As a renter, I really hated my kitchen flooring, so I replaced it with inexpensive IKEA flooring. (Last year when a long-time tenant moved out, they totally renovated the kitchen, so I didn't think it would be a big deal.)

If I could have my landlord do one thing, it would be to replace the windows! They are old single pane, two are painted shut, I don't like climbing out on the fire escape to clean them, and I would love real screens!

Why would you rip out a bathroom just because it's pink?

It's perfectly servicable, and probably better built than much of the crapola that's installed these days w/ quick dry mastic, etc.

As to your question, from a landlord's perspective there's no reason to replace or upgrade anything while a unit is rented and occupied except for items that have failed or could result in a tenant safety/building longevity issue - swapping out flooring, appliances, painting, etc. isn't going to bring in more income for the landlord with an existing tenant and will just cause headaches for both parties. Now when a unit is vacated, then that's the time to make upgrades - but only those that are going to increase the monthly income value of the property and/or decrease the maintenance costs required on the part of the landlord.

However, you can say "Oh, the landlord should install a Stainless Steel Energy-Star refrigerator, Double-Paned Glass windows and wood floors" all day long, but if it costs more than a standard fridge, the windows don't get him more rent, and the wooden floors need costly refinishing and repair with every new tenant because renters drug their furniture across the floors and gouged the wood - what does he care if the monthly electric bill for the tenant is $45/month or $145/month, the place is drafty in winter and the asthetics of beige carpet isn't the most fashionable?

I'm moving into a new place this fall, and the main thing that I would love to see changed would be the fridge. It's actually really great; pretty new, nice condition, but it's HUGE. It's at the end of a galley kitchen, and the door doesn't even open fully because the oven is in the way. I'd be ecstatic if I could switch it out for a smaller one.

We were really lucky when moving into a new place as it's been completely renovated - it was an old Victorian place which the landlord gutted, relined (with insulation! Yay!) and refinished. So as for kitchens, bathrooms and flooring etc, I can't complain (carpet, but at least it's new, soft gray and warmer than hardwood). I do wish however that they had built in some closets while rebuilding the interior - our bedroom is huge, but with no closets at all.

We also moved in with an agreement that our rent would be reduced while they finished the outdoor deck/back yard area and built new steps coming down from the street to our front door. It's been over a month now and we're still looking at piles of bricks, rubbish and lumber outside, and can't access our front door since it's a foot from the ground! So I'd really love it if they finished our outside area like they promised...

Unfortunately someone already HAS renovated that apartment. Those tacky brass fixtures and the brass trimmed tub enclosure are not original to the 60's. LOL.

The point of being a landlord is positive cashflow. If you're smart you didn't buy a building that wasn't already producing cash. Why renovate anything until it breaks?

If I were a renter, I'd prefer wood floors to grungy carpet, granite countertops to formica, and something besides white walls.

As a renter, I would love a new bathroom floor. The current one is 2 inch ceramic tile set in concrete (what were they thinking?!) and is IMPOSSIBLE to keep clean.

our bathroom sink is one of those old pedestal sinks that have separate faucets for hot and cold. our landlord is very lenient but i dont think hes willing to replace it. if we owned the house that thing would be the first thing to go. i would also replace these noisy creaky floorboards. but again...

Bepsf, even if they're the ones paying the bills (like mine does) they don't upgrade that stuff. Of course, we have a building controled boiler heating the whole building and running too many things will trip the breaker for your apartment and the two above you so, as the maintenance guy said, it's kind of self limiting.

I would love to see the bathroom floor in mine redone, it's orange and black. ICK.

omg! come on san fran! a bathroom like that, in NYC, would be SOUGHT after. Everything matches, everything works, room to spare. At most it's kitch to work with-lol

As a landlord, I'm planning to paint the exterior of my duplex in the next few years, and I'll do some plaster repairs immediately prior to that. I've already done a number of maintenance-type repairs over the last few years, but don't have any more on the books (unless something breaks). If I had oodles of cash, I would also redo the backyard and replace the kitchen cabinets - but since I don't, I won't! My tenants are happy.

I rent. I'd love white tile in the bathroom rather than the contractor's standard beige that they are now, new light fixtures, smooth ceilings (currently popcorn), and the removal of the wall between my two small bedroom closets to make one big one. But otherwise I'm pretty happy with the place as it is.

Wow. I guess as a renter I am really lucky. Our current place is an amazing victorian, wood floors, marble fireplaces, french doors, high ceilings and moldings. And we're even more lucky because we're moving into a place of equal charm PLUS new windows, insulation, and new boiler (and another bedroom, a dining room, and double parlor). Plus pocket doors and all the features we currently have here, mantles, hardwood floors, moldings and french doors... I guess the ONLY thing I would change is the kitchen floor! The clawfoot tub is nice, just needs a reglazing. (And the floors are refinished, too! YAY!)

