Jason Cohen is a Pittsburgh-based real estate investor who specializes in multi-family housing. Over the course of his career, he has served as a landlord for a number of properties in the city. Here, Jason Cohen draws on his experience to point out mistakes that tenants should never make when decorating their unit.
After moving into a new rental, many tenants like to do what they can to make their apartment or rental unit feel like a home. There are a lot of things that tenants can do to decorate their rentals, but there are some mistakes that they should not make. These are four of them.
Violating the Lease
For one thing, many rental leases have clauses that prohibit tenants from making certain changes to their rental units. For example, many landlords require tenants to have written permission before doing things like painting the walls. Some require that if tenants do paint the walls that they only do so in neutral colors. To avoid getting in trouble with the landlord, it is imperative for tenants to make sure that they check their leases or double-check with their landlords before making many changes.
Spending a Lot of Money
There is nothing wrong with a tenant spending a little bit of money on decorations for a rental. However, many people find that it's not a good idea to spend a lot of their hard-earned money on decorating a place that they will never own. Some items can be taken to another rental later on or can be used in the tenant's own future home, but things like window coverings might not be the right fit for the windows in the next home that a tenant lives in, so it's often not a good idea to spend a lot of money on these things.
Billing the Landlord
Of course, it is generally the landlord's responsibility to handle necessary repairs to a unit. However, a tenant shouldn't just bill a landlord for the replacement of something that he or she doesn't like, as long as it's functional. The landlord might not pay the bill, and if the conversation goes poorly, the relationship between the two parties may become strained.
Bringing Home Pests
The last thing that a tenant probably wants to bring home is bedbugs. Even though there is nothing wrong with buying some items used, it is imperative for tenants to carefully check any used furnishings to make sure that they aren't infested.
Tenants can and definitely should decorate their rentals to make them feel like home. If they avoid these four decoration mistakes, they can help ensure that they do it the right way.
To read more of Jason Cohen’s work, visit him online at JasonCohenPittsburgh.net
Originally posted on JasonCohenPittsburgh.org
