Anyone ever made custom repairs for tenants?

[Doug Block]

After going through an extremely messy situation with a previous renter in my condo, one that involved having to deal with the legal system for a proper eviction and leaving me with 8 months of no incoming rent, I finally found a good sitation. It's actually two handicapped persons, both in wheelchairs, very sweet ladies. And their rent payments are essentially guaranteed by their disibility payments. Their lease is up in May however.

They have asked me if I would be willing to modify the bathrooms of the apartment, basically making them "handicap friendly", such as installing a walk-in shower with railings and such.

First, I'm not quite sure how much all of this would cost, so thats my first bit of research to do. But I asked them how long they plan to stay, and their social worker basically told me that - due to their disability - they hate moving, hate change, and would stay for many years. They stayed at their last place of living for about 5 years until it had to be foreclosed.

If you were me, would you invest in these changes? Should I require them to sign a 2 or 3 year lease, with penalty of having to pay for these costs if they break the lease?

[Rich Weese]

Consider asking them to share in the re-modeling for maybe a reduction in the rent. They'll probably stay longer, imo. Rich