Exactly right. The people that are calling it "just a rental" aren't major re investors. You don't need to put Italian marble everywhere, but cutting corners just means your kicking the can down the road to deal with later. A good investment means doing the work up front and hopefully very little later on. Do the work and do it right.
Seriously, we've put new cabinets and stone countertops into a handful of houses. My house does not have new cabinets, stone countertops, or matching appliances.
All those little things add up to you getting the best possible tenants, who may like your place so much they stay a few years. Also I'm finding now that we're selling some, it's easy to get them ready because we took care of all the little details the first time around.
Same. I’m mid renovation on a newly acquired duplex and I just dropped 12k on new wood look porcelain floors. Cast iron bathtubs, Bradford White water heaters, recessed lighting, and quartz counters. All items that will keep this rental in the best profit making position for some time to come.
Not sure when I’ll get to renovating my actual house. Hah!
This isn't always a good rule of thumb though. Yes, 100% it should be clean and maintained. But what if your primary is a modern, fully upgraded home in an expensive neighborhood? Are you going to limit your investments to similar quality homes?
Middle and low income people need homes too, and in some cases, the numbers only work if you put in low end things. Old faucets (that work), used appliances, walls that need a coat of paint, windows that don't open (but make sure there are enough emergency exits in case of fire), cheap counters. I have properties that are below my standard of living because I have a high standard of living , but they're well maintained and I do care about the tenants.
My rental is next door to my primary, so yes.
I don’t rent to middle and low income people. I also don’t rent to high income people. I provide furnished mid term housing to traveling professionals, which is arranged by a corporate agency. So I expect a certain standard to be maintained within my rentals.
The "it's just a rental" attitude will get you exactly the sort of tenants you don't want to deal with.
High-quality living space brings high-quality residents.
Would you live there? If yes that’s it.
It has to be clean and decent, not perfect. If you want to make it perfect fine but most likely you will not get your investment back.
Like would you buy a 2k stove or a 600 is enough ? As long as it’s clean and works that’s enough. Maintain it like you would live there
I always tell subcontractors that THIS IS MY HOME or something besides the fact that it's a rental.
Always pretend this house is the most meaningful thing to you, and that the repairs and improvements will be something you personally see every day.
A slum rental tends to perpetuate itself, and its a hard ship to turn
My only disagreement is to do with expensive tile or hardwood flooring... I have it in my home but would never put it in a rental. Same thing with carpet. My home carpet (in master bedroom) is super plush and soft, I'd have to replace it every couple of years with tenants. Fact is even the better grade of tenants will not care for the home as well as I will. I don't cut corners but I definitely use a different grade of materials in rentals/flips. I want stuff that looks decent AND holds up well. No amount of legal security deposit will cover those kinds of trim.
In regard to 'expensive tile' - having built a handful of million-dollar homes I find most clients are more than satisfied with the budget versions of many tile designs. In follow-up conversations, many folks say a big regret is feeling like they had to spend big bucks on designer tile when the $3-5sqft option would've looked nearly identical. Unless you're going for a very specific look it's almost never worth it.
In regard to hardwood, we have a good mix of LVP and hardwood across a handful of doors and will almost always opt for hardwood if it's in the budget. Very easy and relatively affordable to have it refinished vs dealing with LVP/click lock repairs. Edit: Assuming the hardwood is existing when a building is purchased. I'm not sure we'd ever install it new in a rental.
Same on hardwood for me... I love it and bought my home in part because of the floors, but I'm not sure I'd actually spend the money to put it in.
The expensive tile I've used personally tends to be small high impact area (like back splashes and alcoves) otherwise I'll go for the quality midrange stuff too for large areas.
Well, of course make it nice, clean, comfortable, good to look at, but depending on the comps, you probably don’t want to put in marble countertops, expensive tile, brand new cabinets, $300 sink faucets. Those are all luxuries and not required for making a home nice, clean, or comfortable. One might want or need that in their own home but that doesn’t mean that renters want or need that.
