Add'l Rent for W/D?
Our tenant is requesting that we add a W/D to his apartment. How much additional rent would be reasonable to charge? Hook-ups are already there, we just need to order and install it. They pay for electricity, but we still pay for gas until we convert over a meter. Also, do you think it is…
Our tenant is requesting that we add a W/D to his apartment. How much additional rent would be reasonable to charge? Hook-ups are already there, we just need to order and install it. They pay for electricity, but we still pay for gas until we convert over a meter.
Also, do you think it is OK to have tenant pay for W/D and we will deduct a monthly amount off their rent? We are strapped for cash at this time.
The only thing I’d worry about is sufficient clarity between the tenant and the landlord.
I am not inclined to allow tenants to front for things, handle repairs and such because in the past this gave a tenant of mine a feeling of entitlement to do things like complain, pay rent late and not clean very well when he left.
He asked me if he could do things in a way that sounded helpful and reasonable, like paint with his own money and do a little gardening and install a new shower head and a dishwasher. It turns out he was shopping for grievances, and used this laundry list of things he’d done to make my (perfectly fine) place “livable” as his excuse to be a jerk. I was young and I didn’t read him well. I regret the way I gave him a certain amount of permission to behave badly by letting him work on my house. If I had made firm decisions about what he wanted to do instead of just letting him do what he wanted, then our relationship would have been much clearer.
Make sure you install the proper protection for any flooding; like automatic shutoff valves and a pan underneath. Many tenants do not have the same respect for a property that an owner might have.
Can people read or is the don’t-give-the-tenants-anything-they-don’t-deserve mentality uppermost? OP said they WANT to do this.
A w/d is a major plus for many renters and they will be happier for it.
Gas usage…small…$10/month or so. Much less than that for water. Assuming 2-3 loads/week. Buy a front loader and a gas dryer if you can vent the latter.
At 7-900 installed, I’d use a ROI of 1/3 the expected life, say 30 months. So I’d raise the rent $30-40.
As for their paying for it & rent deduction, just make sure you specify the model. Simple.
Yes, if not in lease and not in apt. when rented, no obligation. But if you can swing it, I don’t see why you couldn’t raise the rent $50-75/mo in exchange. Should pay for itself in 10-18 months incl. install, and you would now have an amenity that adds value to the rental. If tenants are agreeable to the increase, find a way to spring for it. You buy it, you have it installed and it is yours, not theirs.
We’ve had washers and dryers in each our units for years. We replaced one last year—a major PIA while upgrade was going on. Neither the old plumbing configuration nor the old vent configuration for gas dryer worked well with current models. The end result was plumbing costs + cost of appliances—not cheap. If figuring how to adjust the rent (ongoing costs) figure water as well as gas, and figure in the cost of convenience. Prior to purchase, discuss installation with your plumber and make sure you measure very well, including any space that might be needed for plumbing and venting. If they rented the apartment with no promise of washer and dryer, you’re under no obligation to provide one now. If tenants really want one installed, I’d probably consider a rider where tenant picks up the entire cost of purchase and installation as a one-time flat fee. Might or might not adjust the rent on lease renewal after I see the actual costs.
Depending on the expense of the W/D and the installation, I would charge at least $50 more a month, very possibly more. For me I would want to recoup my expenses as fast as possible.
Figure minimum $500 for W/D and install. At $50 a month that’ll take you 10 months to break even.
As BoD mentioned, you will also incur additional water bills.
Unless you rented the apartment as having a w/d, or there was an old one and it broke, I don’t think you are required to provide one. Check that one with someone who knows ll/tenant law.
Here is a compromise – why not say to the tenant, that you can’t afford to put in a w/d right now, but that if they want to buy their own (with electric dryer) and pay for installation, they are welcome to do so. They can take it with them when they leave. That way you get happy tenant with w/d, but no cost to you (except extra water charge).
Unless you rented the apartment as having a w/d, or there was an old one and it broke, I don’t think you are required to provide one. Check that one with someone who knows ll/tenant law.
Here is a compromise – why not say to the tenant, that you can’t afford to put in a w/d right now, but that if they want to buy their own (with electric dryer) and pay for installation, they are welcome to do so. They can take it with them when they leave. That way you get happy tenant with w/d, but no cost to you (except extra water charge).
Unless you rented the apartment as having a w/d, or there was an old one and it broke, I don’t think you are required to provide one. Check that one with someone who knows ll/tenant law.
Here is a compromise – why not say to the tenant, that you can’t afford to put in a w/d right now, but that if they want to buy their own (with electric dryer) and pay for installation, they are welcome to do so. They can take it with them when they leave. That way you get happy tenant with w/d, but no cost to you (except extra water charge).