That is quite possibly the worst looking bathroom I've ever seen, and I LOVE pink. As an owner of an apartment and one-time landlord I would feel bad for the renter having to wake up in the morning and shower in there. Scary.

Lifetime renter here - I wish that more landlords would think beyond the cheapest cabinets and fixtures they can find at home depot, and spend just a little more for something that looks nicer and is easier to keep clean, and lasts longer. Case in point - that horrible white and gray linoleum that is in every kitchen. I would rather have cheap polished concrete floors than icky linoleum that collects dirt and gets scratched over the years. We also have el cheapo kitchen cabinets that appear fairly new, but are ugly and flimsy, already damaged from the previous tenant.

As a renter, I'd like to see more places with wood or laminate floors. I've got allergies and carpeting anywhere other than the bedroom is a dealbreaker for me. The appliances should be in full working order. Also, there is nothing wrong with a plain white bathroom and plain white walls...I'd much rather have that than the sickly off-yellow/beige or pale mint green walls that I've seen in many places.

I live in a suite with salmon-pink doors that the landlord is inexplicably in love with. I can't paint, but it's an otherwise great place so I've learned to live with it.

Thanking my lucky stars that I have an amazing landlord who lets me do pretty much what I want. He knows that I have good taste. I have run the numbers, and renting, even while spending my own money to fix up someone else's property - is cheaper than owning right now.

As a landlord there is a big difference between tenants who visit this site and the norm. The norm makes us crazy and we are hesitant to say yes after it takes more than a month to make the apartment rentable again.

I wish I had one of you as a tenant but the truth is my experience has been with people who don't housetrain their pets and want to rip out shelves to hang a picture they bought at a yard sale.

Well I don't have good taste, and I've had landlords that let me paint all kinds of crazy colours! LOL
Paint is cheap, and as a landlord if you let tenants do it themselves, you're never obliged to pick up a brush.

On replacing fixtures because the colours are awful: that just feels kind of wasteful.

If each successive tenant demanded replacement of fixtures based on their appearance, it would never end. In this thread alone we've heard such a range of complaints--including opposition to "standard beige". Our individual tastes are so unique that as a landlord, I probably wouldn't bother to replace something that's in good working order for a different look.

The wallpaper is awful, but that pink and white striped tile is fierce! That is a bathroom you could have FUN with...and if you're willing to treat that place like your home and put your own $ into the wallpaper reno, I bet everything would be fine with your landlord. As others have said, there's no reason for him or her to keep up with fashion or alternating aesthetic tastes as new renters come and go.

If I were a renter....

I'd have some FUN with that bathroom....I don't know where I would take that pink stripe look...but since I was renting I'd go all out.....better fun pink than a horrible beige

I lease a 1700 sq.ft. house built in the 1930s. The bathrooms and kitchen were "updated" in the 1960s :) I love it, but I freeze in the winter and roast in the summer because the (original) windows are not insulated, and there is little or no insulation in the walls.

I'd like to NOT spend a fortune on energy bills.

As a lifelong renter I wish I could paint at will. And I wish my landlord didn't hire his alcoholic son to do renovations. The great black and white tile in my 1940's bathroom has been tainted with a nasty stock tile in beige, pink and gray muted tones on the floor to replace the hardwood that was in bad shape. It makes my head hurt whenever I look down. Add in the white granite strip between the bathroom and hallway floors and my teeth starting grinding.

Y'know, you could possibly remove the sliding door on the bath and hang a shower curtain up to help hide the vile brass framing. Put the door back when you move out.

Im a renter and I love my current place, landlord is great, he likes to fix things himself (poorly) so we try to get repairs done ourselves when possible

My last place was another story. Aside from the $400 rent hike (merry xmas!) the most annoying thing was that the (new) landlord constantly threatened to renovate, and would just come in when we were out and do stuff. Pretty much illegal to enter an apartment when the tenants are not there (without permission), but what freaked me out the most is that I have 2 strictly indoor cats, I was in constant distress I would come home and they would be gone

There are millions of places on the rental market with brand new high-spec renovations. If you don't want the cheap synthetic carpet and the 80s kitchen, feel free to look in a higher price bracket.

If I renovated my apartment, even to do a reasonable but fairly basic cosmetic job, I'd have to find a tenant willing to sign a five-year lease and pay $10,000 a year more in rent than it currently goes for.

The biggest problem with the bathroom in the picture is the nasty wallpaper. I wouldn't have a problem if a tenant asked me to pay for the materials so they could paint over it, do the tiles with white tile paint and take out the shower screen and put a curtain rod in. But I would have a problem with a tenant who wanted me to keep their rent at the current level and put in Miele appliances and Corian benchtops.