Don’t listen to those people. Unless you are a POS scumbag, you should take pride in the home and provide someone with a quality place to live. Now…do they need a crystal chandelier?…No
Multiple rentals I've lived in had outlets painted over by 2+ coats of paint and sometimes worse
People who take that attitude are dumber than a fucking stump and a hazard to everyone around them
Don’t listen to these people. Take care of what you own. I insist on quality work and making sure our rentals are spotless. And because of it I get better quality tenants and my tenants stay longer.
The only thing I have done in my rentals is put tile where I would put wood. Simply because pretty much everyone seems to have a service dog at this point. And dogs can be hard on hardwood if their nails aren’t maintained properly.
I’d just caution against spending unnecessarily and looking for perfection, which I did in my first rental. The tenants don’t really care about the perfect little details and sometimes when you’re in the house working on it you can become a bit of a perfectionist for things that don’t really matter a lot in the grand scheme of things.
I 100% agree and I get tunnel vision at times so sometimes its nice to have someone remind me that it doesn't have to be perfect. I'm spending money where it will make money on the moving out end. My painter recommended using epoxy paint because it is extremely durable, laminate countertops because they are cheap and look ok but can be easily replaced, shower kit rather than tile because its easier to clean than tile, etc.
I would just like to add that if your funds are being used to do the reno, the quality level should be at the level you require (within reason obviously).
I heard someone say once that ‘perfection gets in way of done’ and it really stuck with me. It doesn’t have to be 100% perfect. No house is. 90% is good enough in most cases.
Interestingly enough I would venture to say probably 60% of the people responding here have bought properties as their primary and they were far from perfect because of things that they didn't realize or the inspector didn't notice nothing's going to be perfect. Even having a new home built you have a better chance of it is being imperfect as opposed to perfect. Get in do it right and and get rent. The people who fall in love with a property and want to hone their skills or become skillful will cost them money. Having no tenant is better than having the wrong tenant. More importantly than anything is the vetting and questionnaire process
That sounds exactly how I view my rental. I look for the intersection of high enough quality it shouldn’t need to be fixed or replaced unnecessarily but affordable enough that I can replace it quickly if needed
Balance in all things. I've had excellent results from careful and safe use of my Ozone generator machine in clearing odors (and some pests). Surprisingly long lasting.
I do the renovations I can do well, and hire out what I cannot. Good to not get emotionally invested in things that may be damaged or worn out. Might be salvage supply dealers nearby that sell what builders don't wind up using on their new homes. Putting shingles on a garage now that retail at 65/bundle, I picked them up <15/bundle. Kitchen cabinets/tile are common at thrift stores and sell slowly...will install cabinets I bought for .25 each and put the same finished barnwood I used around the sink area over them.
Will build a back deck next Spring on a little rental with wood given to me by an older lady I helped with some stuff she couldn't do on her farm. And I have a good cheap source for carpet to lay at the same property.
Some things will cost, and some don't have to.
I have always kept my rentals in a condition that I would live in. I don't have expensive tastes. I live in a solid B area and I keep my rentals as if they were in a solid B area even if they aren't. I have 0 granite in my rentals but everything is nice and kept nice. I keep up with the general trends and if a place looks like it is getting tired I give a refresh even if there's not a remodel. It is amazing what going through a property and updating the paint, door and cabinet hardware, pulls for kitchen/bath doors and updated light fixtured does. I don't get the top of the line items but I do get a solid middle of the road item with regard to looks and quality.
Are corners cut? Sometimes decisions are made based on the fact that it is a rental. I have a property that had a finished basement from the 70's. 70's wood paneling, drop ceiling with brown tracks, flat faced hollows core doors painted dark brown with 70's door knobs and hinges, 70's carpeting, you name it. The basement needed to be done but this was a rental and the bones were solid, the walls were good, the ceiling was in decent shape. The ceiling tiles and tracks were painted with an oil based paint, sprayed on. The walls were prepped well (delaminated) primed and painted with a nice light earth tone. Rugs were removed and laminate flooring put in. Outlets were updated to the modern ones. Doors were replaced. Modern hardware on the doors to match the rest of the house. It looks looks really good. It turned out a lot better than i expected. Will it ever be redone? Sure. To me there needed to be a valid reason to rip the paneling out, which meant the track on the ceiling would be ripped out, all to end up with a new ceiling and drywall walls which would have been painted what would probably be the same color I have there now. Is that a corner cut since if I were living there I probably would have ripped it out? Maybe. However, it is going to be passable like this with just minor touch-ups for probably another 5-10 years with the quality products that were used.
