When we consider spending time or money improving our small apartment we have three pieces of criteria for any project or purchase: removeability, flexibility and timelessness. In other words, will we be able to remove it and re-use it when we move? And will we want to?
Others will feather even a rented nest with custom-made window coverings and upgraded light fixtures. They'll happily paint leased walls with carefully-selected colors (that will later have to be white-washed). They'll install custom-fitted cabinetry, appliances, or a bay window seat. There are even those who will re-do the entire kitchen and bath of a rented apartment. Are you among them?
it kind of depends, doesn't it, on two things:
1. how long you plan on being there.
2. how (un)reasonable the landlord is.
i had a landlady who reimbursed me for the improvements i'd made to the apartment when i moved out...without my asking.
Most of the improvements I've made are with paint - the only one I'm sad not to be able to take with me is my mural, which my mom and I completed together (click on my name for the pic).
I also installed a peel 'n' stick vinyl tile floor through the entryway, kitchen, and dining alcove, though technically that's reversible.
I've been in my place for 10 years. At this point, it's the only place in my life I've ever truly considered "home" and I don't want to leave! So I'm thinking about breaking my budget limit, ripping up the grotty carpet, and putting unified flooring throughout the apartment - probably laminate.
I have also spent a lot of years thinking about doing built-in shelving in a bit of a wasted alcove - right now I have it filled with pre-fab bookcases that are faked to look like built-ins.
This is a topic I have really thought a lot about. In 1998, 2 1/2 years after moving into my apartment, I decided to have the carpets removed and the hardwood floors refinished. The landlord said I could do it, but would only kick in $250 to replace any damaged floorboards I might find. I was on my own for the rest. It cost me a little over $1000 to do the hall, livingroom, and dining room. I skipped the bedroom to save money. Everyone, including the landlord, didn't quite get it. Why spend so much on improvements to a rental? I am really glad I did. It made a HUGE difference to the apartment. If you divide the cost by the time I have enjoyed the floors (108 months) it works out to pristine hardwood floors for an extra $10.50 a month. 2 Starbucks. I have since replaced lighting fixtures in every room (except the bath - still looking for the right one) and had custom sized solar shades made for the windows.I only regret that I didn't do the bedroom at the time (a project I am currently undertaking).
Now there are limits - I wouldn't rip out the kitchen and go Bulthaup. I wouldn't replace appliances. I wouldn't remodel the bath (although I might have the floor reglazed.) I don't see anything wrong, however, with spending a few thousand to make a rental nicer if you plan to be there for a while and the landlord isn't going to abuse your investment by using it as an excuse to raise your rent. (The one advantage that I have that others may not is that my unit is rent stabilized so I don't have to worry about the landlord seeing the improved unit as an opportunity to charge me more - rent increases are capped to a fixed percentage by law). Just divide the cost by the number of months you plan to live there and think of it as extra rent. If you could move to a place that has all the improvements you want to make for less than the rent plus cost of improvements - then move instead.
RichardinLa and Dorianne, you rock! I really admire renters who make their spaces their own. I also admire the landlords that let you do it. I think a stable renter who wants to improve the place is a jewel. I've been on the receiving end of good landlords and I still think of them fondly and often.
I think it depends on the space.
Yup, RichardinLA has the formula.
We just never stay anywhere long, so I don't spend on permanent improvements to rentals. I'll buy my gallons of touch-up paint; I'll buy outdoor plants; and I'll fix myself anything where I think we'll fix it better than the landlord does. But there's no economic or sentimental justification for plunging money into a place we're likely to stay less than three years.
It's really hard to answer this question.
It has more to do with how long I think I'll be there.
And whether I can trade products and services for ad time on my blog.
When I rented, I thought of myself as very mobile, so only very cheap projects would be worth it.
Renovating a rented space only helps the landlord, from a financial perspective, so I'd much sooner move than upgrade a rental.
I didn't even get cable (TV or modem) for most of the apartments I've lived in the past eight years, cos I didn't know how long I'd be living there. (The shortest was three months, the longest two years.)
I'm in a rental now, and I finally got the cable modem, cos I couldn't stand the dial-up anymore. (But no TV, cos no set.)
Now that I've discovered apartment therapy, though, my attitudes are shifting. The current apartment had been completely renovated before I moved in -- all new appliances and everything -- so there's hardly any need for changing anything.
If I plan on staying in the next place for at least four, five years, I would definitely consider minor renovation. But I would expect the landlord to contribute to any upgrades.