it) Maybe you can go grab a tube of caulk and see if that works?

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 2/4/2010 9:31:51 PM
Author: packrat
If it''s just a few spots of paint that have peeled/chipped away, I wouldn''t worry about that..but if it''s a lot gone and it''s down to bare wood, the paint helps protect it, so it would be in her best interest I would think, to have it painted. I hated living in our house when it was in desperate need of a paint job-I felt like we had this poor white trash house, even tho we had beautiful landscaping, it detracts. Ask her if you guys can paint the shed and house and take it off your rent. If we didn''t own the house, we wouldn''t pay for it ourselves b/c just our tiny house, to buy the primer and paint and have someone paint it was well over $600-(this was in 2005 and we had it done cheaper b/c my cousin and uncle did it), and that''s not pocket change, you know?

The tub sealant-we have issues w/that too-and now we have rotted floors and walls and it''s going to be a big overhaul whenever my husband and father decide they have the time to fix it-which is hopefully before the tub falls thru the floor. (We have a leak in the pipes too tho, so that''s part of it) Maybe you can go grab a tube of caulk and see if that works?

Ah, "caulk." I''m so out of it. . .for some reason I forgot what it''s called

Yeah, I do think I''m going to pick up a tube of it tomorrow because I can see spots where I would easily be able to peel it back and that''s not good! I don''t mind fixing that right now. Do not want to have a mold problem - and Cara, we''ve gone through that too about 10 years back the last time we rented.

The paint is peeling back enough on the shed that by the end of the summer, bare wood will be exposed. The location receives direct sun from the south and the wood is aging quickly. It is a cute building if it is kept up. My friend thought it was a giant play house for kids. It has a large framed window and everything fancy

 

[upgrade]

I would think you could call her about the exterior paint, as that''s a big job and if not kept up can cause rot, not to mention the longer it''s left, the more prep work needs to be done.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 2/4/2010 11:27:31 PM
Author: upgrade
I would think you could call her about the exterior paint, as that''s a big job and if not kept up can cause rot, not to mention the longer it''s left, the more prep work needs to be done.

Okay, thanks again everyone.

My husband and I talked and decided that we''d have her come over when we sign the lease for another 12-months and that we''d bring up just the things like the garden shed. The trim around the doors and stuff I''m just going to go ahead and paint. Also, the trim in the guest bathroom. Nothing inside is unsightly. . .it''s just that I want it to look fresh and we plan to stay here till the boys graduate and that''s another 11 years (yikes, maybe we shouldn''t rent - I don''t even want to calculate what that''s going to add up to after all those years!).

 

[lyra]

Have you considered offering to buy the place? Eleven years worth of rent is a lot of money going nowhere. But that''s just my opinion. I never felt 100% comfortable renting because I always worried the place would get sold out from under me or something.

Good idea about waiting for the lease renewal to talk to her about some of these issues. She should at least be paying for the paint/materials if you are willing to do some of the work yourself. She must know how lucky she is to have such conscientious tenants.

 

[swingirl]

Why on earth rent for 11 years? If your landlord originally wanted to sell the house I would guess that as soon as the economy picks up they'll try again. They may have no interest in making cosmetic improvements that they might need to make again before they put it back on the market.

If I rented my house as is and the tenants agreed but then wanted me to make improvements I'd wonder why they didn't just rent a nicer house.

Have you considered a "rent to own" situation where some of your rent money goes towards owning the house?

 

[cara]

Well, it depends on the price of houses relative to the rent. In my area, it doesn''t actually make sense to buy to save money. You might make money if the house appreciates, and certainly you will not have the problem of convincing your landlord to keep up the house, but rent is generally way less than mortgage and taxes alone for a comparable property, let alone maintenance and upkeep. Just the way the market it here.

MC, this is the hard part about renting. You have to figure out what kind of landlord you have, and if you are happy with the amount of upkeep she is willing to do or if you are OK with doing yourselves what she is not willing to do. Of course there are benefits to homeownership, including being in charge of your own home maintenance for better or worse, but it might or might not be the right decision for your family.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 2/7/2010 1:52:39 PM
Author: cara
Well, it depends on the price of houses relative to the rent. In my area, it doesn't actually make sense to buy to save money. You might make money if the house appreciates, and certainly you will not have the problem of convincing your landlord to keep up the house, but rent is generally way less than mortgage and taxes alone for a comparable property, let alone maintenance and upkeep. Just the way the market it here.

MC, this is the hard part about renting. You have to figure out what kind of landlord you have, and if you are happy with the amount of upkeep she is willing to do or if you are OK with doing yourselves what she is not willing to do. Of course there are benefits to homeownership, including being in charge of your own home maintenance for better or worse, but it might or might not be the right decision for your family.

We have thought about offering to buy the place. The house was on the market for $496K and it's currently valued at $396K on Redfin.com and $394K on Zillow. During the hayday of the market, it would have been sold for $600+. Clearly it was worth more a few years back. . .she put it on the market about one year too late and I'm sure, from what she said, that she'd rather not loose $100K+ and have us rent from her instead.

My husband and I looked around at the house. . .it does need a lot of work to *compete* with houses valued at similar prices, current-maket levels - the $396K amount. Needs a new roof and the kitchen and all the bathrooms need renovating (as I said to compete with with houses that are SITTING on the market, not the ones which are lucky enough to sell) and I'm not sure if we want to spend all that money and time doing that work. . . and it's doubtful that she wants to either, so it'd be unlikely she would be able to sell it from under us.

Buying is always an option. . .all of my friends owe more on their houses than current value. . .which kind of scares me.

Taxes here are high too. . .$6600 a year! Plus, there is a HOA fee.