I'm currently paying mortgage on a home and have decided to rent it out , the renters have been there are year and it is now time to resign the contract. The renters stated specific conditions for the renewal , one of the requests in particular was rather strange. They were asking for the carpets in the home to be cleaned and the fees to be paid by us ... is this a normal request and is it something that I should pay for? How do I deal with this?
If you want to keep them as tenants, why not do this for them (especially since it likely won't cost more than $200-300)? Not only will it make them happy, but it will likely also lengthen the useful life of your carpets, which is good for you too!
Think of it this way -- if they were to move out, you'd lose a lot more than the cost of carpet cleaning to have to get it ready for another tenant (plus lost rent).
I'd do it. It's good to throw an excellent tenant a bone once in a while. It builds good will. I've always believed that if I was responsive and kept my properties up, then the tenant would. I know this falls out of your responsibilty and that they probably won't move over it, but I believe in rewarding good tenants with minor upgrades. Turnover is the costliest issue for buy and hold LL's.