Renter here:

I SO want to rip out the carpeting in my little Berkeley cottage and put in some decent laminate wood floors.

I'll pay for the materials!!

My landlord is awesome he fixes everything right away and was super lenient when I got back from Europe and was late with the rent a few days. So sorry!

I spend easily 300 bucks every 6 months to have the carpets cleaned, I have three dogs all well trained but hey sometimes there's an accident.

If you were a landlord would you want me to pay for all the materials and install? What would be a good and fair way of broaching the subject??

PS I plan on living in this place for a while

as a renter the top priority would be to replace the carpet in the living room, and two bedrooms with wood flooring. Bamboo flooring would be wonderful!

My husband and I rent a near brand new apartment. It's a nice place, but for whatever reason the builder built the downstairs apartments with washers and dryers and the upstairs apartments without. We started out in a downstairs apartment and the upstairs neighbors were so loud we moved to an upstairs apartment and lost the laundry. So, we have to carry the laundry to the laundry facilities and get $50 in quarters each month to do laundry which is an inconvenience. These are the things I'd change:

1. Laundry in all apartments, if that isn't possible than let me pay for communal laundry machines with a credit card so I don't have to go to the bank and get $50 in quarters each month. (It's $2 to wash and $2 to dry...which seems expensive to me...but whatever)
2. Better insulation between top and bottom floors so the downstairs apartments don't hear the upstairs neighbors every footstep.
3. More storage. We have tiny little closets and all are full/overflowing.
4. A place to grow a garden - I'd love to grow my own veggies and I don't think my balcony gets enough sun to really grow much.
5. More notice or a time frame when the maintenance person was coming to fix things because I too am afraid they will let my indoor only cat out and I'll never see her again - there are coyotes in the riverbed behind our complex! (If we know in advance, we put her in the bedroom with the door closed.)
6. A non-smoking complex. I like keeping the windows open in the evenings but the neighbors smoke and it stinks. I also have a fear they will catch a mattress on fire and burn down our building and our cat will perish in the fire. :(

Overall, I'm pretty happy with my place. The things I'd change would just make my life easier and make me feel less like a renter.

I have lived in a lot of other much older places, however. One of the things I really wanted in my old place was a new bathtub. The finish on that tub was coming up and water was getting between the finish and the metal (I think it was metal?) and it was bouncy. We called it the "moon bounce bathtub". My landlord swore it was not an issue, but it looked terrible, was impossible to clean, and I always felt there was a chance I'd fall through the floor.

I recently posted an ad on kijiji to renters asking of thier experiences with lords in my new town and I got an email from a crazy lanlord... thought some of u might get a kick out of it.

Why do you tenants think you are entitled to everything under the sun at $450/month? You come into our units that, by the way, cost $10,000/average to renovate (that's just inside the unit), while we take all the risk, pay the mortgages, pay the insurance, pay the taxes, maintain the property, --and you still think we should support your wasteful lifestyle and pay your $200/month utility bills on top of all those costs. You call us at all hours of the day and night, and expect us to come running when you stuff tampons down the toilet that cost us $300 to clean out. You lie on your applications, bounce your cheques, destroy the property--and then you wonder why landlords call what you see a "dump" as "beautiful and newly renovated"? Because from the way you've treated our properties, it seems you don't know the difference.

It's too bad LLs only think in terms of monthly cash flow vs. improvements that have lasting value and increase what the property is worth. I've had one LL that really prided himself on the state of his apartments. I remember once having a conversation about the neutral, coordinating paint colors he had chosen for the walls and kitchen cabinets. He is, unfortunately, a very rare breed.

My current LL wants to nickel and dime me for every little bit of electricity I use (he was too cheap to install proper electric meters) and I've about had it. The rent he's going to lose while the place sits on the market will cost way more than any 'extra' electricity I'm using. Plus I'm paying about $150-200 over what he'd get in the current market. Dumbass cheapskate.

I think some LLs get in a myopic feedback loop worrying about manini (little stuff) instead of the big picture.

I'm a landlord and a renter at the same time(bought a house and had to move to a different state for work.) Anyways...
As a LL I let my tenants paint the walls. The house is new, so we just upgraded the appliances.

As a renter- I wish I can find a house(Austin,TX area), that doesn't have a carpet in the living area( I have a 2yo and it's a must). I'm looking at $1100-1500/month range and what is on the market is sooo ugly, so finallly we rented an apartment. At least it's brand new, has concrete floors, high ceiling and it's a lot cheaper...

I grew up in Eastern Europe and people there are allowed to paint and do cosmetic changes and they rent the same place for years, because they invest their own money in it.

