Advice for Tenants:

If some thing in your rental property is broken, and you want to pay to get it fixed, then call me.

If you want to change something significant (eg install an electrical socket, wallpaper a room in a different colour or pattern, change a lock) in your rented house, flat or apartment, then you need to get your permission from your landlord or property manager first - even if you want to pay for the job yourself.

If you want to change something that isn't significant (eg paint a room the same colour, assemble kitset furniture, change the side that your fridge door opens from) in your rented house, flat or apartment, AND you want to pay for the job yourself, then call me.

If you want something fixed or changed, and you want the landlord to pay, then you must call them first.  I do regular work for several property managers in Galway city, and they will only pay for work that they have agreed to in advance.  If I do it, and they haven't approved it first, then they won't pay.



Some general good advice:

• Keep a list of all the items that were in the property when you moved in.    Make the list the very first day, before any of your things arrive.
  
• If the condition of the property isn't perfect, take photographs.   Even better, take a video and upload it to YouTube, and send a link to the property manager - they won't be able to argue about the date that way.
   
• Always read the power bill the day you arrive, and make sure the reading is passed on to the power company.
    
  Remember:  you don't have to stay with ESB anymore, you can get electricity from other companies like Bord Gáis or Airtricity.   But do make sure you find out which company has been supplying electricity so that the move-in-day reading goes to the right place.
  
• If things break, and it's not fair wear-and-tear, then replace them or fix them ASAP.  It's better to do small jobs individually, than to get a large bill when you move out.