Renting out your home to guests, just like renting an apartment, is an act that requires nerves of steel and iron stamina.
“My home is my fortress”. And it does not matter whether it is our own home or a rented apartment, the house is a place where everyone wants to feel comfortable and safe, in a word – as at home. Here begins the most interesting part. The matter is that the renting/renting of the apartment is the case, when the business relations are built on “your own” home. Hence are the numerous mishaps, accompanying the relations of the tenant and the landlord.
To avoid that the owners of the rent apartment have not to “assault” and the tenants have not to “defend” their fortress, both parties should define ashore where is theirs and where is someone else’s.
Personal space
Every person tends to “adapt” their homes to fit himself. For some people, it is important “content” of the apartment, for example, parents want to install a Swedish wall for their child to develop physically, and some people are more interested in “form”. Here again, everything is heterogeneous – to one person it is enough to change the curtains and feel at home, while the other will not stop at wallpaper repainting …
The place where we live is our personal space, which is why we need it so much to make it as “our” as possible. Our things are an extension of ourselves: they reflect our habits and preferences. This applies to clothing, personal belongings, as well as the interior. Remember, as in Gogol: “Every thing seemed to shout: “And I, too, am a Sobakevich.” Now remember how the schoolteacher pointed out the satirical effect the author was trying to achieve. Do you remember? We are happy to report that the same “satirical effect” can also arise when renting/renting an apartment, and the consequences can be quite comical or tragic. In order to avoid apartment “dramas”, it is important to understand what surprises can happen when renting and how to minimize them.
Conflicts .
Naturally, the owners of the rent apartment want to keep their property safe and sound, and the new tenants want to feel “like at home”, that may lead to disagreements between the owner and the tenant. In order to avoid misunderstandings you should agree in writing on all questions, which concern the property as well as some other details of your relationship, for instance visits to the landlord.
Repairs
Here it is important to take into account the following points: the condition of the apartment, the term of the lease, the rent.
Often owners lease an apartment for a “long term” (over 5 years) and are in no hurry to move in the future. For example, the apartment was inherited or bought “for the future” until the children grow up and go to kindergarten. Tenants who plan to live in the apartment for a long time, want to “live” as much as possible, to make the rented housing “their own”. Then you may agree to make a cosmetic repair. If the condition of the apartment requires it, it is advisable to discuss the financial issue, too; if the tenants invest in improvement of the rented apartment, the landlord may render financial support, or deduct the renter’s fee from the rent for a certain period.
However, in everything you should stick to the “golden mean”, especially in the case of repairing “someone else’s” apartment. For example, if you replace the old, “in flower” wallpaper in the bedroom with avant-garde with “skulls” (referring to the fact that you have a 13-year-old son who needs the freedom of expression), most likely the owners will be impressed, but not pleased, and the term of your lease may suddenly expire, with a claim for compensation for material (and even moral) damage.
If you did decide to renovate and get the agreement of the landlords, hedge your bets and consult with the owners of the apartment about the “transformation”. Do not be naive, believing that “it will please everybody,” even the most innocuous things can be perceived as “hostile. The optimal solution would be a neutral style: a monochrome wallpaper of a calm palette (and also with the consent of the owner).
Personal belongings
As a rule, apartments are rented with already existing furniture. But it also happens that the owners leave some of their “nonfunctional” things. This may be a piano, books, or a tea set. And although this situation is hardly called the most correct or convenient, the tenant should be sensitive: perhaps people simply do not have nowhere to put their valuable things. If you are not happy with such a situation at all, you should immediately tell the owners about your wishes and solve the problem: either the owners of the apartment will move their belongings, or you will have to look for other housing. However, in no case you should not get rid of “other people’s” belongings arbitrarily, assuming that the owners simply forgot about them. Be no less sensitive and prudent owners of the apartment and try not to force the tenants to live in a museum of your personal belongings, in addition, such accommodation is unlikely to be long-term.
Rent
The rent is probably the key issue in the relationship between landlord and tenant, all points of which must be spelled out in the contract, otherwise… It is not uncommon for “qualitative” changes in living conditions (cosmetic repairs, replacement of old plumbing, etc.) to lead to “quantitative” changes: in the form of variations in the amount of rent. And everyone is “good” – both the owners and the tenants. Sometimes the owners of housing after the repair work of the tenants suddenly raise the rent instead of “thank you”: you understand – the commodity look, the market relations, and if you do not like it, we will find others for the same price. Absurd? Unfortunately – the reality. Sometimes it is the opposite situation, when the tenants renovate the apartment at their own expense, without informing the landlords, and then demand a reduction in rents. Are there still doubts about the need to not only discuss, but also “prescribe” in the contract issues of property and liability?
Landlord visits
Landlord visits are a very sensitive issue that should also be discussed at the shore. Some landlords are convinced that they can come “to their” apartment whenever they want: take your things, check the condition of the apartment, water the flowers… We assure you it is not so! When you rent your apartment, you give it not only for temporary “use” but also “possession” of the new (pay attention) “owners”. By coming in unannounced, you are invading the personal space of strangers (and those who owe you nothing).
Not only that you can appear on the doorstep openly “not in time” and so on the doorstep and stay, but even catching people at home, you run the risk of putting yourself and them in an awkward situation: a mess, arranged the child, general cleaning, family celebrations. Take care of your nerves and those of your guests! Make an appointment in advance, and better – choose a specific date of each month, so to speak – “open house”, when your visit is expected.
Summing up all of the above, we would like to offer both temporary and permanent hosts some tips to help settle your relationship.
Tenant Tips
- Find out what’s yours and what’s someone else’s.
As you know, you should know that you do not go to another’s house with your own rules. If you decided to rent an apartment from the owner, remember that you are the one who came to the house that belongs to other people. Do not consider such things as using the left utensils as self-evident. It is better to be too sensitive than to find out later. Make sure that the apartment has everything you need: the kitchen, dining room, sleeping area, work space, necessary appliances, etc. If you are missing some “basic” components of comfortable living, do not hesitate to raise the issue of purchasing by the owners of the apartment, for example, a washing machine.
- Fix material responsibility
If you are a temperamental couple, and in order not to let the feelings cool down, and from time to time need a grand scandal with breaking dishes, it is not superfluous to know how much it will cost scratches on the tiles or flooring. Or if you have a growing young artist, who prefers an album for drawing wallpaper, discuss the issue with the owners. You may be required to re-paper/paint the walls when you move out.
- All investments on your part are prescribed.
If you invest in better living conditions, keep in mind that any changes (replacement of old plumbing, cosmetic repairs) must be agreed with the owners and recorded in writing, and supported by the signature of the landlord.
Landlord Tips
- Determine in advance what you can and can’t do
If you value Italian tiles in the kitchen and Dutch wallpaper in the living room, warn the tenants that damaging the property will result in financial compensation, the same applies to your other belongings such as the kitchen set, the sofa, etc.
- Respect the privacy of your tenants by not being an “uninvited guest.
Plan your visit in advance and be sure to coordinate it with the current owners. Remember that you are going to your “own apartment,” but to visit strangers. A fixed date of your visits will greatly simplify the task and reduce “awkward moments” to a minimum.
- Determine the purpose of the visits
It’s worth bearing in mind that any visits from strangers to our home are quite stressful. Obviously if at the initial stage of renting such format of relationship is acceptable, in case of long-term cooperation, when the apartment owner and the guest know each other, you should think about reducing the visits to the minimum. As for the collection of rents, modern technology allows you to transfer this operation into the online mode.