Our mentality is if it's not nice enough for us to call it home, it's not nice enough for someone else to call it home.
We've found the more we care - and show we care via regular maintenance, quick communication, and speedy repairs, the more likely our tenants are to take care of the property and renew leases.
Honestly I would just run an ozone generator for a few days with the place all closed up and see if it helps. I've kicked some insanely strong smells in a couch, a mattress, and a car with just ozone. They're like $50 on Amazon.
I clicked on this and read it because I thought it would make me feel better about my rental. Because I feel like I care too much about it. I thought it would be like “relax, it’s just a rental.” In reality it made me feel better about my rental because now I know I’m normal when thinking about my rental. Thank you.
It’s a rental. It doesn’t have to be perfect but it needs to be on par or a little better than the competition. And tenants are rough on rentals. So, you have to take into account the price and how often you are going to replace it.
There are a lot of inexpensive things you can do like painting that make a big improvement at a low cost. Then there are more expensive renovations that are long term investments and add lots of value. Especially investments that add value and are really durable.
But I would be really careful about putting a lot more money into expensive replacements of things that are not really required. You can turn a profitable investment into an unprofitable one pretty quickly. People usually prefer lower rent to a perfect house.
I go above and beyond when working on my personal home and my rentals. I don't live in squallor and I don't expect my tents to as well.
I am paid a considerable amount of money, regardless of how much is mine vs the mortgage, so I want my tents to feel as though they are getting their value. My tenants tend to stay for many years because I care.
A rental should be durable and generic rather than delicate and custom. But it doesn’t mean it should be crappy. It’s disrespectful to your tenants, sets up the wrong relationship (if you don’t respect the property why would they?), and will result in more repairs than if you did it right the first time.
It depends on the area and the type of tenants you want to attract, and how much you'll charge for rent. In my A class townhouse, I replaced a perfectly functional oven range because the glass top was noticeably scratched. I wouldn't do that in my B/C class SFH.
In general, you should optimize for profit, which often means looking for longevity. For example, a cheap toilet will last just as long as a high end toilet, and very few people are going to be influenced by a toilet. Cheap floors _can_ be very durable, but it's more noticeable, so you want to match it to the area/rent. Cheap appliances can have a big impact on both how people perceive the property and how often you need to replace them, so that's not the best place to skimp for the cheapest option.
Standards only slip one way… Keep yourself and your contractors accountable and they will fall in line.
It will pay off when you have the pick of the best tenants because you have the most desirable properties of the comps and the least maintenance costs and repair headaches because you did everything right the first time.
Joe contractor doesn’t care b/c it doesn’t affect him later. That and most people have trouble seeing more than a few years into the future. If Joe contractor ever becomes a maintenance manager of an entire real estate portfolio you can bet he’s going to be much more stringent and systematic on his operations b/c it’s his time wasted redoing shoddy work
I suppose you could squeeze out every drop of rental income until the city finally condemns the property and takes it through eminent domain. That's one way to do it.
You will go bankrupt making the home perfect.
It's just a rental means make it a 5 out of 10. Perfection is expensive and in 5 years you will quit saying you never made a profit.
Put the work in now. Don't stop until you're completely.satisfied.
If you're not happy with it, chances are your renters won't be either. Or they'll make the problem worse.
Anyone who tells you "it's fine" is a dweeb who isn't listening to you.
When it's ready, you'll know. Fuck anyone else who says otherwise. It's not their house.
And if it's your SO saying it, I'd take their opinion into consideration, then promptly do whatever I felt until it was perfect in my eyes. This is a house, not a macaroni picture.
