Unreasonable request? What would YOU do?

[rugrat]

see, I have no problem with people asking for things - in fact I think it can be a good thing to stay ontop of everything. However, the person requesting everything would have to get very used to the word 'no', and accept it as a response - because I also have no problem with that word either.

 

[schweedy]

I had PM A and then changed for a couple of years to PM B.j When the property went back to PMA, I got a list of requested things to be done to the property.

One was to have all the trees at the front of the house cut back (this house is at the end of the street on a bend, the trees is the only buffer to the idiots who play cricket up the street). Replace the curtains with ventitians/verticals, tenant was informed with the upgrade of curtains, if his dogs wrecked them, he would be up for full replacement costs....he tells me, he never asked for the curtains.

I got the back deck fixed. And have now installed ducted cooling, as we may move back into this house one day and want the full benefits of doing it while a tenant is in place, he's rapt and didn't complain with his last rental increase.

Did my first inspection of our other house with the pm yesterday.....I'm hoping my new single gay male tenant stays on....he is sooo neat, the pm even wants to take him home.....lol

 

[bradcon]

So do people think i should put a stop the the PM speaking to the LL about this?

We really enjoy the suburb we are in and the house we are in and i dont want to place any undue concern as we have been excellent tenants in the past, never late on rent, left the last place in a quote 'better condition than when we moved in' and seeing as most of you guys have expressed concerns if presented with this so early on in the tenancy.

Very concerned now, but the feedback is invaluable.

 

[nww]

You could mention to the LL how a roof would protect the deck and save
him/her heaps in the long run.

Bradcon not all LL think of themselves only, some also appreciate tenants when
they look after our properties and are paying our loans.

Maybe you will get lucky and find a LL who is handy and can do the job cheaply,
I would have had the deck covered first thing if it was mine and most likely a bargain
from ebay, picked up some new sheets 12 months ago for $10 each now have a covered
deck on a rental I'm doing up.

 

[schweedy]

I have to ask, I thought to have a roof over a deck or anything, there would need to be plans, council approval etc, thus a lot of decks and outdoor entertainment areas aren't covered???? Other may know better than me though.

 

[marg4000]

Personally, I always consider tenant requests.

Whether we act or not depends on the cost/benefit scenario. After all, I have never lived in the property, and sometimes a relatively inexpensive improvement can make a big difference to its desirability, therefore cutting down on vacancies and maximising rent.

There is no way that, as a tenant, I would contribute to the cost of an improvement. You may be kicked out at the end of your current lease.

However, if the improvement is something you would really like, there is nothing wrong with offering an increased rental once the improvement is done. Depending on state laws, it may have to wait until statutory rental increase notice can be given.

Then the LL can do his sums - the improvement will cost $x, the weekly rental increase is $y, therefore the improvement will pay for itself within zzz weeks, with depreciation benefits thrown in.

And yes, most roofs require council approval.
Marg

 

[tom32]

Best case scenario

In your best case / worst case scenario above I think you have failed to take into account another likely possibility which is that the landlord wants to do the work and they are feeling you out to try to get you to buy in, in the sense while the work progresses you will not complain. This would then just be the PM doing her job.

I live on a golf course and ever single home without fail has a covered entertaining area in the back yard, granted this is a new build area. If they back onto the course. It both protects the big glass doors to the rear of people homes and adds a large level of utility to the back yard.

 

[alplant]

Bradcon if this is the only request the PM is likely to make for you I wouldn't bother putting a stop to it. Time will tell, and while the LL might raise his eyebrows at the request coming so quickly as long as you don't ask for something every three or six months I would think most LL's would be ok with it. Actually a cover over an entertainment area is probably not an unreasonable request and who knows like tom32 says the LL might have been thinking about it anyway.

The tenants I was talking about requested an air conditioner and we had been thinking about putting one in anyway, so we did, eventually. It would have happened sooner if it wasn't for a whole lot of other dramas and our perception of these tenants is probably more to do with that than the original request.

No harm in asking, as long as you don't overdo it, and you don't sound like you will be doing that.

