Renting - is it reasonable to ask...

rightoldpickle wrote: »

In a rural town, not in Dublin so there are plenty of rental options available - I know the city is different...

But before we agree to lease is it reasonable to ask
- for certain furniture to be removed,
- walls painted all cream (they're currently in awful condition and a lot of "Art Deco" attempts,
- fit a side gate,
- steam clean curtain & carpets (current tenants have cats and the place stinks)

We are excellent tenants and I know the landlord has preference for us - as in they have offered to negotiate terms and rent. The stuff above badly needs doing as the currents tenants have ruined the place but I don't want to ask for too much either - any guidance is much appreciated!

I asked as theyHAD to paint after the ppl before us to paint everything magnolia. it's better to ask for any of the little things to be fixed before you move in. Some maybe done some might not. You can always store the awful furniture in the attic. Mind you that's why I re nt unfurnished now some furniture in rentals is awful.

rightoldpickle wrote:

But before we agree to lease is it reasonable to ask - for certain furniture to be removed, - walls painted all cream (they're currently in awful condition and a lot of "Art Deco" attempts, - fit a side gate, - steam clean curtain & carpets (current tenants have cats and the place stinks)

I'm renting a bedsit ATM, and my landlord didn't have a problem with asking for furniture to be removed, but some LLs don't have somewhere to store it.

painting the place is a chance, and it depends on the LL. If the current paint was done by the current tenants, he/she *MIGHT* say yes.

The side gate- some LL will get you to pay for it, since its not a essential.
and in my place, the curtains were filthy and stinking after years of people smoking, and I just washed them the day I moved in.
the LL may want to change the carpets, if they're in bad condition. or if they aren't, you can get a bottle of carpet shampoo, and prices very, depending on the brand. I got a "vanish" carpet shampoo in dealz and worked fine for me.

All this depends on the LL. But there's no harm in asking.

Absolutely reasonable to ask

Don't want to insult you rightoldpickle but if there is such availability of rental property and all them issues require rectifying (quite a comprehensive list in my opinion) why not look at other houses?

rightoldpickle wrote: »

Absolutely valid. This one just happens to be the best location. I just wanted to check I wasn't being completely unreasonable to make the requests rather then rule it out. If they do the (in my opinion essential) work then they will be repaid with excellent tenents. Depends on what way they look at it I guess?

Remember you are the customer.

Hey OP

Be very careful about the cat smell. I can guarantee that cats don't smell. Cat p!ss on the other hand stinks and if there was more than one cat the chances are that the whole carpet is coated in urine. Most people don't realise that cats don't tend to get along like dogs do.

In the last place I rented the previous tenants got a cat and later got a second unrelated cat. When cats are unrelated, they are unlikely to ever become friends like you might expect other animals to do. Instead they might fight a bit and then settle into an actual p!ssing contest to divide the house into territories and every trespass needs a fresh squirt of urine to remind the other cat where the boundaries lie.

We noticed a smell in the house when we viewed but assumed a good airing would sort it out. When we moved in we realised the whole place was coated in urine. We got all the carpets professionally cleaned at our expense but it didn't do anything for the smell. It took 6 weeks to convince the LL to replace the carpets so we couldn't really unpack or settle in. We pulled up the carpets and the wave of stench was so thick you could taste ammonia in the back of your throat. We could actually see bleached patched on the floorboards where the cats preferred to urinate.

In our case the LL was very good in general but they were dubious of us when we were the ones telling them their carpets were destroyed which is fair enough and we got on great from then on.

Definitely need a second viewing to check the carpets. This sounds mental but I'm going to suggest it anyway. Get down on hands and knees and sniff the carpet. If you hit one landmine, assume it's coated in the stuff and forget renting it.

rightoldpickle wrote: »

Thanks for that tip. Actually my FIL suggested a black light!!

I'm pretty sure it is cat urine as opposed to just cats. The floors are mainly wooden bar one room and stairs so cheap enough to replace. I'm meeting with the actual landlord (rather then EA) on Wednesday to go through my list.

I'm going to chance asking for everything and a few extras. They can only say no and we can just pick another house. We'll see how it goes!!

I wouldn't have come up with a blacklight if I had a week to think about it. Much better idea than holding your face 6" from the carpet while you sniff-scan it like a like a human urine detector.

Best of luck
Let us know how it goes.

rightoldpickle wrote: »

Just thought I'd update this with the outcome. Met the landlord and she is more than happy to get the work done as requested, also replace the carpets and couches. Pushed out our moving in date by a week which suits is too so it's win win all round.

She said we weren't asking for anything unreasonable and so she felt in return for good tenants she would happy do the work.

Well done.

Make sure you leave in pristine when you leave. Sounds like yo may have a nice good LL / good tenant relationship in the making.