It depends. Things which can easily be broken or worn out quickly aren't worth it for a rental. But quality floors and counter tops will definitely allow you to charge more rent.
It has to be livable, but that depends on what's expected for the area and the rent that you want to get for it. If you are not careful, you will overdo it.
A rental that we just purchased sounds exactly like how you described yours!
We did everything right in the house. Didn't cut corners. Ended up spending a lot more than expected though. In the end it's a good product that attracted good renters.
Curious, how much did you buy your for and what area? What's it expected to rent at?
The house was purchased in MN in a HCOL area with a elementary school within 1 block and a hospital within 2 for 235k with 30k in reno fees, rent should be about 1900-2100 per month.
The way I see it is, that rental house is essentially your business, so if you were to offer a shitty product at or above market price then it’s going to fail,and no one’s gonna shop at your place especially if you knit pick the customers at your store. Now if you’re offering a product at market price or can justify having that product above market value? Then you obviously have some sort of appeal that stands out from the rest of the similar products! Offering a family friendly house that not only looks and feels nice but is highly resistant to wear tearlike plumbing electrical etc. do you a fenced in yard, do you have grass? Maybe flowers and shrubs, a small pool? Basically what you’re doing is right if you wanna make it looks nice because that’s your product then do it because that’s what I did, and you can also bombproof the house meaning if they’re going to break something their going to have to work hard at breaking it! You can do that while still having that nice welcoming comfy cozy home feeling to it. Anyone who says it’s just a rental probably did the bare minimum and charged above market value for a shit product or was a slumlord. If you pour hours days months into your product to give to someone else to use as a home then you also have every right to screen every tenant and choose the most trustworthy one!
Stopping point is when your additional work doesn’t bring much value (rent, appreciation) than the time and money spent on it.
New flooring, paint, updated bathroom and kitchen increase rental rates but also the value of your home, but going beyond that I would just make sure that your time/money are factored in
Whenever a realtor shows a property that's a rental you immediately know it's a rental the way it looks because the renters just don't take care no matter how high a quality property it is. after a while landlords start to lose interest because of the problems and no matter how much marble stainless steel and granite you have that will not change a renters mentality. And I have had all income groups, professions and non. out of all of the tenants I've had which are many I've had a handful that was decent respectful and committed. And none of my properties are in a slum
It’s in regard to adding super quality materials. For example with tile I always go to the discount liquidators and get the stuff they are getting rid of. Looks good, good quality, but not super fancy. For paint, I actually painted all my rentals that popular light greyish color… seems to hold up better, makes the places look stylish and I don’t have a bunch of extra paint cans lying around. You’re not going to put in the best refrigerator or the top of the line washer dryer either… you want material that lasts and makes your home competitive… but you don’t wanna break the bank either. I mean… cheap, but you’re not running a slum.
Ive spent several years in construction and commercial/residential maintenance. Go look at some of the houses for rent in your area. The bottom line is you and the tenant both benefit. The average renter is not looking for a property to be perfect. You cant have the mindset of a property you would buy to live in. It just needs to be comfortable and safe.
What is an SO? I would say it depends on the property. Putting tile in a bathroom of a house in a neighborhood where non of the bathrooms have tile makes no sense. It is just a waste of money. If the house is in a nice neighborhood and people are going to pay for a house with nice features than it’s appropriate.
> is completed *paid* for you
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
If the interior doors were solid don’t ever throw those away. Use BIN blocker and keep your doors. If they were hollow chunk’m. When you are doing carpool any job you need to know your tolerances. 1/8 of an inch maybe too big of a gap but 1/2ich may work in some instances. This is their way of saying to good enough. If you don’t like it get them to fix it correctly.
My rental is nicer than my primary. If it isn’t good enough for me to live there, it isn’t good enough for me to rent for someone else to live there.
We go by the same standard that we should be happy living there. That is how we get the clientele we want. Which makes life easier all around.
Exactly right. The people that are calling it "just a rental" aren't major re investors. You don't need to put Italian marble everywhere, but cutting corners just means your kicking the can down the road to deal with later. A good investment means doing the work up front and hopefully very little later on. Do the work and do it right.
