Should I Allow My Tenants to Paint my Rental Property?

Ackley Florida Property Management - Wednesday, March 16, 2022
Property Management Blog

Tenants are often not easy to handle. Different tenants have different demands and need. When they rent a house, they wish to make it a place where they can be at comfort. Making a place feel like a home needs a personal touch. For example, painting the wall with their favorite color. 

Allowing tenants to decorate or paint the walls will certainly build up their trust in the owners and they would live there for a long time. However, tenants must understand that they should take the owner’s approval first and whenever they wish to leave, they must make the place as they got it in its original state.

Every owner should properly understand rental property management and determine the pros and cons before finalizing any decision. Let’s see what are some pros and cons for deciding whether tenants should be allowed to pain the rental property or not.

Pros in Letting the Tenants Paint the Rental

Allowing a tenant to paint will help them have a true feeling of ownership for the place. As a result, they will take care of the place and treat it as their own. They will be able to liven up the place by giving some color to it and it might seem better and more attractive than before. Moreover, a tenant with a satisfying history of paying their rent on time and with good habits does deserve some perks and ease from the landlord.

Consequently, this will make them renew their contract for many more years to come. So the owner wouldn’t have to worry about finding new tenants every year and dealing with them all over again.  Moreover, the landlord can also provide them an attractive color palette that might get the tenant's interest and they could make a mutual decision. This way both the tenant and the landlord will be happy. As the saying goes a happy tenant makes for a happy landlord.

Cons in Letting the Tenants Paint the Rental

One of the main cons when allowing a tenant to paint is that if they decide to paint by themselves, then they would not do a good job as a professional does. Doing paint on your own can lead to paint spills, roller pumps, paint on outlets or the trims, etc. This could end up making the place look unpleasant. 

The tenant must have the care and proper practice to paint for the place to look good. If not, then this will create more work for the owner as later on the walls would need to be primed and then painted. This will cost a good amount of money to make the walls look decent again. Hence. Many landlords find it easier to just refuse to allow painting walls rather than getting into any future hassles.

Also Read: Things Landlords Should Know about Rental Property Tax Deductions

Conclusion

Considering all the facts, if the tenant agrees to be responsible and abide by the rules then the landlord should give their approval to paint. A proper paint clause document must be made and with mutual understanding, the tenant and the owner should make the decisions.