Renters Adding Minor Improvements

[dalidali]

My novia is so concerned with me needing hot water for the shower, she suggested just buying one of those "instant" wall mounted hot water heaters for a rental were contemplating renting soon..

 

It's quite normal for an owner in the USA to deduct from the monthly rental, costs for improvements done that are above and beyond the normal upkeep, on receiving proper notice and permission to proceed.

Such as replacing a toilet or faucets or a faulty stove.

 

Does this same protocol hold true in the Phils? Even for an owner of any nationality, including Filipino?

 

 

[Mike S]

Well in my experience anything you add belongs to the land lord here IF they permit it .... where I'm at now the land lord doesn't care what we do as long as we notify him first .... but we don't get reimbursed ....  somethings I do can be undone when I leave ..... some contracts call for you to have EVERYTHING done through the landlord and you pay for labor and materials (apartment we just came from) ........ I have never been fortunate to have a land lord who would take ANYTHING off my rent .....  :th_unfair:

 

Your hot water system is one that you can remove (all but the electric ... that you will have to leave) I have one i have carried with me for 3 years .... was hooked up originally but I don't use it now .... if the water gets to cold for me (like a few times in the winter) I use one of those plug in electric water heaters that looks like a giant pill with holes in it  (most hardware stores here have them) and drop it into a bucket of water and heat it that way ..... now word of caution NEVER NEVER put your hand in the bucket with the devise still plugged in ......  most things here in the Phils I trust ..... but that is not one .... they claim you can do it and still not get electrocuted .... yea right ...... course that means you have to take a shower the Filipino way which is a bucket and a ladle ..... but it works for me and like I said ...... :thumbsup:

 

Now if you just have to take long hot showers for get all I said above except the part about getting reimbursed ...... but like I always tell everyone .... that has just been my experience ..... :thumbsup: :cheersty:

[Dave Hounddriver]

My experience too, Mike.

 

When I want a hot shower in a rental place I have to go and buy the on-demand hot water heater and install it at my expense, just like I do my air-con and any other appliance.  When I leave I take them with me and leave the holes in the wall but they don't seem worried about the holes in the concrete wall as they are easy and cheap to fix.

[earthdome]

Like anywhere it depends on the landlord. First place I rented I installed some better dead bolt keyed door locks and left them for the landlord when I moved out.

 

In my new apartment they have a maintenance guy who is available to do work inside the apartment for you at no cost, but probably a good idea to tip him. He installed my new shower hot water heater on a Sunday morning, did a great job, and so I tipped him p100.

 

The owner let me borrow a nice drill so I could mount curtain rods on the wall.

 

My expectation is that I will take that shower hot water heater and almost anything else I install with me when I leave. Door locks being the exception.

[JJReyes]

The general rule is anything added that is not attached belongs to the tenant. A lamp on a table is obviously yours. If you change the ceiling lighting fixtures, that belongs to the landlord when you vacate. To be on the safe side, inform the landlord that you are temporarily installing a water heater for the shower. This way, there is no question as to ownership.

[dalidali]

Thank all for the responses.

It is as I was expecting......I can buy it, have it installed and NOT expect a deduction from the rent.

 

Odd, that even though it is common practice in the USA at least, a foreign owner could not see the benefit of

having an improvement done to HIS property and left in place for HIS future benefit.

Ok fine.....down it comes.

Last time I checked........a NON China junk heater is over 6000P.

 

And as MikeB explains and my novia concurs....just dismantle the hot water heater and tote it to the next place.

[dalidali]

The general rule is anything added that is not attached belongs to the tenant. A lamp on a table is obviously yours. If you change the ceiling lighting fixtures, that belongs to the landlord when you vacate. To be on the safe side, inform the landlord that you are temporarily installing a water heater for the shower. This way, there is no question as to ownership.

Thanks JJ.....the way I see it is... a hot water heater is an ATTACHED fixture with wall anchors and electric lines and a safety breaker.