PS-I hate the off-white-eggshell-neutral-non-sense paint on the walls of homes for renting. Please, if you want to go with neutral colors, white is much better.

If I had the money, I'd remodel the kitchen...but wait, I sorta did by getting a kitchen island, then putting up Ikea shelving unit behind that! If the floor went bad, I'd put in black&white checkerboard tiles. With rent control in San Francisco, my 1 bedroom, 700 sq. corner apartment with 3 sets of bay windows is such a find. Since I plan on being here for YEARS, all money spent is an investment in my own enjoyabled environment.

My bathroom has horrible blue and pink tiles (nothing on the pink palace in Oakland) but I changed my usual purple color scheme to blue and chocolate. I'm glad I did. Though I'd remodel that bathroom in a second to get rid of the tiled-over cast iron tub (hello jacuzzi jets) and make it so the toilet isn't 1/2 inch away from the bathtub. I'd even give up some closet space to enlarge the bathroom.

Obviously everyone who is participating in a decorating forum cares about their homes. Unfortunately this is pretty rare in the real world. I have been renting my house out and the tenants just do not take care of it. They couldn't even be bothered to put chemicals in the hot tub (which takes 5 minutes a week), so it got ruined and cost $500 to fix. Whenever I went back to check on the house something else was carelessly broken and the place was filthy. They are not BAD people, they paid their rent mostly on time, they have jobs, they aren't criminals. They're just your average people. Why should I spend more money making it nice for people who won't take care of it?

My boyfriend rented his condo to some tenants along the lines of the rant from the landlord above. He had to move out of state for work so he didn't get to check on the place very often. After a couple months of them not paying their rent he evicted them. They trashed the place so badly that it was $10,000 just to get it back to habitable (they lived in filth and gross, they didn't trash it all at once for revenge or anything). It's cuter now, too, but he wasn't able to get any more rent than before because of the neighborhood and the rental market. So thinking you can get more rent because it's fixed up isn't necessarily true. And for sure you won't be able to get enough more rent to make up for what you spent.

Being a landlord is a business- they ARE in it for the money. If you don't like a place or it seems like the landlord is really just a slumlord, or you don't like the decor, don't move there.

I am also a tenant. My landlord doesn't do jack squat. This place could be really awesome, he could fix it up and maybe get more money in rent, like mentioned before (again, not enough to make it worth his while). We're good people, we DO take care of things. BUT, when we move out, all bets are off, probably scumbags will move in again. We had to buy all our own appliances, even. We can paint only if we paint it back to the baby poop brown that it is now when we leave (we're considering it). But it's a good location, our unit is in sort of "preservation by neglect" mode- mostly original stuff from Victorian times, we can do cute things with furniture, etc. And in the end it was better to buy all our own appliances than be stuck with some ugly mismatched crap pulled from the landlord's other rental properties.

I have quite a few ideas for fixing up this place, but if I could pick only one, I'd have the floors replaced. The kitchen vinyl is dingy (not helped by the fact that it's white) and old and no matter how often you mop, it never looks clean. The vinyl in the bathroom is worse... a 70s mustard-yellow eyesore with stains (from a previous tenant- not my doing), and completely clashes with the 50s-era blue and white tile in the shower. The carpet in the rest of the apartment is at least new (they installed it before I moved in in November '07 because prior tenants had worn it out and there was no padding underneath... what the hell?) but it's that brown shaggy stuff that is common in apartments.

This place has a lot of other issues, but I think better floors would at least make it look a little more polished.

But I'm buying a place right now, so I've stopped really caring about what my landlord will and won't do to this place.

What's not to love about an ugly apartment?? I use all the annoying imperfections of my apartment as extra motivation to save money for a down payment on a house/condo. Rather than be annoyed that my landlord won't change something like the ugly, broken kitchen sink I re-think expensive dinner plans or other non-essential purchases and put that money into my savings account.

I'm both a renter and recently a landlord, and if something is not broken, I don't expect our landlord to replace or update anything. I DO often sigh and think "why doesn't she paint the outside of the apartment a prettier color, or white or something" but I know that's just wishful thinking. I've made some changes to our rental and paid for them myself (replaced the cheap ugly faucet in the kitchen) and I let her know so that she could offer to pay, but the old one was fine and it's only because I'm picky about faucets that I couldn't stand the old one and I don't expect the landlord to pay for my aesthetic hangups and preferences.

As a landlord, I'm not going to do anything cosmetic to the place I own until I'm ready to live there myself or sell. Otherwise there's no return on investment. Who knows what my tenants have already done to the pristine bathroom and kitchen? Maybe it's fine, but you never can tell. And no one needs more expensive housing these days, so there is NO WAY I want to renovate in order to raise the rent. I want to keep it as low as possible so people can afford it.