 

[porp_e]

I don't think there's ever any harm in asking either (the worse that can happen is the answer is no) but I'm a bit surprised as in my many years of renting (and still renting!) its never occured to me that I could request improvements from the LL, I've just always thought of the properties I've lived in as 'as is' but I can definately see that an equivalent barter (eg rent increase) could do the trick if the improvement is something you feel you really need and LL might benefit from.

Funnily enough as a recent newbie LL I got the first request from the tenant the other day that made me go huh He asked for a front porch to be built, the answer was no, but no harm came from asking.

 

[kathryn d]

I don't think there's ever any harm in asking either (the worse that can happen is the answer is no) but I'm a bit surprised as in my many years of renting (and still renting!) its never occured to me that I could request improvements from the LL, I've just always thought of the properties I've lived in as 'as is' but I can definately see that an equivalent barter (eg rent increase) could do the trick if the improvement is something you feel you really need and LL might benefit from.

Funnily enough as a recent newbie LL I got the first request from the tenant the other day that made me go huh He asked for a front porch to be built, the answer was no, but no harm came from asking.

Actually there can be great harm in asking.
The LL can be thinking..Here we go about again, with whinging tenants..never happy, they rented it "as is".
Tenants will not renewed, because the LL does not trust them, after saying NO.

 

[porp_e]

Actually there can be great harm in asking.
The LL can be thinking..Here we go about again, with whinging tenants..never happy, they rented it "as is".
Tenants will not renewed, because the LL does not trust them, after saying NO.

Ah fair enough, I didn't even think of that, but you're very correct.

 

[spanket]

i would have the eviction papers signed and ready to go at first opportunity.
your only hope would be to stfu and pay rent on time for rest of lease..but that never happens when tenant has holiday resort mentality

 

[alplant]

Bradcon if you're still making up your mind whether or not to talk to the PM about this it would be worth your while to have a look online to see how many places are available for rent in the area you are renting and what the asking price is. If there are heaps available and at a lower rent than you are paying I would give the request a shot. But if the opposite is the case then I would seriously think about asking the PM to butt out.

Rents are pretty static (if not actually falling) around here and good tenants are not thick on the ground, that tends to make a LL more acceptable to the odd request. Doesn't make him say yes, just makes him a little less inclined to have a knee jerk reaction.

 

[bradcon]

Bradcon if you're still making up your mind whether or not to talk to the PM about this it would be worth your while to have a look online to see how many places are available for rent in the area you are renting and what the asking price is. If there are heaps available and at a lower rent than you are paying I would give the request a shot. But if the opposite is the case then I would seriously think about asking the PM to butt out.

Rents are pretty static (if not actually falling) around here and good tenants are not thick on the ground, that tends to make a LL more acceptable to the odd request. Doesn't make him say yes, just makes him a little less inclined to have a knee jerk reaction.

Thats the concern now, not fussed at all about the 'request' more concerned about the knee jerk reaction.

 

[Sheryn]

Thats the concern now, not fussed at all about the 'request' more concerned about the knee jerk reaction.

Knee jerk reaction I can understand, having experienced many tenants behaviours over the years as 'soon' as I start receiving information about tenants I link it to previous tenants & our previous experiences with tenants.

Basically = good tenants
Whinging tenants = hear we go again
Bad tenants = get rid of ASAP


Poor bradcon - you are getting a lot of different feedback on what different LL would do



Regards
Sheryn

 

[kathryn d]

Thats the concern now, not fussed at all about the 'request' more concerned about the knee jerk reaction.

Yes, you are may be an innoccent party here.

We don't always say no to our tenants requests.Most of the time it has to do the cost.Under $100 and if it is reasonablle usually goes unnoticed.
Our last request was for a wooden box for the end of the driveway, as to store garbage until pick up day.We said yes to that.
Others, where a tenants asks to repaint a house (inside) a different color after it had been painted a nuetral color the year before, we say no.

If we were asked (and i know you didn't request it) to provide this, we would say no.