Of course permission to install is a must and then a clear intention to dismantle on termination of the rental contract.

 

If a landlord insists this 6000p fixture be left up, as it is an ATTACHED fixture.......the bucket and ladle plan is doable as well.

Edited May 8, 2013 by dalidali

[i am bob]

 

The general rule is anything added that is not attached belongs to the tenant. A lamp on a table is obviously yours. If you change the ceiling lighting fixtures, that belongs to the landlord when you vacate. To be on the safe side, inform the landlord that you are temporarily installing a water heater for the shower. This way, there is no question as to ownership.

Thanks JJ.....the way I see it is... a hot water heater is an ATTACHED fixture with wall anchors and electric lines and a safety breaker.

Of course permission to install is a must and then a clear intention to dismantle on termination of the rental contract.

 

If a landlord insists this 6000p fixture be left up, as it is an ATTACHED fixture.......the bucket and ladle plan is doable as well.

 

I don't normally like to go against the grain but in this case I would...

 

A hot water heater when I am moving out?  Comes with me!!!

 

If I install better lights in the apartment?  Before I leave, the old ones are going back on.  The good ones I bought and paid for are coming with me - especially since they would all be ceiling fans too.

 

:tiphat:

[i am bob]

Well in my experience anything you add belongs to the land lord here IF they permit it .... where I'm at now the land lord doesn't care what we do as long as we notify him first .... but we don't get reimbursed ....  somethings I do can be undone when I leave ..... some contracts call for you to have EVERYTHING done through the landlord and you pay for labor and materials (apartment we just came from) ........ I have never been fortunate to have a land lord who would take ANYTHING off my rent .....  :th_unfair:

 

Your hot water system is one that you can remove (all but the electric ... that you will have to leave) I have one i have carried with me for 3 years .... was hooked up originally but I don't use it now .... if the water gets to cold for me (like a few times in the winter) I use one of those plug in electric water heaters that looks like a giant pill with holes in it  (most hardware stores here have them) and drop it into a bucket of water and heat it that way ..... now word of caution NEVER NEVER put your hand in the bucket with the devise still plugged in ......  most things here in the Phils I trust ..... but that is not one .... they claim you can do it and still not get electrocuted .... yea right ...... course that means you have to take a shower the Filipino way which is a bucket and a ladle ..... but it works for me and like I said ...... :thumbsup:

 

Now if you just have to take long hot showers for get all I said above except the part about getting reimbursed ...... but like I always tell everyone .... that has just been my experience ..... :thumbsup: :cheersty:

 

Have you ever seen the camp showers where they look like a bucket with solid top?  You heat the water - same as you are doing now, Mike.  When the water is hot, you then hang the bucket from a hook attached on the side.  There is a hose coming off the side opposite the hook with a shower attachment on the other end.  Water flow is controlled by a push-valve on the shower nozzle end.  Obviously this is not a lot of water (about the size of a bucket) but the on-off control for feeding out the hot water helps make it last a lot longer than you would think.  Just like the old Navy Bird Bath...  Get wet..   Soap...  Get wet...  Get out.  One bucket NOT the bird bath way washed myself and then still had enough for my 2 sons (when they were 8 years old) quite easily.

 

The biggest issue with these were that they were made to heat up in an open fire.  Some people would forget to take the hose off and one of two things would happen.  Either the hose melts off and no shower OR there is a blockage and pressure builds in the container until it blows up like a bomb!  Silly people!!!

 

I wonder if they would catch on in the Philippines?

 

:dance:

[dalidali]

A hot water heater when I am moving out? Comes with me!!!

 

I would completely agree Bob......unless the owner of the property had re-reimbursed me for the actual purchase cost, plus labor to install, by way of rent deductions, either in one fell swoop or over a period of months.

 

If that owner did re-reimburse me for my out of pocket expenses, then that hot water shower machine is his as far as I would be concerned.

I would rather choose that option if available, rather than tote around a water heater from hither to yon.