As a renter, kitchen updates would be extremely nice. Flooring would probably be second on the list with bathroom third.

I rented for a long time. My last apartment was a post WWII dream. Masonry/plaster walls, hardwood floors, ample closet space and close in to all the cool stuff the city had to offer. My landlords loved me and I loved them. They let me paint and as long as I provided the reciepts, they knocked the cost off the rent. I replaced the molding vanity in the bathroom and retiled the floor and they knocked that off too. I added a large pantry in the kitchen and they knocked that off too. They knew that I kept the place immaculate and in good running order (which not every tennant had done prior to me) and they wanted to keep me. I had DREAM rent. I lived there for three years and was sad to move. Some landlords are reasonable, but renters need to be as well. Too often renters DON'T take care of a unit and that is more the norm than not.

If you're a landlord and your units look like outdated, low-end crap - guess what, you're not going to get tenants who appreciate their surroundings and take care of their apartment. And yes, if you have nice looking apartments, you might get a bad tenant. But I think the first situation causes more problems than the latter (and that's what reference letters and deposits are for.) My in-laws have apartments that they decorate with rock-bottom closeouts from Home Depot, or even free stuff from the junkyard, and then they complain about tenant after tenant. They just don't get it.

On a different note, I was at Home Depot recently and they have these floorings that are kind of like linoleum, but thicker and slightly padded. They can be cut to fit and installed without any glue or nails - just kept in place by their own weight. They had some decent patterns, and I was thinking how awesome they would be for renters who want to cover a bad looking floor.

I also think renters can often do a fair amount of renovations and if they are truly an upgrade, the landlord is not going to complain. I also recommend making improvements immediately upon moving in so you can enjoy them as long as possible!

I guess I'm lucky with my landlords. They always understood if I was late to pay my rent. I always got a newly refurbished place. They left me space but I knew that I could call them, speak with them and explain if something was wrong and they did the same. And I was staying at the same place for years.

Plus they always respected the place. my new landlord just renovated the whole house, put A/C, clean up the old wood floor, change the windows, new kitchen and bathroom. The place is fantastic and he's a pleasure to deal with...

I don't know if I'm lucky or if it's just that I actually have standards but I am willing to let for some stuff.

The only thing that I would ask my apartment management to do, if I were going to sign a long-term lease, would be to replace the kitchen floor. I have a small kitchen, so it wouldn't be too expensive of an undertaking. The floor is SO uneven and there are gaps between the fake wood tiles. It is incredibly hard to clean and my washing machine shakes all over the place and vibrates the entire apartment. I'm sure the people below us would appreciate if we had an even floor as well.

I have a pink bathroom, too, but I just decided to work with it and overall I'm fine with it. My bigger problem in my apartment is my kitchen. It's got a nice amount of cabinets but unfortunately they've been varnished with what looks to me like marine grade varnish--icky high gloss on 70s cabinets. The appliances are older and not in the best of condition, which is disappointing for me since I really enjoy cooking.

But I understand that with heating costs being so high and other issues to address, my landlord probably has new kitchen counters for Christine at the bottom of his "to do" list.

My rental bathroom looks very like this-it's hideous and depresses me so much. I do try to do some things to my apartment (with permission) that some people wouldn't be willing to do for a rental though-call it rental pride (or saving my sanity!). My landlord wasn't willing to paint the wall in front of the house/around the doors (it really badly needed it-was letting the rest of the street down), but was happy for me to do it. It's a compromise I suppose.

I am a new renter (less than a year in my first apartment) and am dealing with ugly fixtures/appliances, popcorn ceilings, greige carpet, and an order from my landlord not to paint, wallpaper, or make any other changes.

But on the other end, my rent is low, and my complex is quiet, well maintained, clean, and safe -- so it's a trade off.

As long as the fixtures work, I don't expect my landlord to change anything major since I signed the lease knowing what it looked like. But I would love to be able to make some superficial changes on my own, like painting my living room (with the understanding that I would paint it back to beige when I leave), or putting in a new faucet with a spray nozzle in the kitchen. I would even love to rip out the carpet in the living and dining room, and the faux-bois linoleum in the kitchen and replace it all with a hard wood or laminate. I don't mind sharing the cost with the landlord or even making improvements on my own dime, if they would just give me the freedom to do so.

I've never been a landlord, but it seems like a win-win situation to me to allow renters (at least good renters) to make improvements while they live there. That way, the current renter is happy, and by the time they move out, the landlord can ask for a higher price because of the improvements that were made.

This post is oddly comforting- it's nice to know I'm not alone in my rental woes!

I just posted about my "charming" bathroom...

http://shockthebourgeois.blogspot.com

Landlord here. I have never had a tenant who know how to DIY properly. I've always had to hire someone to fix it afterwards.

