Smart property investors look to maximize profits while offering quality living quarters to their tenants. These two goals can be achieved by making smart and affordable updates to the property thus making your properties stand out, attracting high-quality renters, and minimizing repairs down the road. Aside from boosting the value of the property, you also run the opportunity to take advantage of tax deductions and improve the home’s energy efficiency. Of course, some upgrades make more financial and logical sense than others, both for you and the tenant. As property managers at Utopia, we work with our investors on ways to increase ROI while prioritizing tenant retention. 5 upgrades are some of the safest and wisest places to spend on your rental property investment.
Freshen Up with a Layer of Paint
A fresh layer of neutral-colored paint can make a great difference in the appearance of a room. Selecting a calming and neutral color like sandy beige, light gray, or even traditional white can brighten up the room and create a sense of uniformity throughout the house. A fresh coat of paint on any ceiling molding, door frames, and baseboards will also go a long way and clean up any scuffs that may have been left behind by the last tenant. While hiring professional painters can be a pricy job, it may be worth the investment when it comes to painting the outside of the house, the trim, and the shutters. Those details make all of the difference in photos when listing your property for rent. Paint is the number one improvement to tackle first and potentially between every tenant.
Ditch the Carpet
Upgrading the floors and ditching the carpet can refresh the home and make it feel much cleaner and more luxurious. Carpet may be inexpensive, but it needs to be replaced constantly due to stains. Carpet is extremely unpopular right now and costly in the long run. There are plenty of options for affordable flooring, especially if you want to lay it yourself. One favorite in particular is laminate flooring which gives you the look of hardwood while sticking to your budget and comes in a variety of finishes. It’s both durable and easy to clean and doesn’t hold onto odors like carpet. For kitchens and bathrooms, luxury vinyl flooring will stand the test of time and is waterproof making it another excellent option for your rental properties.
Update the Kitchen
Despite the living room being the designated location for gatherings, everyone somehow always finds their way to the kitchen. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen, hosting, cooking, packing lunches, and so on. Making simple upgrades in the kitchen will take your listing to the next level and can be the determining factor in your property being picked over another. We already discussed flooring, but upgrading the cheap plastic laminate countertops and replacing them with a stone alternative will pay for itself in the long run. If it is within the budget, replacing cabinets that offer more storage space brings the kitchen up to date and makes it more functional. If you really want to go above and beyond, a simple backsplash will give the kitchen a luxurious and unique touch making it feel more like a home than just another rental.
Replace the Windows
Depending on the age of your property, it may be time to replace window units. With energy costs rising, we have tenants inquiring about the age of windows more and more frequently. New windows can increase both aesthetic appeal and energy efficiency. Old windows may look shabby and unappealing while also allowing heat or air conditioning to escape running up the utility bills and wasting energy. Updated windows play a major part in keeping the home cool in the summer and warm in the winter so that the HVAC doesn’t have to work so hard. Double-pane windows in particular provide better insulation and block noise from outside.
Invest in Curb Appeal
First impressions are everything when it comes to rental properties, and the front of the home is often a reflection of what tenants will find inside. Increasing your curb appeal is a great way to up the value of your rental property and have it stand out from the rest of the listings. Planting native trees, shrubs, or flowers around the property adds a nice touch and doesn’t require much intervention from tenants. Setting up monthly lawn maintenance or installing sprinklers will also ensure the lawn is kept up without having to rely on the tenants.