By HILARY JOHNSON
Tenants & Kitchen Remodeling
What You Can Do
When it comes to kitchen remodeling, we often associate kitchen remodeling with homeowners.
This is because as a homeowner, you have the right to decide whether or not you want your kitchen to be remodeled. If you are a tenant, otherwise known as an apartment renter, you may not have this same freedom; however, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t get your wish.
If you are renting an apartment and you would like to have your kitchen remodeled, you will need to speak to your landlord. Since it would likely be your landlord’s responsibility to pay for the remodeling, you will need to have a good reason as to why you are requesting that your kitchen be remodeled.
Chances are that not liking the way that it looks will not be a good enough reason. One reason that may be good enough is if your kitchen is in poor shape. For instance, if your cupboard doors are not working, if the lights are not as bright as they should be, or if your kitchen floor has broken tiles, your landlord may be more willing to do a little bit of remodeling.
While the remodeling may not be a huge project, it just may be enough to get you what you wanted.
Your landlord will likely be the one who will pay for the kitchen remodeling, if it does occur, at least, he or she should be the one who pays for it. In fact, you are advised against paying for any kitchen remodeling yourself. The only exception may be if you are involved in a rent to own contract, but, otherwise, just say no.
Unfortunately, you may find that no isn’t always enough.
There are a number of landlords out there who will try and take advantage of their tenants, by making them pay for their own repairs or remodeling. Since you do not own the apartment that you are renting, you will not want to pay for the repairs yourself. There is no good in letting your landlord benefit from your hard work and hard earned money.
Although you are advised not to pay for the kitchen repairs or remodeling yourself, you may want to do them; however, you shouldn’t have to do them for free. If you have some home improvement experience, it may be a good idea to suggest to your landlord that you do the repairs, for a small fee.
In fact, you may even want to ask your landlord to deduct the money from your rent. Of course, you will want your landlord to buy all of the supplies and tools that are needed for kitchen remodeling, but you could all benefit from you doing the repairs yourself.
You should get a deduction in rent and your landlord should be able to save him or herself some money.
If you would like to have your apartment or rented home’s kitchen remodeled, you should ask. The worst that could happen is that your landlord would say no.
However, with the possibility of an increased building value and discounted labor, if you do the remodeling yourself, there is a good chance that your landlord may okay a kitchen remodeling project.
Even if you do not plan on spending the rest of your life in that apartment, you could easily enjoy your newly remodeled kitchen for as long as it lasts.