Category Archives: Tenant Issues

Should you sublease?

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Subleasing is pretty much when you, the initial tenant, rent your property out to another tenant. The new tenant is then required to pay rent and follow the terms of the lease, but you still hold the overall responsibility of the property. A huuuuge part of subleasing is making sure that you find a good lessee. Because the responsibility of the property still falls on you, you want someone who will take care of the property and make sure nothing goes wrong.

So, how do you go about subleasing?

You’ll almost always need to get your landlord’s consent first and make sure that they are fine with having a new tenant in your place. Having someone sublease your property without your landlord knowing will most likely go against the terms of your lease, landing you in deep trouble. Once you’ve gotten the okay from your landlord, a contract can be drawn up to outline the terms of the lease and what your new tenant will be responsible for. Depending on your property manager or landlord, you may be charged a fee to sublease your property.

subleaseConsidering all the properties available for rent everywhere, you may need to negotiate and charge your lessee lower rent than what you originally pay as an incentive to sublease your place. Would you want to be paying the exact same amount to sublease a home as you would to just rent it yourself? Probably not, and neither will your lessee. Though it kinda sucks, the difference is a small price to pay in case where you need to move out of your property.  Subleasing is a great option if you plan on leaving your town for a few months and don’t want to pay rent for an empty apartment. It also works if you need to leave your property but your lease isn’t ending and you can’t terminate it.

 

Baby Love

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Some parents (or expecting parents)  may seem concerned about the process of baby proofing a home that isn’t theirs, but if done correctly, it isn’t difficult at all.

Start off by talking to your landlord about the property. If your landlord has lived in the home before, they may be able to tell you which room would be best suited for the baby (i.e. if a room is too cold, or too noisy); this way, you’ll know which room you should focus on most. Though it’s really only an issue in older homes, find out what type of paint your landlord used to paint the walls in the home because lead paint has been proven to be harmful to babies. If your landlord did use a paint brand that contains lead, paint over it with a newer paint that won’t harm the baby.

Take a look at common household things that may pose a risk and fix them up so that your baby won’t be harmed. The cords on blinds can be extremely dangerous for babies (and young children) because they can easily get tangled in them and be strangled. An easy baby proofing fix for this is to tie and secure the cords high up so that there is absolutely no risk of the baby being able to reach them. If you use something like Command Hooks, you won’t have any wall damage leftover once the cords can be let down. As far as wall sockets, you can purchase covers that can’t be removed by babies at places like Home Depot, or even Target. For cabinets, buy locks that only you or other adults in your home can open. A lot of these are made of strong magnets or adhesive, so you won’t need to worry about repairing the cabinet when you move out. You may also want to consider snap on locks for cabinets; they cause no damage and are easy for you to install. These kinds of locks can also be installed on refrigerators and toilets.

Don’t think that because your home is a rental you can’t make it safe for your baby! Follow the right steps and safety will be ensured.

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Hurricane Help

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Seeing as we’re almost two months into the official hurricane season, it’s important to know what kind of steps you need to take to stay safe.

First off, know exactly how big of an impact hurricanes have had in your area in the past. If you live in an area that has felt the wrath of hurricanes strongly in the past, keep yourself stocked up in case a hurricane decides to come through. Make sure you have lots of water, emergency food, flashlights, batteries, and things like radios, to keep you safe. Once the hurricane starts you can’t be leaving your home so you really need to be prepared at all times. You should also look into what emergency center is nearest to you, because you may need to end up leaving your home to seek shelter there, either before or after the storm.

Chances are, if you live in area prone to hurricanes, your landlord probably has some kind of shutters for your property. If this is the case, you’re set as far as windows and doors. If not, consider using plywood to board up your windows and doors to prevent the wind from breaking them and causing big damage.  Also, make sure you secure all items that are outside; bring in the things that you can, and securely tie down whatever cannot be brought inside. If you have covers your for cars, put them on! Things are going to be flying all around so you don’t want your car to be feeling the impact, too.

A lot of times your landlord may have lived in your home before renting it out to you; if so, ask them how they went about hurricane prep! They’ve lived in the home so they know how the impact will be and how to go about the situation.