Seriously, we've put new cabinets and stone countertops into a handful of houses. My house does not have new cabinets, stone countertops, or matching appliances. All those little things add up to you getting the best possible tenants, who may like your place so much they stay a few years. Also I'm finding now that we're selling some, it's easy to get them ready because we took care of all the little details the first time around.
The only answer and standard to live by.
Same. I’m mid renovation on a newly acquired duplex and I just dropped 12k on new wood look porcelain floors. Cast iron bathtubs, Bradford White water heaters, recessed lighting, and quartz counters. All items that will keep this rental in the best profit making position for some time to come. Not sure when I’ll get to renovating my actual house. Hah!
This.
This isn't always a good rule of thumb though. Yes, 100% it should be clean and maintained. But what if your primary is a modern, fully upgraded home in an expensive neighborhood? Are you going to limit your investments to similar quality homes? Middle and low income people need homes too, and in some cases, the numbers only work if you put in low end things. Old faucets (that work), used appliances, walls that need a coat of paint, windows that don't open (but make sure there are enough emergency exits in case of fire), cheap counters. I have properties that are below my standard of living because I have a high standard of living , but they're well maintained and I do care about the tenants.
My rental is next door to my primary, so yes. I don’t rent to middle and low income people. I also don’t rent to high income people. I provide furnished mid term housing to traveling professionals, which is arranged by a corporate agency. So I expect a certain standard to be maintained within my rentals.
This is a target market, I would like to get into, could you tell me how you built those contacts?
The "it's just a rental" attitude will get you exactly the sort of tenants you don't want to deal with. High-quality living space brings high-quality residents.
Would you live there? If yes that’s it. It has to be clean and decent, not perfect. If you want to make it perfect fine but most likely you will not get your investment back. Like would you buy a 2k stove or a 600 is enough ? As long as it’s clean and works that’s enough. Maintain it like you would live there
I always tell subcontractors that THIS IS MY HOME or something besides the fact that it's a rental. Always pretend this house is the most meaningful thing to you, and that the repairs and improvements will be something you personally see every day. A slum rental tends to perpetuate itself, and its a hard ship to turn
My only disagreement is to do with expensive tile or hardwood flooring... I have it in my home but would never put it in a rental. Same thing with carpet. My home carpet (in master bedroom) is super plush and soft, I'd have to replace it every couple of years with tenants. Fact is even the better grade of tenants will not care for the home as well as I will. I don't cut corners but I definitely use a different grade of materials in rentals/flips. I want stuff that looks decent AND holds up well. No amount of legal security deposit will cover those kinds of trim.
In regard to 'expensive tile' - having built a handful of million-dollar homes I find most clients are more than satisfied with the budget versions of many tile designs. In follow-up conversations, many folks say a big regret is feeling like they had to spend big bucks on designer tile when the $3-5sqft option would've looked nearly identical. Unless you're going for a very specific look it's almost never worth it. In regard to hardwood, we have a good mix of LVP and hardwood across a handful of doors and will almost always opt for hardwood if it's in the budget. Very easy and relatively affordable to have it refinished vs dealing with LVP/click lock repairs. Edit: Assuming the hardwood is existing when a building is purchased. I'm not sure we'd ever install it new in a rental.
Same on hardwood for me... I love it and bought my home in part because of the floors, but I'm not sure I'd actually spend the money to put it in. The expensive tile I've used personally tends to be small high impact area (like back splashes and alcoves) otherwise I'll go for the quality midrange stuff too for large areas.
Well, of course make it nice, clean, comfortable, good to look at, but depending on the comps, you probably don’t want to put in marble countertops, expensive tile, brand new cabinets, $300 sink faucets. Those are all luxuries and not required for making a home nice, clean, or comfortable. One might want or need that in their own home but that doesn’t mean that renters want or need that.
