"Princess" tenant and her needs and wants

Mum has new tenants in a house. They asked if it was possible to have a security grill on one of the bedroom windows. Mum was happy to oblige as we have grills stored in our garage from our own PPOR and we have gradually installed them in our own IPs. We put a grill in each bedroom. Mum was happy to do this because it adds value and makes the house more attractive to future tenants.

Tenant asked that the clothing rail be upgraded as it was bowing. Hubby had some galv pipe in the garage. Again, no problem to switch it over.

She asked if the filter on the range hood could be replaced? We looked at it, realised it certainly needed replacing, but instead of hunting for the right filter, mum bought a new range hood for $89 and we put it in.

She also pointed out the timber blinds in the kitchen did not tilt or adjust. Whilst this is not really an issue, they were a bit dusty and being kitchen timber blinds, the dust sticks to the grease in the air, so mum bought aluminium ones and hubby put them up.

All those requests could easily have been given a straight "no, sorry, this is how you accepted the house" but all were things that help to make it more rentable for next tenant and so mum happily did them. We took only about an hour on these things.

I said to mum that whilst she has agreed to do these little things because they improve the house, not simply because the tenant wants them, this tenant may think she can say "jump" and mum will ask "how high?".

I warned mum that whilst these people were very charming, I suspected a bit of a "princess" mentality and to be ready for the next request :D.

It didn't take long. Female tenant called mum this morning to say they did not get much sleep last night because the street light was too bright. And a possum was running over the roof and she wanted mum to come to the house to discuss things on the condition report.

Mum is too annoyed to call her today, but I have suggested that she tell the tenants to call the council, who will get in touch with the power company to possibly put a guard on the light. At least, that is what happened when this was an issue outside our house.

Mum will tell her that if she wishes to hang heavier curtains in that bedroom, she is welcome to buy some and give us back the existing (brand new) ones. She can take her curtains when she leaves.

I told her to tell her possums are part of "Brisbane living", but we will probably see if we can see where they are getting in. We love our possum family in our roof, but obviously not everyone feels the same :).

There is no need to have the landlord present for the condition report. It is a document detailing the landlord's opinion of the condition of the house. If she disagrees, she is welcome to make comments in the appropriate spaces. It is not an opportunity for the tenant to request that things be done to improve the place :eek:.

Mum will tell her that if she is so unhappy, she can find another house but is committed to pay rent until a replacement tenant is found, plus the costs of finding one. Perhaps she will settle down when she realises she has now run into a brick wall?

I hate to think what this woman would be like if she was wanting to "buy" a place if she is this picky about renting.

Mum is a tough cookie, and this new tenant has got her shackles up.

I am going to enjoy watching this unfold :D.
 
Female tenant called mum this morning to say they did not get much sleep last night because the street light was too bright. And a possum was running over the roof and she wanted mum to come to the house to discuss things on the condition report.
The street light, that's not even on your property? That's a ripper.

And how dare you not have the possums trained not to run on the roof! (In the roof is different, but not sure how you stop them running on the roof. :rolleyes:)

I'm looking forward to hearing how this unfolds, too. ;)
 
Wylie, this tenant sounds like a real doozie!!! My sympathies to your Mum!

Where has she come from??? Surely, if she's lived in Brissie before, she would realise that possums are a 'fact of life'. We've had possums in every house we've lived in or owned in Brisbane!!!

Do keep us up-to-date with "Princess" and her antics ... sounds as though she'll be good for a few laughs!

In the meantime, I have two good 'possum men' ..... maybe I should give them a call and see if they know anyone who 'trains possums' in the delicate art of walking - not running - on the roof? ;) :p

Cheers
Lynn
 
I think it is funny (maybe sad) that for tenants we are running around in circles trying to please, but in our own homes we simply put up with things. Naughty possums.
 
Yep, tennants can be crackers...

I had the front porch done on my property, put in clear polycarb to let in extra light to the front room, but protect people coming in and out of the house from the weather... tennant didnt like the clear poly, and TOLD the pm to GET ME to change it to "the smoky coloured ones"

The poly was put up prior to them inspecting mind..... anyway you can imagine what I said..... Wylie, Maybe princess hasnt heard the word "no" much... maybe she should learn........quickly :p

Luvvit.
 
My old neighbours had possums in their roof too.

That was until they chewed through the wiring and the house burnt down.
 
I have been told that possums are not likely to chew wiring. Rats, on the other hand, are much more of a problem. We also have rats in our ceiling. It is a real menagerie up there :p. We have had rats chew through a wire already in our ceiling, so we know they are a danger regarding fires.

About a fortnight ago, we had our pest chap put baits in the ceiling for the rats in little boxes that he says the possums cannot get into. We don't want to harm the possums.

