Give your rental property a makeover
By Melissa Wirkus
The slowing
market has had a lot of different effects on homeowners
across the nation, many being negative. One thing the
slowing market has caused for homeowners is for them
to rent out their properties (both second homes, primary
homes and investment properties) until they find a buyer
for them.
With the surplus of homes on the market and falling
prices, many homeowners are finding it impossible to
find a buyer. This is causing many to rent out the property
because they cannot afford the mortgage on their primary
home and their second home, which is the case for many
people.
Or some people just need to rent
for a variety of other reasons.
So, this may mean that there are many more properties
for rent then normal, so how do you make yours stand
out from everyone else?
Even if you do not have a lot of money
to spend there are simple things you can do to your
property to get it looking as fabulous as ever.
A recent article posted on legalwiz.com by William Bronchick
and Robert Dahlstrom, “10 easy ways to spruce
up your rental or rehab,” discusses some easy
things you can do to make your property more attractive
to the potential buyer.
“It's easy to fix up your properties if you have
unlimited cash. However, you need to keep your repairs
to a minimum to stay profitable. You also need to keep
your properties in good shape to attract tenants or
buyers.
There are the basic improvements, such as carpet and
paint, but these can still costs thousands of dollars.
The following are some inexpensive ways to improve your
properties with very little cash.”
One of the easiest and most inexpensive things homeowners
can do is to replace the switch plates that go around
the electrical outlets and light switches. This may
seem trivial, but it can make a huge difference in the
appearance of your home.
“Most rental owners and rehabbers paint a unit
and leave the old, ugly switch plates. Even worse, some
even paint over them. New switch plates cost about 50
cents each. You can replace the entire house with new
switch plates for about $20. For the foyer, living room
and other obvious areas, spring for nice brass plates.
They run about $5 each - not much for added class.”
Another thing to consider to give your rental that fresh
new look is to replace or refurbish all of the doors.
If your doors are fairly new, consider replacing the
door handles.
The doors are something that every renter will obviously
use, so sometimes they get really banged up and dingy.
Replacing them will help your home look unused and fresh.
Pay special attention to getting a nice front door to
attract the renter’s attention.
Another area not to forget about is the kitchen. If
the person is renting out the property for a few weeks
or months, they are probably going to need to cook.
Giving your kitchen a face lift should be a main priority
in your rental property makeover.
“Replacing kitchen cabinets is expensive, but
painting them is cheap. If you have old 1970's style
wooden cabinets in a lovely dark brown shade, paint
them. Use a semi-gloss white and finish them with colorful
plastic knobs. No need to paint the inside of them (unless
you own a spray gun), since you are only trying to make
an impression.”
“Americans spend 99% of their time in the kitchen
(when they are not watching TV).
A fancy modern faucet looks great in the kitchen. They
can run as much as $150, but not to worry - most retailers
(Home Depot, Home Base, etc) often run clearance sales
on overstocked and discontinued models. I have found
nice Delta and Price Pfister faucets for about $60 on
sale.”
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