The cost of renting to people with spicy diets?

clearz

Hi,

My parents rent out a house and we have just being debating the merits of allowing different people in the house. We have had a bad experience before with students and Irish youths in general. Our best experience has been with Indians and Filipinos who treat the house with great respect. The last family to move out was Indian and although everything was perfect the entire house had an overpowering odor of spicy Asian food. The carpets and furniture had to be replaced as well as a massive clean down of walls etc. This cost quite a bit and it still took months before the smell completely subsided. Has anyone had similar experiences and what, if any, solutions are there.

3DataModem

I've experienced this too. A fact of life when renting, just keep the lease to minimum one year and keep the floors wood and the sofas leather, so they can be cleaned. Once they leave, repaint walls, bin what retains smells (curtains, etc), and you should be grand.

sarkozy

Have you installed a good extractor fan? Taken measures to contain cooking smells/vapour/oil from travelling around the place? That stuff can get everywhere, no matter who's doing the cooking.

edellc

the last place I lived in had Chinese as the previous tenants, never again the place stunk it was so gross, as way the filth of the cooker

I just know as a tenant I will never again move into a place when it smells like a takeaway on viewing. I suppose its a occupasional hazzard when a landlord, if your going to rent to said nationalities then your going to have to deal with the smells when they are gone, so either stick to renting to a certain nationality therefore no problem or put in place all the things you can as said above to help eliminate the smell when it occurs and do a proper clean with a professional service when the lease is up.

borderlinemeath

In my opinion it's no different to having a non smoking clause in your lease, it does the same damage, the house needs repainting and soft furnishings may need to be thrown away.

Maybe you could put a clause in the lease that all overpowering smells (including cooking)need to be eradicated on the termination of the lease. If any furnishings are affected beyond repair by cooking odours that replacement may be taken from the security deposit.

clearz

Thanks for the replies. I must check the extractor fan. The house has been completely refurnished and lino has been put in all rooms downstairs apart from the sitting room which has new carpet. Maybe a clause in the contract that forces the tenants to maintain the cooking odors to a reasonable standard.
Also the house is 2 mins walk to a college so we get lots of students interested. We have decided that if we end up taking on students that they will each have to pay a deposit of a entire months rent instead of a months rent between them. Also they are all equally responsible so if one of them has a party and things are damaged they all lose their deposit. This turns most of them off but they have nothing to worry about if they are not going to have parties. Also the house will be inspected monthly (even though it only takes one night for the place to get wrecked) Also a tight contract will be signed by themselves and their parents. Even with all this renting to students is a last resort. I might start a new thread about how to deal with renting to students.

OS119

clearz wrote: »

...Also the house will be inspected monthly...

good luck finding a tenant who'll accept that.

i realise you're caught-up in the hassle of cleaning/refurbishing the place, but you need to take a step back and look at the business model you're proposing and thinking about whether, if you were in the prospective tenants shoes, you'd be interested.

you are proposing a deposit of 3/4 months rent.

you are proposing monthly inspections.

you are telling people, most of whom will be moving into their first place without their parents, what they can cook.

really? you really think that at 18 you, or your parents, would accept that?

just because you own a property you do not have a right to a tenant, its a 'buyers' market and they can take their money where they like - and if you can't handle the risks involved in being a LL, especially a student/young peoples LL (damage, incompetance, unpaid bills), then you shouldn't be a landlord.

ceegee

clearz wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I must check the extractor fan. The house has been completely refurnished and lino has been put in all rooms downstairs apart from the sitting room which has new carpet. Maybe a clause in the contract that forces the tenants to maintain the cooking odors to a reasonable standard.
Also the house is 2 mins walk to a college so we get lots of students interested. We have decided that if we end up taking on students that they will each have to pay a deposit of a entire months rent instead of a months rent between them. Also they are all equally responsible so if one of them has a party and things are damaged they all lose their deposit. This turns most of them off but they have nothing to worry about if they are not going to have parties. Also the house will be inspected monthly (even though it only takes one night for the place to get wrecked) Also a tight contract will be signed by themselves and their parents. Even with all this renting to students is a last resort. I might start a new thread about how to deal with renting to students.

