how to handle prorated rents and endless parent!! requests

Question

We are new to College student rental: Lease starts on 3rd of the mo - are we obligated to prorate that month? Lease end date is the 24th-do we prorate that month as well?

We are renting our 2 year old investment property to our college student daughter and her 4 friends; we know all of the parents socially. One parent (Guarantor) has endless requests: Can we repaint the entire interior, or at least the bedrooms? Will you install Ring for their safety? (the parent has stated we bought in a shady neighborhood and she needs Ring to feel more secure. My reply was the entire town is shady, it's a college town!) Can we install televisions on the walls? Can you install safety lighting on every corner of the house? (We currently have safety lighting over the driveway.) My answer is NO to all of it. I think the requests will just keep coming if we say Yes. Partner feels we have to say yes to something, IE: install Ring at our cost, but they must pay monthly fee. Agreeing to install Ring seems that we admit the area is unsafe too. Do we allow painting in the bedrooms? Any experienced feedback for these type of requests? Thanks.

Jon Reed · Answer

This is the downside of renting to people you know... they sometimes feel like they can ask for more things than they would if they didn't know the property manager.

What I do for my tenants who have a ton of request like this is to tell them YES! They sure can get all of those things they requested! BUT It will be done by my contractor and they must cover the full cost of materials and labor upfront and I must approve all materials before installing.

So if that parent really wants safety lights on all the corners of the house then tell them yep and they must cover all the cost. It usually only takes one or two requests before they get the idea that they better only ask for non-maintenance improvements if they are willing to pay for them.

Nik Corbaxhi · Answer

@David Haley, I rent to college students and I can give you my 2 cents on this matter. A few things that I see wrong and I will address them accordingly:

1. Why are you starting rent on the 3rd and ending it on 24th? Save yourself the troubles and start the rent of the first and finish it on Month-end. This will avoid confusion and pro-rating. Also, I always rent for 1 year, regardless of whether they go home for the summer or not. Who is going to pay for the house during the 3 summer months they are home? It shouldn't be you. If they don't like the terms, this depends on Demand. In my area, because there is such high demand for housing, no questions asked. If you are starting mid-month, then yes, you would have to pro-rate.

2. Repainting the whole interior or rooms. Is the house already painted or does it need to be painted? If it is already painted, tell them NO. If not, then it is expected that the interior will be painted, so yes you would have to. If the house is already painted but they don't like the color, tell them that you will have a professional painter paint the room the color of choice, at their expense. At the end of the term, the house needs to be painted back to the original color and they are also responsible for that cost. Don't fall for the "can we paint it ourselves". They will ruin your floors/carpet, moldings...etc if they spill paint. Save yourself the hassle and don't give options on colors. Tell them NO.

3. RING - you don't have an obligation to any of that. If you feel that it would be beneficiary because your daughter will also live there, then you can buy it but split the monthly subscription fee among all. If they want security alarm system, sure, at their expense. Make sure you state no hard wired to avoid damages to walls etc. Now they have options for wireless, so that is less of a concern.

4. TVs on the wall. NO, not only you are not responsible for doing this, but you shouldn't even allow it. Who will patch up the holes in the walls when they leave and the next tenant does not want a TV mounted on the wall. Set up clear expectations and make sure you have rules in place. "For example, TVs should be on stands. No TVs shall be hung/installed in walls without Landlord's written approval." Remember, It is your house and you make the rules, not them.

5. Safety lighting in each corner of the house. Absolutely not. If they are truly that concerned about their daughter's safety, then they should not even consider this property, and neither should you for your daughter.

As @Jon Reed mentioned, not only you are dealing with people you know, but your daughter is also residing in the house. Use your judgement on what you need to do and not. If something is broken and it is an essential in the house for day to day living, you are responsible for and you should fix. anything added, extra lighting, new paint, ring, alarm systems....politely decline!

Good luck to you and welcome to the student housing blessing/curse, depending on what they request next! :)

Joe Splitrock · Answer

@David Haley just because you say yes to some requests doesn't mean you need to say yes to everything. Installing a Ring or lighs for safety hardly means you are admitting it is unsafe. In fact just the opposite. If you ignore reasonable safety requests and something happens, it will be far worse.

