Renovation with Tenants In

Discussion in 'Renovation & Home Improvement' started by Shamrock1, 27th Jun, 2020.

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  1. Shamrock1

    Shamrock1 Well-Known Member

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    If I do a small renovation to my IP such as bathroom and/or kitchen, am I allowed to do this with tenants in the house? I’d imagine if they stayed during renovations I’d have to reduce the rent?

    If tenants usually vacate thru renovations, If I bought the IP with the strategy of hold, at some point in the future do small renovations to add value and sell, the IP would be vacant during renovations and then the sale process.

    I’d be losing rent during this time, eating away at the profit I was hoping to make by doing the renovations in the first place...
     
    Shamrock1, 27th Jun, 2020
    #1
  2. The Y-man

    The Y-man Moderator Staff Member

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    I've got a similar issue - but it is more serious as it is the only bathroom in the house leaking.... :(

    The Y-man
     
    The Y-man, 27th Jun, 2020
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  3. Trainee

    Trainee Well-Known Member

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    Did you really think a tenant would live in the house during a renovation?
     
    Trainee, 27th Jun, 2020
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  4. Mark F

    Mark F Well-Known Member

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    Send them on a paid holiday for a week.
     
    Mark F, 27th Jun, 2020
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  5. Shamrock1

    Shamrock1 Well-Known Member

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    Depends on the renovation. If it’s only a bathroom and there’s another bathroom they could use id be happy to reduce the rent to compensate.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: 27th Jun, 2020
    Shamrock1, 27th Jun, 2020
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  6. Mark F

    Mark F Well-Known Member

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    It is a matter of negotiating with your tenant for access. You would need to considerably reduce the rent for the period. If possible time the work to coincide with any period the tenants may be on holidays. This won't work with all tenants but I took on the tenants on the written understanding about the ongoing renovations and access requirements including keeping the garage as my workshop.

    I am currently renovating with tenants in place and they enjoy very low rent plus a continually improving quality of housing. When they went on holidays over December I installed a new kitchen and laid laminate flooring throughout - apart from the bedrooms. I negotiated that they pack up their kitchen goods and living areas before they left. I just moved furniture and boxes around while I worked on the floors. I am now finished inside and starting on the exterior and landscaping.

    Bathrooms are a problem but I had done the bathroom and bedrooms (paint and carpet) before they moved in. One tip is to treat each project separately and fully complete it before starting anything else.
     
    Mark F, 27th Jun, 2020
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  7. The Y-man

    The Y-man Moderator Staff Member

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    Yeah, was even looking at Airbnb nearby - it would be actually easier if it was a family, but it is actually 3 co-tenants, each with their own lives....

    Even thought about a gym membership nearby for bathroom use - until I realised the toilet is also in the said bathroom! :oops:

    At the moment, thinking of resurrecting the old outhouse (hoping the plumbing is still connected!)

    The Y-man
     
    The Y-man, 27th Jun, 2020
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  8. Shazz@

    Shazz@ Well-Known Member

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    I know someone who went through something similar. Her landlord wanted to renovate the bathroom during her tenancy. Anyway, they worked it out by planning the renovation while she went on holidays. Worked out well.
     
    Shazz@, 27th Jun, 2020
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  9. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    We've built two decks whilst tenants live in the house. Last thing to be done was cutting the hole for the French doors. First one was about 15 years ago and tenants were happy to live through a few weeks of noise and dust and I think from memory we reduced the rent by $50 a week (rent probably was about $350 per week back then).

    The other one just finished last month. These tenants are on slightly cheaper rent than market due to having no fence between them and the townhouses being built behind, plus we are friends. We'd initially agreed to raise the rent once the deck was built, but with Covid impacting rent prices, we will not increase until we see how things go as the months roll on.

    The other house affected by the townhouse build are paying less than market because they are even more affected by no fences and tradies, trucks, noise, dust all happening a few metres from them.

    They are at work through the day, but are happy with the reduced rent whilst the build is happening.

    If we had to do bathrooms, I'd wait until changeover, but if something had to be done "now", I'd pay for either a porta-loo plus reduced rent for the inconvenience. Whatever works for the tenants works for us. Or we'd negotiate something that works for them (hotel room for the time they don't have a toilet at all, and reduced rent whilst other bathroom work is done). Without happy tenants, you have problems.
     
    wylie, 27th Jun, 2020
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  10. Loverenting

    Loverenting Well-Known Member

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    Can I post here a slightly related question. We plan to do a full kitchen renovation for our tenanted house, is it OK to let the property manager look after the whole process starting with arranging quotes and recommending the contractors, or we should do all this ourselves? We have never done a major renovation before so that's why the question.
     
    Loverenting, 5th Jul, 2020
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  11. Mark F

    Mark F Well-Known Member

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    If I was the PM I would be wanting quite a large additional fee to act as project manager and may decline to perform the role as I have quite enough to do anyway - certainly not part of standard PM tasks.

    I would think that you would want control over the design, costs etc as it is your property. Far more to do in a kitchen renovation compared to replacing the gutters or fixing a leak.
     
    Mark F, 5th Jul, 2020
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  12. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    I hear that cruises are quite cheap at this time of year. :D:eek:

    You need to be quite specific as to what you want and your budget - it's your asset you may want some say in it.

    Bingo - the PM barely has time to swat a fly off their butt, how much focus will they put on a detailed reno?
     
    Scott No Mates, 5th Jul, 2020
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