I would be interested to know whether possums do, in fact, bother chewing wiring. He said not likely, but I am curious to hear the opinions of anyone who has experience in this regard.

I am not keen to ban the possums but, of course, the safety of our family must come first. It is just that as far as I know possums are not likely to chew wiring.
 
Whylie, good luck with those tenants.

We have a whingey one who continually wants stuff. Every request has been met with "no". She is a long term tenant. The requests are slowing down the longer she has been there.

At the last rent increase she told the agent that it was unfair, she could not afford it AND besides, the owner never does anything to the property. I found that particularly funny, because at the same time she requested a dog (I seem to recall that pets can be expensive, certainly more than the rent increase). The agent also let her know that the property is well maintained and the owner certainly is prompt in repairing anything that needs it and that if she wanted the property upgraded the owner was more than willing to do this too, only this would involve a further rent increase. We haven't heard boo from her since.:D
 
lol... just lol.

Can you film her when you say "no", and put it on youtube? I rekon the face on her would be priceless.
 
I have been told that possums are not likely to chew wiring. Rats, on the other hand, are much more of a problem. We also have rats in our ceiling. It is a real menagerie up there :p. We have had rats chew through a wire already in our ceiling, so we know they are a danger regarding fires.

About a fortnight ago, we had our pest chap put baits in the ceiling for the rats in little boxes that he says the possums cannot get into. We don't want to harm the possums.

I would be interested to know whether possums do, in fact, bother chewing wiring. He said not likely, but I am curious to hear the opinions of anyone who has experience in this regard.

I am not keen to ban the possums but, of course, the safety of our family must come first. It is just that as far as I know possums are not likely to chew wiring.

I had to get electricians in to replace the light wiring in my wall that rats had chewed through. The electrician told me possums actually sense that the wires have electricity running through them and won't chew through them as I also had possums in the roof.
Just recently I found a rat dead outside it had chewed my electric fence wire and died from the shocks it received. So I think rats actually are attracted to electricity.

I got rid of the possums in the roof by putting a disco strobe light in the roof cavity and put it on a timer to fire up at 2Am to about 10AM on a slow flash rate. I have been told a 12V stobe light works as well .
 
Princess has settled down somewhat..... but has asked if the low hedge right along the front of the house could be a bit higher please :eek: and could mum organise some higher plants at the front fence :eek:. (Answer is "NO".)

She really needs to buy her own place and she can do whatever she wants then.
 
Yeah I wouldn't be so keen on the disco light option for rats. It's not just the light, but the loud music.

Then there's the drunk rats stumbling out of the disco at all hours. Fornicating in the alley and let's not even the potential for rats dealing drugs. :eek:

Rat discos could develop into a big problem. :rolleyes:

The next request your Mum gets, she should say it's fine, she'll get back to the tenant with an increased rental amount to cover the costs.
 
The next request your Mum gets, she should say it's fine, she'll get back to the tenant with an increased rental amount to cover the costs.

I said to mum to wait until summer hits. The room of this house where she has set up her office gets a whack of western sun. Mum is ready for the request for air con and when it comes, she will consider it (because it will be a plus for any future tenant) in exchange for probably $10 per week extra. That will sort her out.

I haven't seen the condition report response yet, but mum says she has written a "book". Should be a giggle.

This lady still thinks she can "request and get" at will.... but she doesn't know my mother. Requests so far have been fair enough, and things mum didn't know were not working as they should, so she has been happy to rectify them.

Once the "I would like" requests start coming in she will see she is not dealing with a "yes woman" and I think the fur will fly :D.
 
Damn. The more I read this forum the more amazed I am at how good a tenant I was. Until last October when I bought PPOR, I had rented for five years since moving to Sydney. During that time (four different rentals, three were sold then I bought a place so obviously left the last one) I didn't make a single request.

Doors fell off hinges, things broke, some things (like no fly screens) weren't ideal, yet I didn't ask for a single thing. Anything that broke, I fixed, anything that wasn't ideal I tolerated. I almost feel foolish! :)

Cheers
Greg
 
Don't feel foolish. We find most tenants do what you have done, and do the little things. It is the ones who fall into the "princess" category that you read about on here. We generally don't hear about the tenants that are great, and that is the nature of forums, isn't it?

Your landlord will/should appreciate you. I would :).
 
I have to agree with Wylie. I have had many very good tenants, however they remain the silent majority. It is the nuisance tenants that get discussed more than anyone else.
 
I was being a little tongue in cheek with my remarks on feeling foolish. :)

I've always known of the problems of bad tenants, trashing the place, damaging things etc., parents had several when they use to have IPs, but I never realised the extent of how picky/generally just a pain in the **** people could be.

Cheers
Greg
 
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