So your charging around a grand or two deposit per person? Id be telling you to GTFO as would anyone with an ounce of sense. For all they know youll come up with sh*te to hold onto the deposit at the end of year.

borderlinemeath

OS119 wrote: »

good luck finding a tenant who'll accept that.

i realise you're caught-up in the hassle of cleaning/refurbishing the place, but you need to take a step back and look at the business model you're proposing and thinking about whether, if you were in the prospective tenants shoes, you'd be interested.

you are proposing a deposit of 3/4 months rent.

you are proposing monthly inspections.

you are telling people, most of whom will be moving into their first place without their parents, what they can cook.

really? you really think that at 18 you, or your parents, would accept that?

just because you own a property you do not have a right to a tenant, its a 'buyers' market and they can take their money where they like - and if you can't handle the risks involved in being a LL, especially a student/young peoples LL (damage, incompetance, unpaid bills), then you shouldn't be a landlord.

Just back on the original topic - it's not what a tenant can or cannot cook. If it were me, it would be a clause stating that any cooking odours be eradicated at termination of lease - ie if they do cook seriously smelly food that they will be aware that they may have to pay to get things like carpets and curtains cleaned, wash down walls etc. Also that the property must be properly ventilated - extractor fan used, windows opened to let fresh air in (stops mould build up as well).

In fairness bicarbonate of soda will eliminate most smells, sprinkle on a carpet, leave overnight and hoover up, leave a bowl in a kitchen to absorb cooking smells etc.

Honestly, some people will abuse a rented house because they think they won't have to pay for damage. If it's in a lease agreement then they will think twice about being held liable. My OH has just refurbished one of his rentals that had black mould hiding in corners hidden by furniture by the tenant. Every single window in the house was locked so no fresh air was getting in at all. It's a house that was completely updated 10 years ago, rewired, replumbed, insulated and new windows and doors. He lived in it for 4 years and I lived there for a time also, no damp etc so we knew it wasn't the house.

OS119

borderlinemeath wrote: »

...Just back on the original topic...

the problem is that smell is entirely subjective - we might walk into an apartment together and i think its stinks and you can't smell anything, and if i were the OP, i've just cost the tenant €X00, and all prospective tenants know that, and they know that they can't prove to the PRTB that it doesn't stink.

obviously in your situation you could take photographs and prove that the place had been neglected - and prove the quantifiable damage and therefore cost - but how does 'it stinks' get get proved - or for the tenant, dissproved?

given the other conditions the OP wants to put in the lease any prospective tenant is going to run a mile - he wants a massive deposit, monthly inspections and he's going to to do a sniff test - to me, that would tell me that the LL is going to be a pain in the arse, and that i've more chance of sleeping with Jennifer Lopez and Eva Green than of getting my deposit back under any conditions.

clearz

Lets first put this in context. The house is been rented for €450 per month so Its not like in Dublin where one months deposit might be four times that. I'm currently renting a room in Dublin for €400 per month and a deposit of the same (and that's not even in a good area). If there where 4 students in the house and the deposit was only a months rent, that's €112 each which is very little incentive to keep the house spotless. By making them pay 450 each then it comes to €1800 which is reasonable considering the risk involved

The last time we had students staying they did 1000's of euros of damage. The house had been completely done up before they moved in and it looked like a dive when they left 8 months later.

Instead of just outright not allowing students at all, which most people do this is a compromise.

These rules only apply to students and would not apply to professionals or a family.

OS119 wrote: »

good luck finding a tenant who'll accept that.

If they don't like it then they don't have to take it.

OS119 wrote: »

i realise you're caught-up in the hassle of cleaning/refurbishing the place, but you need to take a step back and look at the business model you're proposing and thinking about whether, if you were in the prospective tenants shoes, you'd be interested.

This model is based upon nearly 20 years experience.

OS119 wrote: »

you are proposing a deposit of 3/4 months rent.

Yes which is about a one months deposit in Dublin. Rent might be a lot cheaper in a medium sized town but the cost of repairing damage isn't any cheaper so the deposit = 1 months rent formula doesn't work as well.

OS119 wrote: »

you are proposing monthly inspections.

A quick glance into the sitting room once a month if students are living there with prior notice.

OS119 wrote: »

you are telling people, most of whom will be moving into their first place without their parents, what they can cook.

Where have I said anything about telling people what they can cook?

OS119 wrote: »

really? you really think that at 18 you, or your parents, would accept that?

Yes we would have

OS119 wrote: »

just because you own a property you do not have a right to a tenant, its a 'buyers' market and they can take their money where they like

That's completely up to them

OS119 wrote: »

If you can't handle the risks involved in being a LL, especially a student/young peoples LL (damage, incompetance, unpaid bills), then you shouldn't be a landlord.