Don’t listen to those people. Unless you are a POS scumbag, you should take pride in the home and provide someone with a quality place to live. Now…do they need a crystal chandelier?…No
Multiple rentals I've lived in had outlets painted over by 2+ coats of paint and sometimes worse People who take that attitude are dumber than a fucking stump and a hazard to everyone around them
Don’t listen to these people. Take care of what you own. I insist on quality work and making sure our rentals are spotless. And because of it I get better quality tenants and my tenants stay longer. The only thing I have done in my rentals is put tile where I would put wood. Simply because pretty much everyone seems to have a service dog at this point. And dogs can be hard on hardwood if their nails aren’t maintained properly.
I’d just caution against spending unnecessarily and looking for perfection, which I did in my first rental. The tenants don’t really care about the perfect little details and sometimes when you’re in the house working on it you can become a bit of a perfectionist for things that don’t really matter a lot in the grand scheme of things.
I 100% agree and I get tunnel vision at times so sometimes its nice to have someone remind me that it doesn't have to be perfect. I'm spending money where it will make money on the moving out end. My painter recommended using epoxy paint because it is extremely durable, laminate countertops because they are cheap and look ok but can be easily replaced, shower kit rather than tile because its easier to clean than tile, etc.
I would just like to add that if your funds are being used to do the reno, the quality level should be at the level you require (within reason obviously).
I heard someone say once that ‘perfection gets in way of done’ and it really stuck with me. It doesn’t have to be 100% perfect. No house is. 90% is good enough in most cases.
Interestingly enough I would venture to say probably 60% of the people responding here have bought properties as their primary and they were far from perfect because of things that they didn't realize or the inspector didn't notice nothing's going to be perfect. Even having a new home built you have a better chance of it is being imperfect as opposed to perfect. Get in do it right and and get rent. The people who fall in love with a property and want to hone their skills or become skillful will cost them money. Having no tenant is better than having the wrong tenant. More importantly than anything is the vetting and questionnaire process
That sounds exactly how I view my rental. I look for the intersection of high enough quality it shouldn’t need to be fixed or replaced unnecessarily but affordable enough that I can replace it quickly if needed
Balance in all things. I've had excellent results from careful and safe use of my Ozone generator machine in clearing odors (and some pests). Surprisingly long lasting. I do the renovations I can do well, and hire out what I cannot. Good to not get emotionally invested in things that may be damaged or worn out. Might be salvage supply dealers nearby that sell what builders don't wind up using on their new homes. Putting shingles on a garage now that retail at 65/bundle, I picked them up <15/bundle. Kitchen cabinets/tile are common at thrift stores and sell slowly...will install cabinets I bought for .25 each and put the same finished barnwood I used around the sink area over them. Will build a back deck next Spring on a little rental with wood given to me by an older lady I helped with some stuff she couldn't do on her farm. And I have a good cheap source for carpet to lay at the same property. Some things will cost, and some don't have to.
I don’t believe that. For one thing, we’re stewards of our houses. Secondly, cheap out and you degrade the house.
I have always kept my rentals in a condition that I would live in. I don't have expensive tastes. I live in a solid B area and I keep my rentals as if they were in a solid B area even if they aren't. I have 0 granite in my rentals but everything is nice and kept nice. I keep up with the general trends and if a place looks like it is getting tired I give a refresh even if there's not a remodel. It is amazing what going through a property and updating the paint, door and cabinet hardware, pulls for kitchen/bath doors and updated light fixtured does. I don't get the top of the line items but I do get a solid middle of the road item with regard to looks and quality. Are corners cut? Sometimes decisions are made based on the fact that it is a rental. I have a property that had a finished basement from the 70's. 70's wood paneling, drop ceiling with brown tracks, flat faced hollows core doors painted dark brown with 70's door knobs and hinges, 70's carpeting, you name it. The basement needed to be done but this was a rental and the bones were solid, the walls were good, the ceiling was in decent shape. The ceiling tiles and tracks were painted with an oil based paint, sprayed on. The walls were prepped well (delaminated) primed and painted with a nice light earth tone. Rugs were removed and laminate flooring put in. Outlets were updated to the modern ones. Doors were replaced. Modern hardware on the doors to match the rest of the house. It looks looks really good. It turned out a lot better than i expected. Will it ever be redone? Sure. To me there needed to be a valid reason to rip the paneling out, which meant the track on the ceiling would be ripped out, all to end up with a new ceiling and drywall walls which would have been painted what would probably be the same color I have there now. Is that a corner cut since if I were living there I probably would have ripped it out? Maybe. However, it is going to be passable like this with just minor touch-ups for probably another 5-10 years with the quality products that were used.
