I’ve been living in a rental for a few years now, that included a dishwasher which unfortunately broke recently. It was a model from the 90s, and according to the rental company technician and an independent appliance repairman, replacement parts for this model no longer exist. The particular size is also no longer produced, so replacing it entirely is impossible.
The rental company informed us that the property owner is willing to give us a new dishwasher, but it would need to sit on top of the counter and take up all available cooking space. I mentioned that this would still be inconvenient, to which they replied – then what would you have us do?
I’d like to negotiate with them to either (a) reduce the rent to compensate, or (b) remodel part of the kitchen to accept a modern-size dishwasher and offer to pay part of the cost.
It seems to me that there’s no harm in negotiation, but my wife is afraid that negotiation would be improper and might damage our relationship with the property owner/rental agency.
Do you think we have a chance at some kind of negotiation, or is there a better way to go about this?
Thanks!
4 comments
maybe you can ask for B first. and ask nicely. like say you can share the cost. I don’t see the harm in this. reducing rent would probably be more on the offense. you can leave it for later and if you prefer to take that root.
Go with the countertop dishwasher. You can get a small utility table to make up for the space taken by the dishwasher.
When I was searching for an apartment a couple of years back, I came across a building from the 90s that had full-size ovens in all three of the available rooms. However, one of those rooms was in an insanely bad state. Moldy floors and walls, damaged flooring, spiders/webs everywhere. Really hard to imagine a more disgusting apartment and I couldn’t and still can’t imagine what kind of person could’ve been living in such a place. I think I saw it the day after it became available and I was the first to view it. The listing disappeared shortly after. The other rooms were in decent condition, btw.
Anyway, long story short, the management company/owner decided to reform and modernise the room before renting it out again. In the process of renovating, they just removed the full-size oven, leaving just a standard countertop+fish grill setup in its place.
Moral of the story is that landlords/management companies may have little incentive to refresh/replace rare furnishings like a full-size dishwasher. They can probably rent to the next person for a higher price with no dishwasher included at all since 99%+ of apartments don’t provide them either.
It’s still worth asking/negotiating of course, but I’d recommend you bear this perspective in mind. I’d also suggest you pour over your contract and see the context in which furnishings are mentioned. In some cases, ‘rent’ for furnishings like fridges, microwaves, dishwashers, etc. is separate to the rent for the actual apartment. In this case, a reduced fee should be a natural consequence.
Home property detoriates over time, it’s just the way it goes. How old is the mansion? Since you mention 90s it would be around what 20-30 years old. The dishwasher broken is unfortunately just a natural wear and tear. If you want to live in a more modern kitchen, it’s on you to look for a newer type mansion.
I wouldn’t even ask for A. Asking to reduce rent after the landlord is willing to give you a new dishwasher set is a quite rude to them. I’m pretty sure they would rather look for a new tenant.
While B might be worth asking, I wouldn’t bet they’ll take it, especially with you already living on it. A Dishwasher is a luxury item, not a necessity. It’s not like a broken pipe in the kitchen or something. I doubt they would eat the cost of renovation.
Really you should just accept the new kitchentop dishwasher. These days they’re quite slim and all. Your time and effort would be best spent on looking for a new place for the next time the contract runs out.