I do let people paint, and I let someone refinish the wood floors, but changing bathroom tile or kitchen cabinets or installing new flooring? Nope. Not unless they're planning to hire a licensed professional.

I would love it if the light fixtures in my kitchen and bathroom were updated. Currently they are non-flattering fleurescent bulbs!

The apartment I live in is very beautiful. Although a few details were overlooked (like the lights) I'm very pleased with it. I'm a little frustrated, however, that the landlords have chosen to sink big bucks into the exterior of the building. They've added a fountain, retaining wall, and done extensive gardening. Its all very nice, but the building looked good before all that work was done! I wish they would put their money where it matters- in the rental units!!!

I am a renter and Ive been renting for all my life . I dont mind the ugly linoleum or the beige carpet or the tiny tiles in my bath as long as everything is real clean when I get it and in working condition. The carpets were steam cleaned and I can use rugs to create my own space and add color. I used to rent an apartment with hardwood floors but I dont have any complaint with my current carpeted floors. I had mould issues in the old one but the current apartment has great ventilation. I also hear people walking in the floor above all the time, but it doesnt bother me so much.

If I were thinking of renting this place, I'd ask if I could strip the wallpaper. That would take away most of the horror.

But if the landlord says no, the answer's no. I find a distressing amount of entitlement on the part of some renters.

I live in a pretty nice, airy 1960 vintage apartment building that has had it's original windows replaced w/ double insulated units, mostly to smother the freeway noise that is across the street and down several hundred feet (it was put in back in the 60's, shortly after the buidling was built) but otherwise is original, however virtually all the appliances and light fixtures have been replaced but they still have their original accordian closet doors, bathroom and kitchen cabinets and bath fixtures (mostly as some units have had their vanities replaced and a toilet or two). I'm lucky I still have my original blue tub and sink in it's original wall hung vanity but sadly, the toilet was been replaced in recent years.

Other than that, everything works and even the carpeting that's getting a little worn from my living there 5 years and not sure how long before me but is a decent shade of blue/gray.

Really, I can't complain and love the space and all for it's modest 600SFt 1 bedroom.

As a tenant, I've usually sought my landlord's approval of changes before I made them. I did so largely with the understanding that if the landlord so desired, I would reverse the changes on my departure. Given that rent regulations frequently require apartment repainting after a prescribed time period and I've usually lived in the apartment beyond the period, painting has never been a concern.

As I imagine would be the case with most tenants, one makes changes based in part on cost, the level of one's desire for the alteration, and the potential satisfaction derived from or "return" on the alteration investment. As a result, I normally avoid making permanent, irreversible alterations to my apartment. Keep in mind however, that there are many tenants showcased in the pages of many a design magazine, that have done massive apartment alterations involving their own money.

bepsf, why are you ALWAYS the voice of reason?

I know in my case, the building management leaves the upgrades and repairs purchasing to the handyman. So if the linoleum needs replacing, the handyman will make the aesthetic choice (cheapest thing possible) with no real thought to how it looks in the building. I think that must be how so many potentially great rentals end up with depressingly awful fixtures and upgrades.

Bepsf-

"what does he care if the monthly electric bill for the tenant is $45/month or $145/month, the place is drafty in winter and the asthetics of beige carpet isn't the most fashionable?"

S/He doesn't care and that is the point here. I think that landlords for the most part do not have the interests of their tenants in mind, only the interests of their pocket books, which is extremely unfortunate. Properties should be invested in if you have the money because it keeps them functioning properly and people deserve to live in reasonable comfort and safety. I've rented in units where landlords didn't want to fix dangerous stairways, moldy bathrooms, leaky plumbing, faulty electrical systems, etc simply because they didn't want to fork over the cash because they had the same outlook as the one you describe: "If I'm not getting more rent from it, why should I pay for it." Landlords should be "paying for it" because they are collecting payment from people for a basic neccessity-- shelter. And renters, simply because they choose not to or cannot afford to own a home, should not have to live in less comfortable conditions than their landowner counterparts. Landlords should be paying for good quality windows, floorings, air circulation, electrical systems, etc because it is they're responsibility as providers of this 'service' of shelter. If an electrician you hired was doing shoddy work or providing you a service using low quality materials, you would be furious and probably would not hire her/him again, if you allowed them to finish their initial work at all. If you only want to collect rent but you don't want to have to put money into your property very often, you shouldn't be a landlord. Investment is a pre-requisite to earning... He-llo!

