charliedog99's Profile

The fact that there isn't a culture of long term renters may work in your favor. Your landlord may not think you want or need any updating since you didn't move and they may not know the condition of the apartment as they probably haven't been in it in several years. You don't know until you ask...the worst they can say is no. And if so, so what? At least you tried.

I've been a renter and landlord over the years and it is more cost effective to keep a good long-term tenant happy than it is to have the property turn over every year or so. For example, I rented out a property for $2000 a month. After the first year long lease expired the tenants asked for a two year lease. I'm sure they were trying to lock in the rate. I gave it to them because if they moved out I would have to pay to clean and paint the property, the cost of listing the property, changing the locks, and on and on. Plus who knows how many months the property would have sat empty not collecting any rent. The most I would have raised the rent is $50. Amortized over two years that is $1200. I would be out a lot more than $1200 if I had to turn over the property every year or so.

I wouldn't necessarily volunteer the labor to update the space. As a landlord I've always preferred having professionals do those sorts of things in case something goes wrong. Ultimately it's my property and if I allowed a tenant to remove carpet, etc and they did a terrible job and/or got hurt, I am opening myself up to a lot of liability and extra costs to fix things that went astray. As a renter who assumes these responsibilities you are opening yourself up to a lot of liability if the landlord decides that they don't like the paint job or floor refinishing or whatever it is. Depending on how your lease is written and the laws where you live, despite the fact that they gave you verbal approval, they could still come after you for "damages".

There is a chance that the landlord can't afford to make any major improvements, but that is sort of a red flag. A good landlord will have some money in reserve in case there is some sort of major emergency repair necessary. What if a water main broke and flooded the entire property? Etc, etc...I'm not saying that they need to have tens of thousands of dollars put aside, but it shouldn't be a major financial blow if once a year they need to invest a couple hundred dollars back into the property to keep it in good shape. In fact, that's just good business for a landlord to do.

If they do agree to do the upgrades for a rent increase, amortize the increase over the length of the time that you plan to live there. If they increase the rent $50, is whatever updates they do worth an extra $600 a year for you? I want new linoleum in my current rental kitchen but there is no way I would pay an extra $600 a year for it considering that the linoleum plus installation only costs $300 or so.

I've noticed that a lot of landlords that are renting out their former homes or family homes have odd attachments to certain paint colors, wallpaper, and carpeting installed over hardwoods. Back in the 1960's and 70's it was a big deal to get carpeting installed over the hardwoods and to install wallpaper. It was a sign of wealth. Not so much anymore. But try telling that to some people. If the culture in your area is that carpet and wallpaper=luxury then you may have an uphill battle.

So with all that said, if you can convince the landlord that you plan to stay for the long term and that you will take care of any improvements (keep the walls clean and try to avoid any damage to the wood floors) coupled with the concern of turnover costs, you may have a stronger argument than you originally thought.

Good luck.

I agree with all of the previous posters (knives, sheets, towels, etc). Also, since we have lived in rentals for the past seven years (and prior to that in an unfurnished McMansion) I've found that decorating and organizing the space is the most important splurge. Hanging curtains, having the closets, cabinets, and drawers organized and labeled make me feel like I'm not a transient. I've got a box in the garage that is full of various organizing equipment. In one apartment we mounted the iron and ironing board on the wall with a wall mount organizer. Since we have a laundry room door now, we use an over the door organizer. I could go on and on. We never know where we'll be next year so I hold onto those types of things.

When I purchased the curtains and rods, I bought the rods all in the same color so that they all matched in the next place regardless of how many windows are in each room. I did something similar with the curtains. It feels expensive, but it really wasn't.

I have cookbooks, a vintage mixer, cookie jars, and other vintage items on top of my cabinets. I don't know how the greasy dust (the dust yes, tbut the grease?) gets up there because I rarely cook on my stovetop and only use the oven once a week or so. Most of my cooking is done in a toaster oven or outside on the grill. I do have a gas oven so I think, like some of the other posters that the gas has something to do with the accumulation of schmutz up there. I also get a similar schmutz all over my front and back patios as there is a large outdoor kitchen with two gas grills just outside my front door. I think the carbon or something is contributing to the nasty.

That is a Sunbeam MixMaster. The bowls were either a white milk glass or were clear glass and came in two sizes. I have one from 1965 that I found at Goodwill with the original milk glass bowls. A few days later I found a set of clear glass bowls and snapped them up! Also, there are a ton of accessories available for this mixer. You can tell the model year of the mixer by tilting the arm back and looking for the code on the under side of the arm.

I collect the Hall's Autumn Leaf pattern as my grandmother gave me her pieces a few years back. They are quite wonderful.