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As a landlord or property manager, you often get friends who think the available property you have would be perfect for them, or for their family members. This sounds like an ideal situation, you get someone you know you can trust who would never do anything to mess up your relationship. Until they do. Here at Day Property Management LLC, we have seen some great situations with renting to friends. However, the scales definitely tilt in the direction of disaster. Here are some of the top reasons to avoid renting to friends or family! BLURRED LINES When you’re someone’s friend, their problems are things that you care about. Their child is sick, or they lose their job, you want to support them. When you’re someone’s landlord, you are depending on the income from the rental property to support yourself and your own bills. If you rent to a friend or family member, you create blurred lines that can be devastating. In the above-mentioned situation, as their friend you could offer them your support, emotionally, physically and monetarily. When you become their landlord, you have the option of still offering the same support, but you do so knowing that you’re affecting your income as well. You could offer them a break on the rent or let them pay late, but that means you have to try and get the money to cover your costs in addition to helping them out. This can also lead into our second reason to avoid renting to friends and family, Entitlement and Expectations. Another aspect of the blurred lines are that the family/friends may not want to be a bother to you. They might have maintenance issues or problems at the property that they don’t want to bother you with. Things that could negatively affect the property in the long term. ENTITLEMENT AND EXPECTATIONS “Expectation is the root of all heartache” -Shakespeare When you’ve been friends with someone for a long time, there are certain things people come to expect.

Throughout this article we’re going to go over some of the best tips we’ve found on how to keep your home safe when on vacation. The last thing you want to worry about while sitting on a beach is weather (haha) or not your belongings are safe.

When winter arrives, there isn’t much you can do outside. You’ve finished all the yard work and winterizing of the yard equipment If property owners and tenants work together, winterizing the inside of the property can be a breeze. First of all, tenants need to know what they need to do and what tasks are on the landlord’s list. According to the Wisconsin way, a landlord is responsible to keep a property temperature above 67 degrees. This means the furnace needs to be in working order. Depending on your lease, a landlord may provide salt for the sidewalks and driveways and possibly provide snow removal equipment, such as a shovel. However, a property owner must maintain the safety of the rental unit. Keeping sidewalks and driveways clear from ice is a safety issue. Insulating any outside pipes can keep them from bursting when the temperature gets below 20 degrees. Making sure smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are working is always a concern for property owners. With less traffic in an out of a house during the winter, and adding weatherproofing to windows and doors, air does not circulate as much as it does during other seasons. The law does not require landlords to winterize the inside of the home. Some things tenants can do to make the inside comfortable and safe during the winter. Put plastic on the windows This adds a barrier against heat loss, keeping the cold air out and warm air in. There are many kinds available at home improvement stores.

When you move into a new apartment there’s always an urge to add your personality to the monochromatic environment. As property owners we understand. As rental business professionals, there’re risks involved when tenants want to decorate. Should landlords allow tenants to decorate? If so, what should property management companies allow? Are there any temporary decorating ideas a tenant could use that are inexpensive and safe for the property? Why property management companies shy away from letting tenants decorate, or make permanent changes. Have you lived in a rental property and you thought, “Oh, it would be nice if I had a shelf in the living room to display my decorations.” So, you get the shelf, you find a drill and screws and set to drilling holes only to find you didn’t hit a wall stud and the screw went straight through the drywall. So, you pull it out and try again. The same thing happens. You think the third times a charm and give it a go. Voila, you hit a stud, at least on one side. So, you try the other and you get lucky. You can now hang your shelf. After the shelf is in place, you take a step back to admire your handy work and you see holes. Small screw holes all around your shelf. This is the main concern landlords have when tenants take it upon themselves to make improvements. By not having the knowledge to do the job once, small mistakes are going to happen which could lead to bigger repairs. In our shelf example, when that tenant moves, the painter fills the holes and paints over the area, leaving a blotchy look rather than smooth walls. And this is for a minor decoration. Most property owners allow non-permanent changes with a clause in the lease for remediation. Your lease will probably say you can or can’t make property changes. But, if you do, you need to change it back to its original condition when you moved in. Meaning if you paint the bedrooms blue, red, pink or orange and it started as a white room, you need to paint it white before you move. This is remediation. You may be thinking, “Well landlords have to paint anyway so why would it matter?” It matters because the wear and tear clause in your lease covers normal use. There is no need to paint a room a different color. As a result, this is an extra expense the tenant will have to pay for out of their security deposit. So what are some ways a tenant can safely decorate and still be in lease compliance?