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Deposit Dilemmas

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If you’re renting a home, you most likely had to pay some amount as a security deposit when you signed your lease. The security deposit basically covers the repairs that need to be done once you’ve moved out of your property. If nothing deposit was damaged and needed fixing, you’ll get the sum of your deposit back. But if you move out and left something broken and needing repair, it’ll be deducted from your deposit; as the saying goes: you break it, you buy it!

How can you avoid having tons of money being deducted from your initial deposit?

Well, for starters, take care of your home! This one is pretty obvious, but it shouldn’t be left unsaid. Another important thing to do is check the home for damages when you move in. Your landlord will most likely give you some kind of form to fill out where you can list the existing damages in each room of the home, so that they know what repairs they’re liable for. Although this is a good place to start, there are a lot of things that you won’t notice until you’ve lived in the house for a bit of time. For example, you might not use the garbage disposal until a week or so after you’ve moved in, only to notice that it does not work properly. Make note of things that you notice do not work, and notify your landlord immediately. If your landlord is aware that something doesn’t work, and that it isn’t your fault, you won’t be held accountable for the cost of repair when you move out.

Now, if for some reason you did manage to break something on your own, and you know it’s fixable, do it yourself! If you accidentally knocked your window blinds down right before moving out, just go buy a new set and put them up on your own. Though it will cost you some, it definitely won’t be as much as what would’ve been taken out of your security deposit.

 

Rental Wonderland

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Finding a rental home may not be the easiest task, but it doesn’t have to be the most difficult, either!

First question: where should you start your search? 

Friends and family! Ask around and see if anyone you know may be renting a home, or may know of someone else renting a home. If you’re renting from someone you know, or a friend of a friend, the lease process can become a bit easier because you’re not dealing with a complete stranger.  Even if your friends and family don’t know of anyone renting a home, they can still keep their eyes open to see if they come across the place that’s perfect for you.

If that didn’t work, what’s next?

rentalThe internet! This is probably the most obvious place to look for a rental home, but you still have to keep some things in mind. If you know the specific area you want to live in, you can look into websites that offer rentals in only certain places. For instance, if you want a rental in Austin, Texas, check out tenant.rentals. Services like this one save you the time of sifting through tons of rentals that are all scattered around. If you haven’t 100% decided where you want to live, that’s okay! There are plenty of websites that serve as huge databases for real estate listings. Check out Zillow, or Apartments.com. They’re trusted sites whose sole purpose is to help you find your next home.

Now, you may have seen the greatest home ever, only to realize it’s for sale and not for rent….but don’t fret! Believe it or not, sale listings can also lead you to your next rental. If a homeowner has a home for sale that’s been on the market for a long time, they may be willing to rent it out until they find a buyer. It’s already probably costing them a lot to keep the house empty and on the market, so renting it out to you will help the both of you.

 

Summer Gardens

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Is your garden showing off the season?

Though we tend to associate spring with gardening, it’s important to see that summer is also a great time to make our gardens look good.

Take advantage of summer to add some berries to your day! Since you may not be able to grow berry bushes in the yard of your rental, you can plant dwarf versions in small pots instead. Given the right amount of sunlight and water, you can easily have yourself your own mini berry garden. As an added plus, you can freeze your summer berries to have them all year round!

Summer itropical flowerss also an awesome time to add flowers to your garden, but instead of your typical floral choices…spice it up. Tropical flowers are bright and beautiful, automatically livening up even the dullest gardens. Pick some colors that you like and go well together, maybe oranges and yellow, and make yourself a nice arrangement.

If you hadn’t already done this in spring….add some bird feeders and birdhouses! Once you have some flying friends visit, you’ll soon start to see a nice little habitat forming. With birds in your yard, you’ll also have more squirrels and insects, meaning more bees. Keep in mind that bees are a good addition to any garden because they help pollinate your flowers. Having a bit of variety allows an ecosystem to develop within all the inhabitants and visitors of your garden, making your garden even better.

Roommate Relations

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So, a little while ago we talked about finding your perfect roommate, and we can pretty much all agree, roommates are great! But since even the best roommates can have their problems (Monica and Rachel had their issues sometimes), you need to be able to handle them effectively so your living situation doesn’t become awkward.