Now in more direct comment to the post... As a renter, all I ask for is a dry and mold-free bathroom, flooring in good condition (either carpet, wood, tile, linoleum, whatevs), and functioning windows, electricity, gas, heat, and plumbing. It doesn't have to be up to date, but being old and being in poor condition are not one and the same. While it is, IMHO, a landlord's responsibility to maintain good property condition, always, it is not their responsibility to update everything to granite, bamboo, and stainless steel. If it works, work with what you've got! :)

That is a nice bathroom. The one thing you should ask to change is the wallpaper, and maybe the gold faucets however they do match the gold in the shower. The wallpaper is pretty heinous though, and was probably installed by a previous renter so the landlord might be willing to let you strip it out and use paint instead. I hate all wallpaper.

I had a horrible landlady who, when I even suggested changing / updating anything, bluntly told me, "If you don't like it here, move somewhere else."

I know that everyone who commented on this post, of course, are wonderful tenants and caring landlords. But, as several people have mentioned, we're probably the exception and not the rule. I think it boils down to two things: landlords are business people, they're doing it for the money, and renters have the choice to deal with it, or move.

Jesse Lu -- In a perfect world, you would be right. But also in a perfect world, landlords would have all completely perfect tenants who care about the property as if it was their own. Sadly that is not true...so leaving things as is is much more cost effective than updating and wind up with ruined floors or scratches on the stainless steel fridge.

I'm stuck being a renter because I can't afford a house - but being serious, both of the ladies who work in our office also live here. And both maintenance men do also live in this complex too. So if they can stand it and not kill the management company, why should I complain? The carpet was steam cleaned before I moved in, the walls are just a normal shade of off white, every in the bath works, and all appliances work.....it's as much as you can ask for. I got lucky and got new light fixtures since they updated our apartment - LOL - and got a second floor apartment which comes with a vaulted ceiling. I'm happy enough to live here until I can afford a home which will be years from now.

What a wonderful bathroom. Love the wallpaper, too.

http://savethepinkbathrooms.com

all I have to say is: did the bathtub soap dish come with the place? probably not.

It's interesting to me to see the dichotomy/class war here between tenants and landlords. I've been both, and live now in a co-op; we pay rent and earn no equity, but 'own' our unit and can vote and participate in maintenance, budget, decor, energy, landscaping, etc. decisions. I wanted a low-water use toilet, asked, and got it (I did not pay). I wanted to paint and change window decor, and got it (I did pay). I think it's unfortunate, in the property-owner vs. renter paradigm, that we have to end up leaving decisions that profoundly affect not only our daily lives, but the planet, to market forces. I'm happy we've managed to break free from that.

They broke every rule for updates in that photo.

When I rented out a two unit farmhouse, I only purchased inoffensive materials that I could find in bulk.

It was 'marbleized gray/blue' peel-n-stick tile for bathroom/kitchen and antique white semi-gloss paint throughout.

I regret the gray wall-to-wall carpet; one dog with potty training issues leaves a huge dare for every future dog. The area was iffy enough to where I only rented to people with dogs.

I had dream tenants - the girl who was hooked on Debbie Travis and sponge painted every wall (her dad installed drywall in her side of the basement and set up a rec room). I left her art up until I rehabbed the place to sell.

I also had meth-head tenants - the guy who cut through studs and drywall in the closet to make his crt tv look like a flat screen tv. I had one guy tell me that a dwarf broke into his unit and spied on him sleeping so I had to replace all locks.

Anyway, tax people always gave me a hassle over improvements. All of mine had to be spread over ten years, so I couldn't just deduct costs from income.

Back when I was a (very responsible) renter I never understood why landlords were so unreasonable. I regularly refinished wood floors, installed kitchen cabinets, and painted walls on my own dime. Then I became a landlord myself and learned the hard way. Most renters drift in and out, consistently pay their rent late or not at all, and leave the house in worse shape then they found it. With the right long-term renter I would happily make many costly improvements to the property. Unfortunately, most renters aren’t worthy of the expense or effort.

I think a good point that hasn't been emphasized enough is that a crappy and/or ugly place is going to be treated badly. Respect having to be earned, and all that. That the occasional wonder-tenant (in this thread and elsewhere) shows up who knows their way around a skil-saw and color wheel is just noise in the system.

Another thing is an apartment filled with the cheapest stuff is going to end up more trashed than one with decent fixtures. It's pretty hard to keep particleboard/brass counters and cabinets pristine for several years, especially with a leaky faucet.

Once I accidentally dropped a small glass perfume bottle onto the bathroom sink/vanity. As it fell, I imagined the horrible glass/perfume combo I would be cleaning up. Instead I looked down and saw the bottle intact and a huge chunk of the vanity missing!

Cheap latex paint was painted over oil, peeled off the walls and preferred to stick to the floor lamination. Extensive water damage on our walls from our upstairs neighbors toilet explosion has yet to be repainted.