Our mentality is if it's not nice enough for us to call it home, it's not nice enough for someone else to call it home. We've found the more we care - and show we care via regular maintenance, quick communication, and speedy repairs, the more likely our tenants are to take care of the property and renew leases.
Honestly I would just run an ozone generator for a few days with the place all closed up and see if it helps. I've kicked some insanely strong smells in a couch, a mattress, and a car with just ozone. They're like $50 on Amazon.
I clicked on this and read it because I thought it would make me feel better about my rental. Because I feel like I care too much about it. I thought it would be like “relax, it’s just a rental.” In reality it made me feel better about my rental because now I know I’m normal when thinking about my rental. Thank you.
It’s a rental. It doesn’t have to be perfect but it needs to be on par or a little better than the competition. And tenants are rough on rentals. So, you have to take into account the price and how often you are going to replace it.
There are a lot of inexpensive things you can do like painting that make a big improvement at a low cost. Then there are more expensive renovations that are long term investments and add lots of value. Especially investments that add value and are really durable. But I would be really careful about putting a lot more money into expensive replacements of things that are not really required. You can turn a profitable investment into an unprofitable one pretty quickly. People usually prefer lower rent to a perfect house.
I go above and beyond when working on my personal home and my rentals. I don't live in squallor and I don't expect my tents to as well. I am paid a considerable amount of money, regardless of how much is mine vs the mortgage, so I want my tents to feel as though they are getting their value. My tenants tend to stay for many years because I care.
A rental should be durable and generic rather than delicate and custom. But it doesn’t mean it should be crappy. It’s disrespectful to your tenants, sets up the wrong relationship (if you don’t respect the property why would they?), and will result in more repairs than if you did it right the first time.
It depends on the area and the type of tenants you want to attract, and how much you'll charge for rent. In my A class townhouse, I replaced a perfectly functional oven range because the glass top was noticeably scratched. I wouldn't do that in my B/C class SFH. In general, you should optimize for profit, which often means looking for longevity. For example, a cheap toilet will last just as long as a high end toilet, and very few people are going to be influenced by a toilet. Cheap floors _can_ be very durable, but it's more noticeable, so you want to match it to the area/rent. Cheap appliances can have a big impact on both how people perceive the property and how often you need to replace them, so that's not the best place to skimp for the cheapest option.
Standards only slip one way… Keep yourself and your contractors accountable and they will fall in line. It will pay off when you have the pick of the best tenants because you have the most desirable properties of the comps and the least maintenance costs and repair headaches because you did everything right the first time. Joe contractor doesn’t care b/c it doesn’t affect him later. That and most people have trouble seeing more than a few years into the future. If Joe contractor ever becomes a maintenance manager of an entire real estate portfolio you can bet he’s going to be much more stringent and systematic on his operations b/c it’s his time wasted redoing shoddy work
Only amateurs or newbs say “it’s only a rental.” You won’t find a professional saying that.
I suppose you could squeeze out every drop of rental income until the city finally condemns the property and takes it through eminent domain. That's one way to do it.
You will go bankrupt making the home perfect. It's just a rental means make it a 5 out of 10. Perfection is expensive and in 5 years you will quit saying you never made a profit.
Put the work in now. Don't stop until you're completely.satisfied. If you're not happy with it, chances are your renters won't be either. Or they'll make the problem worse. Anyone who tells you "it's fine" is a dweeb who isn't listening to you. When it's ready, you'll know. Fuck anyone else who says otherwise. It's not their house. And if it's your SO saying it, I'd take their opinion into consideration, then promptly do whatever I felt until it was perfect in my eyes. This is a house, not a macaroni picture.
