A solid investment strategy is the regular upgrades to your single-family rental home. Every year, plan how you will update your property. Just as rental homes need to maintained regularly, they should also be updated. This is what keeps them current and competitive in the market. Property values throughout Spring rely heavily on the condition of the home. If either the outside or inside of the home is in poor condition, the property values would reflect it. Similarly, if you invest a little to upgrade things from time to time, the increase in property values would be worth the time and cost involved.
However, though some upgrades offer direct benefits for property owners, there are some upgrades that do not. In reality, there are some upgrades with advantages for the residents and little to none for the property owner, since it fails to grow the property value or protect your real estate investment. It’s really critical to examine your options carefully before making any significant updates to your rental property in Spring.
For instance, as you upgrade your rental properties, you might go for installing new kitchen cabinets because it seems like it would benefit both you and your residents. You might think that because your residents want quality cabinets, that installing new cabinets would undoubtedly make your property values go up. However, the amount you spend on kitchen cabinets typically outweighs the benefits it has on property values. In this case, this upgrade isn’t worth the cost. If the kitchen cabinets in your rental home are in terrible shape, you should surely replace them with something better. Otherwise, a full cleaning or perhaps a coat of paint or stain is all that your cabinets need to keep them nice.
Another upgrade that has a lot more benefits for the residents than for the property owner is high-end window treatments. You may hear requests from residents asking for upgraded blinds, valences, or drapery systems to customize their space. But while owners assume residents making their rental home comfortable, there’s no real value to providing any window treatments beyond standard blinds or shutters. Fancy window treatments don’t really add much to the overall value of your property and it’s closely connected to an individual style that they usually have limited appeal.
Speaking of personal style, other decorative features such as custom garage doors, trendy paint colors, and so on might seem like a genuine approach to attracting quality residents. But as with window treatments, the allure of decorative features can range wildly from person to person. For this reason, upgrading beyond high quality, basic doors, windows, and interiors holds little to no benefit for owners of rental homes. To create a quality rental home with a permanent appeal, avoid the latest trends and cling to the less exciting but unmistakably more tried-and-true décor themes that are commonly seen in other rental homes.
Whether you’ve made upgrades or not, the priority will always be property maintenance. Consistent upkeep of your rental property will go a long way in maintaining its value. At Real Property Management Republic, we have devoted ourselves to protecting your investment while forming high-value relationships with your residents. For added information about our property management services, please contact us online or call us directly at 281-362-5001.
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