The fact that these are your daughters friends and people you know socially, should mean you go above and beyond to address concerns. (Ideally never rent to friends, but I understand why you are in this situation).

Lease term is generally a full month. I always prorate for missing days, which is industry standard. I realize you need time to prepare the property, but that shouldn't come out of your tenants pocket.

Repainting the interior - depends on the condition of the walls. If they need repainting, then it is a reasonable request. Another option is let the tenant repaint their own room to an approved color/paint. I would probably have a fresh coat of paint waiting for my daughter and her friends. Normally I just touch up, unless the wall condition or color warrants repainting.

Installing a Ring for safety seems like a good idea, given your daughter is living there. They cost $100 and take 20 minutes to install. The basic service is $30 per year or $99 a year for extended service. Just ask the tenants to split the cost. (If it was my daughter I may just pay it myself since it is not much money.)

Installing a television on the wall - every tenant I have does this. Everyone has flat panels and that is just how people use them nowadays. They are required to repair holes when they leave. Just like pictures on the wall or shelving. It is pretty restrictive to not allow holes in the wall. Even if you were stuck repairing them, it is a ten minute job at most so not sure why it is such a big deal.

Safety light on every corner - that could be pretty difficult and costly. Having a good light by all the entrances, the front door and on the garage is typical. I like motion lights so they can be left on. I would say no to the corner lights because it is excessive and expensive.

I see no problem if your daughter and her friends get a little special treatment that you won't give to any random tenant in the future. What is the point of investing in real estate if it can't better the lives of the ones we love?

David Haley · Answer

Thank you for the feedback.  We needed to hear all of the above.

Ron H. · Answer

Whether you prorate for first and last month depends on what your lease says. When I did student renting my lease stated 12 monthly payments for a 50 week term the first year.  Allows for 2 weeks cleanup when students move at end of school year.  Renewing residents get the 52 weeks.  1st payment at movein around aug 20th.  Next payment due Sept 1st.  Lease ends around august 6th.  No august payment due for residents checking out.  Most of the student apartments in my area follow a very similar lease period only with 3 weeks vacant between school years.  I would also try to be flexible within reason for movein and moveout days for good trouble free renters

George Darcy · Answer

IMO When it comes to lessee requests it comes down to how reasonable the request is and what impact it will have on property value going forward.

Security is a common concern for the lessees. I would attempt to address overall property security while sticking to my improvements plan and budget. I wouldn't let them dictate my course of action but rather use their requests to help determine what areas need improvement.

Account Closed · Answer

@Jon Reed This exactly! I read about this tactic when I was plunged into my first rental property and I’ve never looked back. Works every time, and it’s a win win.

Theresa Harris · Answer

@David Haley  Just tell them know and if they want to, they can buy a house for their daughter and she can do whatever she wants to that house.

If you want to let them paint a room, make sure you get a deposit and either a say in the colour or enough money to paint it back once they move out.

Reagan Hopp · Answer

I would definitely recommend looking at the long term benefits of making some of these improvements now.

To start, take an assessment of the condition of the paint at your property. If there are chips in the paint, holes from hanging photos, or patches of mismatched paint from repairs, I would highly recommend a fresh paint job with neutral colors. When your current tenants move out and you begin to search for their replacement, you want the property to be appealing and marketable. By painting now, you wont have to worry about it later.

In terms of installing Ring, I think this is a small price to pay for piece of mind. Given that the property is in a college town, I would not be surprised if future tenants and their parents make similar requests. Of course the monthly fee associated with this would be the responsibility of the tenant, and if they were not interested in using it, the service can be shut off.

Ultimately, the most important piece is that the property is rent ready and there is nothing that will impede the health and safety of your tenants. If that is the case, then you are not required to make any more improvements. You just have to determine what is worth it in the long run.

Wishing you the best of luck!

Ralph Poirier · Answer

I once had a student go on nutri-system to lose a few pounds. To save money he bought a ton of food and expected me to buy a freezer so he could store it all. I explained that he knew how much storage space he had to start with. Not my problem!

how to handle prorated rents and endless parent!! requests

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