Handling the risks is exactly what this is all about. The house has just been finished being completely done up, new radiators, new carpets, lino, completely new kitchen and extension, new solid doors on every room, and all rooms repainted. Minimising Loses by having different terms based on tenant profiling is being a good landlord, without just banning certain groups altogether which is what most landlords do.

borderlinemeath

OS119 wrote: »

the problem is that smell is entirely subjective - we might walk into an apartment together and i think its stinks and you can't smell anything, and if i were the OP, i've just cost the tenant €X00, and all prospective tenants know that, and they know that they can't prove to the PRTB that it doesn't stink.

The smell of cooking with asian or african spices will ingrain into fabric. A cushion, a pair of curtains or a rug can be used as evidence of 'smell'. What I will say is that if you have 'lived' in the smell and are familiar with it, it won't be anywhere near as evident to you as it would be to somebody walking in off the street.

obviously in your situation you could take photographs and prove that the place had been neglected - and prove the quantifiable damage and therefore cost - but how does 'it stinks' get get proved - or for the tenant, dissproved?

As above, removable soft furnishings will retain the smell of strong cooking flavours.If it's in the lease then the tenant would have been made aware rather than thinking that they could leave a property without doing a proper cleaning of furnishings (assuming that they left the cooking smell) It won't apply to all tenants.

given the other conditions the OP wants to put in the lease any prospective tenant is going to run a mile - he wants a massive deposit, monthly inspections and he's going to to do a sniff test - to me, that would tell me that the LL is going to be a pain in the arse, and that i've more chance of sleeping with Jennifer Lopez and Eva Green than of getting my deposit back under any conditions.

Some landlords do monthly inspections, by calling and collecting their rent in person. (and not even calling it an inspection) and it's up to the landlord as to what deposit they take dependent on the tenant.

BostonB

I think you need to ask for a bigger deposit to cover any cleaning or replacement above normal wear and tear.

Its up to the tenant to accept the conditions or go elsewhere.

Raladic

3DataModem wrote: »

I've experienced this too. A fact of life when renting, just keep the lease to minimum one year and keep the floors wood and the sofas leather, so they can be cleaned. Once they leave, repaint walls, bin what retains smells (curtains, etc), and you should be grand.

If the tenant is living in the apartment for more than 6 months, they have automatically acquired Part 4 rights, so if they want to, they can stay for the remainder of 4 years, so even if the lease is 1 year, that doesn't mean that tenants have to stay for only one year.

edellc

Raladic wrote: »

If the tenant is living in the apartment for more than 6 months, they have automatically acquired Part 4 rights, so if they want to, they can stay for the remainder of 4 years, so even if the lease is 1 year, that doesn't mean that tenants have to stay for only one year.

thats not technically true

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/types_of_tenancy.html

your one year lease only transfers to a part 4 tenancy if you inform the landlord of this intention between 3 months and 1 month before you lease expires and the landlord can say no

Raladic

edellc wrote: »

thats not technically true

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/types_of_tenancy.htmlhttp://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=80360457

your one year lease only transfers to a part 4 tenancy if you inform the landlord of this intention between 3 months and 1 month before you lease expires and the landlord can say no

That is not correct, you can even tell the landlord after the lease expired, but then the landlord can ask the tenant for "reasonable" remuneration for costs he may have had for putting ads up for the apartment.
The landlord has no right to say no unless they want to move in themselves or similar (on the same page you refered to).
Also on the same page:

If you do not notify your landlord you cannot be refused coverage under Part 4 but you may have to compensate the landlord for any financial loss she/he has incurred because you did not notify him/her of your intention to remain in the tenancy.

3DataModem

Raladic wrote: »

3DataModem wrote: »

I've experienced this too. A fact of life when renting, just keep the lease to minimum one year and keep the floors wood and the sofas leather, so they can be cleaned. Once they leave, repaint walls, bin what retains smells (curtains, etc), and you should be grand.

If the tenant is living in the apartment for more than 6 months, they have automatically acquired Part 4 rights, so if they want to, they can stay for the remainder of 4 years, so even if the lease is 1 year, that doesn't mean that tenants have to stay for only one year.

Agreed. The longer the better! I mean a minimum of 1 year so you can justify the expense before the next tenant.