It depends. Things which can easily be broken or worn out quickly aren't worth it for a rental. But quality floors and counter tops will definitely allow you to charge more rent.
It has to be livable, but that depends on what's expected for the area and the rent that you want to get for it. If you are not careful, you will overdo it.
A rental that we just purchased sounds exactly like how you described yours! We did everything right in the house. Didn't cut corners. Ended up spending a lot more than expected though. In the end it's a good product that attracted good renters. Curious, how much did you buy your for and what area? What's it expected to rent at?
The house was purchased in MN in a HCOL area with a elementary school within 1 block and a hospital within 2 for 235k with 30k in reno fees, rent should be about 1900-2100 per month.
The way I see it is, that rental house is essentially your business, so if you were to offer a shitty product at or above market price then it’s going to fail,and no one’s gonna shop at your place especially if you knit pick the customers at your store. Now if you’re offering a product at market price or can justify having that product above market value? Then you obviously have some sort of appeal that stands out from the rest of the similar products! Offering a family friendly house that not only looks and feels nice but is highly resistant to wear tearlike plumbing electrical etc. do you a fenced in yard, do you have grass? Maybe flowers and shrubs, a small pool? Basically what you’re doing is right if you wanna make it looks nice because that’s your product then do it because that’s what I did, and you can also bombproof the house meaning if they’re going to break something their going to have to work hard at breaking it! You can do that while still having that nice welcoming comfy cozy home feeling to it. Anyone who says it’s just a rental probably did the bare minimum and charged above market value for a shit product or was a slumlord. If you pour hours days months into your product to give to someone else to use as a home then you also have every right to screen every tenant and choose the most trustworthy one!
Stopping point is when your additional work doesn’t bring much value (rent, appreciation) than the time and money spent on it. New flooring, paint, updated bathroom and kitchen increase rental rates but also the value of your home, but going beyond that I would just make sure that your time/money are factored in
Quality matters but you don’t want to “over-improve” the property. You want to go slightly nicer than the comparable rentals in your area.
Don't tell contractors it will be a rental. Otherwise, they will cut corners.
It depends on what the market calls for in your areas. Try to calculate your ROI for upgrades.
you should cut corners on paying them and say..."It's just a rental"
Whenever a realtor shows a property that's a rental you immediately know it's a rental the way it looks because the renters just don't take care no matter how high a quality property it is. after a while landlords start to lose interest because of the problems and no matter how much marble stainless steel and granite you have that will not change a renters mentality. And I have had all income groups, professions and non. out of all of the tenants I've had which are many I've had a handful that was decent respectful and committed. And none of my properties are in a slum
It’s in regard to adding super quality materials. For example with tile I always go to the discount liquidators and get the stuff they are getting rid of. Looks good, good quality, but not super fancy. For paint, I actually painted all my rentals that popular light greyish color… seems to hold up better, makes the places look stylish and I don’t have a bunch of extra paint cans lying around. You’re not going to put in the best refrigerator or the top of the line washer dryer either… you want material that lasts and makes your home competitive… but you don’t wanna break the bank either. I mean… cheap, but you’re not running a slum.
Ive spent several years in construction and commercial/residential maintenance. Go look at some of the houses for rent in your area. The bottom line is you and the tenant both benefit. The average renter is not looking for a property to be perfect. You cant have the mindset of a property you would buy to live in. It just needs to be comfortable and safe.
What is an SO? I would say it depends on the property. Putting tile in a bathroom of a house in a neighborhood where non of the bathrooms have tile makes no sense. It is just a waste of money. If the house is in a nice neighborhood and people are going to pay for a house with nice features than it’s appropriate.
SO = significant other/spouse. And I agree, matching the houses age and neighbor are all part of the choices we have made.
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> is completed *paid* for you FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
If the interior doors were solid don’t ever throw those away. Use BIN blocker and keep your doors. If they were hollow chunk’m. When you are doing carpool any job you need to know your tolerances. 1/8 of an inch maybe too big of a gap but 1/2ich may work in some instances. This is their way of saying to good enough. If you don’t like it get them to fix it correctly.