have a good section 8 tenant who requested to paint the bedroom (one room only). tenant will be responsible for cost of materials and labor. I have one condition.. I have final approval of paint color. Interested in hearing pros & cons to allowing this. Thx in advance.

I had a new roommate rent out a bedroom in a Single family home I own. The house was rented to a family, but when the children grew up, the parents moved out and the kids took over, renting out rooms.

So I questioned everyone on their painting experience and noticed no one took the trash outside and the kitchen sink was full of dishes. I lost all confidence in my tenants painting one bedroom and gave them the name of my painter. I agreed to cover half the cost, up to $300.

Instead the occupants decided to tackle painting by them selves. No tarps, a dog walking thru the paint try and then all over the house. The end result. The carpet was damaged and the room needed to be repainted. What would have been a $500 paint job, ended up costing thousands.

No.

If they want to decorate and personalize an area, there are a lot of ways to do it nonpermanently.

I'm presuming that the room isn't currently painted chartreuse, Shasta orange, or magenta zebra stripes.

This just came up yesterday. I had a tenant ask to paint a part of one room. He's been in the place for at least 8 years.

I base my decision on the tenant. Mostly the people I rent to are great. If I have known them for some time and I figure I will probably be painting again after they leave then I don't have an issue with it.

Am I correct that this is strictly for decorative purposes?

How long have these folks been there?

I am alright hiring someone to paint the room if these folks are keepers. There are a couple of questions that the customer needs to answer though. How much more per month are you willing to pay?

Sure, I just need an extra $500 repaint deposit to change it back if they do a bad job.

The above sentence is how to say "No" while saying "Yes." They either won't have the $500 or won't want to give it to you.

Had a tenant paint without permission years back.

Horrible job, nasty colors, painted the stained woodwork black.

Have a tenant now that has been with us off and on for years. She asked if she could paint the house. I said not until they have been there a while. I had originally set the place up for sale and painted everything flat.

She hasn't asked again, but I would let her now. That is the only place I would tho, and simply because of the way I left it for them. I wouldn't pay for the paint because I know I will need to do it again when they leave, unless they actually buy the property.

Anyone else that asks I start out by saying they need to be there a while to see if they like the place, then we can discuss again. When they ask again I come up with other reasons to politely let them down.

You'll be sorry if you agree to it guaranteed. I like Sid's deposit idea.

Let her know that on Section 8 she can buy her own house and then paint to her heart's content. I know this because the local, very bad community activist, part-time real estate agent, who is on Section 8 used the program to buy a house.

H. E. Double hockey sticks,... Nooooo! And never.

Been there. Never doing that again.

Some people think when residents personalize a home with paint they're move likely to stay longer. Nope.

I would say it probably depends on your clientele. For ours, we tell them they can paint as long as

1. They are experienced painters and know what they are doing or we will give them the contact for a painter to do it

AND

2. They put it back to the current color if they leave.

Most people don't want to have to paint it again if they leave so they just hang some pictures or decorations and call it a day.

If they want touch up paint for the paint color that we use (all the same for doors, trim, ceilings, walls in all units) then we offer to send them the color so they can get the same color and it will match the color and sheen.

I have tenants that I have hired to paint and clean, so I know their work. (Dad always said it's good business to do business with customers.)

I let them paint their places with two conditions:

1. I approve colors

2. they must buy the paint from the lumberyard across the street and HAVE THEM ENTER IT INTO THE LUMBERYARD'S DATABASE listing the address and room. Then if I even want touch-up paint i can get any quantity made from the database for a perfect match.

Only once in my 45+ years as a LL was this allowed.

The tenant was getting a divorce and sharing custody with her former husband. She wanted her son's bedroom in our rental to mirror the bedroom he was used to at their current home. She felt the sharing transition would comfort him and help him adjust. She offered to pay for everything to paint and to have it returned to the original color when she moved.

To me it was a reasonable ask and she was an exemplary individual. It was a small room so we decided to do it ourselves to meet her move in deadline.