Moving and Relocating

It’s not easy to decorate an apartment to fit your style when you don’t own the property. Landlords place restrictions on what you can and can’t do, so it’s hard to get a place to feel like home when you can’t paint or re-model.

To figure out what you can and can’t do with your apartment, review your lease carefully. Usually there are guidelines as to what can be installed or painted. Then again, you could always do what you want anyway and assume that you will return the apartment to the way it was before you move out or assume you won’t get your deposit back. Sometimes it’s worth it. If you are happier in your living space, then who cares about getting your money back. In most Fargo apartments, the security deposit is only about $300. Just know that some landlords will evict you for breaking the rules in the lease. That’s why it’s very important to look it over carefully.

You can almost always hang pictures in an apartment, but you might be charged for holes in the wall or missing paint.

You could meet with the property manager and discuss specific decorating ideas you have such as painting the living room a different color. Some landlords won’t mind, others will. If they agree to let you make changes, make sure you get it in writing so they don’t use it against you later.

Obviously, whether or not the changes you make are reversible or not will make a big difference on the property manager’s decision. Walls can be painted and then re-painted, for example. Shelves can be taken out pretty easily.

On the other hand, if you want to remove walls, you will probably be out of luck. Unless you rent the space and agree at the time of signing the lease that you will make improvements to the apartment, don’t expect to make such drastic changes.

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