Why are renovations important for your Dallas-Fort Worth investment property?
When you update and upgrade your rental property, you’ll accomplish several things:
- You’ll attract high-quality tenants who are looking for modern, welcoming, and well-maintained homes.
- You’ll increase your rental value.
- You’ll avoid long vacancies.
- You’ll protect the condition and value of your investment.
Cost-effective renovations can be especially helpful. If your property is well-maintained and in generally good condition, there’s no need for an expensive rehab or a total renovation. However, a few minor upgrades and updates will have a dramatic impact on the success of your investment.
Pay attention to floors, walls, fixtures, and easy-to-maintain landscaping.
Keep Your Paint and Lighting Bright
Fresh paint is always a good way to update your rental property. Instead of doing touch-ups here and there, paint the whole wall before a new tenant moves in. Most rental properties have every wall painted in some shade of white. You want to stick to neutral shades, but consider beige or grey instead. It will still match any décor and furniture that your tenant may have, and it also looks better in your photographs when your rental property is listed online.
Evaluate your indoor and outdoor lighting and update it if necessary. Outdoor lighting is critical for safety purposes, and inside tenants will want light fixtures that match the hardware you have in each room. This type of attention to detail will help you earn more on your investment property.
Curb Appeal and Low-Maintenance Landscaping
First impressions count, and your curb appeal creates the first impression that your prospective tenants will have about your property. Make sure the lawn has been mowed and any bushes, trees, or shrubs have been trimmed back. Don’t let any debris or trash settle around the property.
If you’re going to upgrade your landscaping, consider some pretty flowers, interesting foliage, and maybe a freshly painted front door or a new mailbox. You want to attract attention without requiring a lot of effort from your tenants to maintain the property’s exterior.
Upgrade to Hard Surface Floors
Cleaning the carpets in a rental property during every tenant turnover can feel pretty automatic. You might even replace the carpet every five years between tenants. Have you considered hard surface flooring instead of carpet? This renovation provides several benefits:
- It looks better. Hardwood floors or vinyl laminate or tile have a cleaner, more modern appearance.
- It’s better for prospective tenants who have allergies or pets. There aren’t any fibers to trap dog hair and dust.
- It’s easier for tenants to clean and maintain.
- You’ll get a longer lifespan out of hard surface flooring than you will from carpet, so your replacement costs go down per unit.
Tenants will look at floors and think about what they will look like once they’ve moved in and people are coming in and out of the house all day. Make sure they can imagine the floors remaining clean, durable, and attractive.
Clean and Modern Kitchen Renovations
The kitchen is where most of the activity takes place in a rental home. It’s where meals are shared and conversations are held. Good tenants will look for open, clean kitchens with energy-efficient appliances and excellent lighting. Think about installing a backsplash to provide a modern twist.
Look for other places that make sense for affordable upgrades. New faucets will make a big difference and even replacing the drawer pulls and cabinet hardware will give your kitchen an impressively updated vibe. Think about a backsplash or a dedicated pantry.
These are a few renovations that work well in most Dallas-Fort Worth rental properties. If you’d like a customized set of recommendations based on your rental home, please contact us at Assign Property Management.
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