About four years ago a tenant in one of my two-bedroom units asked if she could install her own countertop dishwasher and swap out the toilet seat for a heated bidet model she already owned. My gut reaction was to just say sure, go ahead, but after nearly 16 years of self-managing 9 rental properties I have learned that a casual yes on tenant-owned appliances is how you end up with a burned-out outlet, a flooded floor, or a 45,000-yen restoration bill you never agreed to split.
Every year I get 3 to 5 of these requests across my portfolio – washer-dryer combos, window air conditioners, bidet seats, induction cooktops, even a mini fridge for a home office, and once a tenant who wanted to bring in a full-size chest freezer for meal prep. My answer is never an automatic no, but it is never an automatic yes either. Here is the process I actually run through before I approve anything.
Start With What the Appliance Actually Connects To
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The first thing I ask is not what the appliance is but how it draws power and where the water or drain lines go. A tenant-owned microwave or air fryer needs nothing from me and I approve those in about 30 seconds. A 200V window AC unit, a washer that needs a dedicated drain pan, or a bidet seat that taps into the toilet supply line is a different conversation entirely. Roughly half of the requests I get involve something that needs an electrician or plumber to even attempt safely, and I tell tenants that up front so they are not surprised when I ask for photos of the appliance’s spec plate before I answer.
Check the Electrical Capacity Before You Say Yes
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Most of my units run on a 30-amp panel, and three older buildings in my portfolio still have 20-amp service in at least one room. Adding a tenant’s own 1500-watt space heater or a secondhand window AC unit onto the same circuit as the refrigerator is exactly how you trip a breaker at 2am, and I have gotten that call twice, both times from tenants who assumed any wall outlet could handle any appliance. Now I ask for the wattage or amperage rating printed on the appliance itself, and if the circuit is already carrying close to 80 percent of its rated load, I either say no or offer to pay an electrician to add a dedicated line, which usually runs 35,000 to 60,000 yen depending on the length of the run and whether the panel has an open slot.
Put the Agreement in Writing, Every Time
I stopped relying on a verbal yes after a tenant installed a countertop dishwasher without telling me, and the drain hose sat loose behind the cabinet for at least 3 weeks before anyone noticed the water stain spreading on the floor below. Now every approved installation gets a one-page rider attached to the lease. It covers who did the physical installation, whether a licensed technician handled any electrical or plumbing work, and what happens to the appliance and any modification – a new outlet, a drain tap, a wall bracket – when the tenant eventually moves out. The checklist I run through with the tenant looks like this:
- Appliance make, model, and rated wattage or amperage
- Whether installation requires an electrician or plumber, and who pays for that work
- Confirmation the tenant carries renters insurance covering water or fire damage
- Whether the appliance and any bracket, outlet, or line stays or gets removed at move-out
- A dated photo of the finished installation, signed off by both of us
Who Pays for Restoration Later
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This is the part tenants forget to think through. Under the genjo kaifuku, or original condition restoration, standard that applies here, normal wear from an approved appliance is on me, but damage caused by a faulty or improper installation is on the tenant. I spell out in the rider that if a tenant-installed bidet seat or washer causes a leak, the repair cost comes out of the deposit before anything else gets refunded. On one property this saved me from eating a 90,000-yen floor repair after a tenant’s self-installed washing machine hose failed about 2 years into the lease – the rider made it clear whose responsibility that was, and there was no argument about it afterward.
When I Say No
I turn down roughly 1 in 4 of these requests outright. Anything involving a gas line connection is an automatic no unless a licensed gas fitter does the entire job and I see the completion certificate first. I also say no to appliances drawing more than 15 amps on a circuit shared with common areas in my older units, and to anything installed by the tenant personally rather than a professional whenever it touches plumbing or the electrical panel. It is not about being difficult with people – a fire or flood in one unit can knock out power or water to the other units sharing that panel or line, and I am the one who ends up answering for it.
Most requests turn out fine once we walk through the checklist together, and tenants generally appreciate that I take the time to check rather than just wave them through. That is the approach I use across all 9 of my properties, and it has kept my out-of-pocket repair costs from tenant-installed appliances close to zero for 4 years running.
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15 years of landlord experience u00b7 3 apartment buildings u00b7 DIY renovations that saved millions of yen. Browse all articles at diytosan.com