It's not always the tenant's fault if a place is in worse shape when they move out. There's normal wear and tear, especially after several years, and if it's filled with the cheapest stuff. You can't expect particleboard to last as long as granite.

I totally agree with "bepsf" re: the totally working pink bathroom - if it's clean and everything works, what's the problem? But then I probably should not be looking at AT at all... ha!

As a renter, kitchen and bathroom would be a big deal for me. Here in New York majority of people rent because it's so expensive to buy. Some landlords are pretty reasonable, they'll let you paint any color for example and don't request for it to changed back when you move (I guess because they have to paint anyway). In regards to kitchens though I don't think stainless steel appliances, and granite countertops are necessary. They definitely look nice, but a white refrigerator will do the same function for lower costs, and ironically it's easier to keep clean. If I were a landlord, for flooring I would use a good quality laminate. They tend to be more durable than hardwood and costs less.

Hi @all,
since I herited a small apartment from my father I am landlord and renter. Which lead to me willingly replacing the f**ked up old bathroom, flooring & kitchen cabinets and turning the place into someplace I'd like to live in (aside from that it would be to small for my spouse and me).
On the other hand I rented lots of shitty apartments while studying and I'm sometimes asking myself, wheather I am nuts paying some stupid pricey renovations as one can obviously rent out every pile of shit in the city I live in.

PS: I wouldn't chance the tiling of a bathroom like that. Paint it in a bright colour & enjoy. Kitch for the win!

Truly, most people have horrible taste. It has nothing to do with being a landlord.

Concrete floors cost less than carpet if the place is on a slab so why not just polish them and let it go? It's difficult for a pet to have an accident on concrete that can't be cleaned up. I've been to Home Depot and there are stylish bathroom fixtures to be had for the same price as the cheesy ones. And a basic IKEA kitchen is way cheaper than even the off the shelf stuff at the hardware store.

linbo -- Ok I'm laughing now...there's not a single thing you can find on Ikea you can't find for a minimum of $100 bucks cheaper anywhere else.

That pink bathroom has some features worth saving, but I'd strip out all the 1970s stuff (brass, wallpaper) that makes it so tacky. Definitely those sliding doors must go. They aren't even sanitary.

Sometimes it's worth putting money into a rental if you plan to stay a long time, and if certain aesthetics bother you enough. Of course, make any changes only with permission.

My father was a multi-property landlord, and I recall many weekends helping him and Mom clean up after just the nastiest people. Probably because I'm sympathetic to landlords, I was always a conscientious renter (I own now). But... I also routinely asked prospective landlords about what they would/wouldn't let me do, and frequently their responses would be a deal-breaker for me (I was interviewing them, too, after all). I never rented from companies, only from individuals, so I was able to avoid being subject to an impersonal set of rules.

For 20 years I improved every last place I rented. I painted walls of course, but I also replaced tile and cabinets and sinks, removed wallpaper and hideous faux-wood paneling. I even tore out walls in one house and opened the kitchen to the common area. All of this was always done with permission. Sometimes I even got rent rebates or discounts for making the changes. Frequently I negotiated a trade: Landlords always have a mental list of what they want to improve or fix. Often it's the case that if you do the work for them, they'll allow you to customize something else a bit in return. Or give you a discount. Those are always things worth asking BEFORE you sign the lease.

As a renter I find this entire conversation enlightening.

Emika: I'm a landlord and definitely NOT a business person in it for the money.

Really 20k for a reno?
Only $150 premium from the other apartments?
Isn't that like 10 years to recoup your investment?
You are getting a better dividend then money in the bank but if you are leveraged on credit cards or home loans, you maybe will breakeven over 10 years.

I'm in NYC also, last two years without increasing rents and 5 eviction procedings even with tenants with 700 credit ratings. Landlords need to be cash rich so that when things go south, the bills get paid and the emergency repairs get done. If the landlord doesn't do his repairs or doesn't save for "hell" then he is wrong.

I have 15 kitchens and 16 bathrooms. Think about how many renos I will need every year do if I looked at Dwell and upgraded things every 5 years.

As a landlord, I like to do decent updating but finding tenants who appreciate the updates is tricky. I think it helps to word ads carefully. "Vintage bungalow, hardwood floors, serious students welcome, etc." and I finally started getting the sort of people who really appreciate my efforts. I love animals but some people really are irresponsible pet owners and, unfortunately, there can be really expensive repairs involved. I finally had to issue a penalty for late rent pay. People just don't bother to pay in a timely manner otherwise, sadly. I LOVE it if a renter is handy and have taken money off for work done as long as it was done properly. Finding good maintenance people is problematic. I figure if I do good repair and updating, when it's time to sell my property, I won't have to do a frantic last minute update.