Do I make a bathroom Handicapped Accessible for a current tenant?
I am looking for some input/ideas on a current situation. I have a tenant, married and retired couple, who have a grown daughter (aprox 30 yrs old) living with them. The daughter is in a wheel chair. They live in a 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment that I own, it is part of 4 triplexes (12 units) at that location. The daughter called my wife and asked if it would be possible for us to have the bathtub removed and a shower installed so it would be easier for her to get in and out to bathe herself.
To give some background:
We purchased this property 1 year ago and these are inherited tenants, but good tenants. They have been in the unit about 6 years. The reasons we purchased this property are that it has value add potential, we could transfer the water to the tenants, and the rent was well below market value. We have successfully completed the transfer of the water. We also replaced all of the windows in all units, and rebuilt some dilapidated storage buildings and provided each tenant with an outdoor storage unit. We have had 2 vacancies and we completely renovated those units and leased them. We also have cleaned up the landscaping and replaced all the mailboxes. We have raised the rent on the inherited tenants, but we are still below market value. The inherited tenants are now paying $450, the renovated units are paying $600. This is a small town with limited rentals available and strong demand, it is very unlikely this tenant can find something that would suit her needs.
The benevolent side of me wants to go ahead and renovate the bathroom for her. As my grandma always said, 'But for the grace of god, there go I.' I might also add that we own and operate a construction company, so that is not a problem. We own and self manage 32 total units and are leveraged about 40/60 debt to equity, so cash flow is good. They are living on Social Security benefits and household income is just barely at 3 times their current rent.
The business side of me says if we renovate, it should cost more in rent. Also in the future I won't be able to rent this unit to anyone with small children who need a bathtub unless I convert it back into a tub/shower. 7 of the 12 current tenants have small children.
I would love to hear some ideas on how you might approach this situation.
Thank you!