A huge part of having a successful living situation with a roommate is not being passive. If you and your roommate(s) are passive with each other about any issue, there’s no real communication going on and it typically doesn’t end well. If your roommate did something that may have bothered you, like maybe they didn’t take out the trash, don’t just leave them a note asking them to do it next time; talk to them and tell them about the issue! You’re all adults, so you should all be able to communicate like adults.

Sometimes roommates have issues because the housework isn’t being done by everyone and the responsibility falls on one person. Maybe you can make a list of the different duties that need to be done on a weekly basis, and each person can pick a task that’ll become their weekly responsibility. This is better than one person doing all the work themselves, or having someone delegate chores to the household; since you all have your own tasks, it’s not difficult to keep track of what’s been done.

From personal experience, another issue that may come up when you live with other people is refrigerator/kitchen space. Since this will most likely be the only communal area where everyone wants space, you need to be efficient. If you and your roommates all buy basic things like bread, milk, eggs, etc., you can either take turns buying them or simply split the cost. This way, you won’t have five gallons of milk, or three loaves of bread taking up tons of space. Same goes for cleaning supplies! You and your roommates can take turns buying things like trash bags and sponges, it’ll save space and money.

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Hilarious! But not the right way to go.

Furnished vs. Unfurnished

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Many times when you’re looking for a rental property you’re given the option of getting your new place furnished, or unfurnished. Usually a furnished rental includes the basic furniture most people have in their homes: bed, nightstand, dresser, and desk in the bedroom, couch, love seat, coffee table, and sometimes a TV, in the living room, and some sort of a dining table.

What are the benefits of renting a furnished home?

With a furnished home you’re saved all the time and cost of finding, buying, and transporting furniture. You’re pretty much just responsible for moving your personal belongings into your new home. You also don’t have to worry about moving furniture out afterwards, either. Renting a furnished home is a great idea if you don’t know how long you plan on staying in the same town, because you won’t have the burden of transporting a ton of furniture from place to place.

Now, we all know that with a list of benefits there’s always going to be a list of cons, too.

Usually, if you rent a furnished home, your overall monthly rent will be a bit higher than if you were to rent an unfurnished home. This fee typically isn’t too high, maybe like $20 more a month, but it’s still something you should factor in. Another reason people sometimes opt out of renting a furnished home is because of the furniture itself. It would be impossible to have brand new furniture for every single tenant, so the furniture is used over and over again by tenants who choose to rent furnished homes. It’s also pretty standard, so you don’t really get to pick what kind of furniture it comes with.

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Personalizing your space

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Recently, we talked about different things that a rental home has to offer that you can and can’t change (read it here), so we figured we’d bring you some tips that’ll help you customize your space and make it all your own.

Wall decor!!!! This includes sooooo many different things, so you’ll truly find something that’ll suit your personality. Pictures are cool because they allow you to get really personal and showcase the things that have real significance to you (like people and places). A cool way to arrange pictures is to use all kinds of different frames; it’ll add some flare to the room and isn’t expensive to do if you hit up your local thrift shops. Posters are also awesome! There are all kinds of posters available for all kinds of interests, so you’ll definitely find something you like. Plus, posters take up a pretty large space! Speaking of space…tapestries also take up toooons of space! They look great and can completely transform an entire room, all whilst taking up an entire wall. plants

Plants!!! Plants, real or fake, definitely add life to any room. You can have flowers, ferns, etc., the choice is yours. And, plants refresh and purify your air so they’ll have a benefit beyond just looking nice. If you have a certain theme or color scheme going on in your home, you can find plants that match this and make your home feel like it’s truly yours. Also, just like with picture frames, you can create a unique arrangement by combining a bunch of different pots for your plants.

Lighting is huge! Choose cool floor lamps that reflect your own style and can serve as conversation pieces, too. Lighting can change the entire mood of a room, so be sure to choose wisely! An easy way and inexpensive way to create some nice lighting is by adding christmas lights to a room; they can be put anywhere, and everyone can agree that they add a pretty touch.