When you’re trying to rent your home, it’s very tempting to just invest willy-nilly in a number of different areas to try to improve its appeal to potential tenants. However, there are certain investments which are much more cost-effective, and which carry much greater weight with tenants than others. Here are some of the most valuable upgrades you can make to your rental home, to get it rented out much faster.
Bath and kitchen cabinets
If you’ve ever watched a potential tenant walk through a home on an inspection, you’ll notice that one of the very first things they do is open the kitchen cabinets or the bathroom cabinets. If they notice that the paint or the wood is chipping off, or that the cabinet is just barely hanging on to the hinge, that could be a deal-breaker right there or you would failed to rent your home. It’s definitely worth your while to inspect all the hinges, and carry out a new paint job on your cabinets, in addition to make sure that the interior is clean and has no water damage.
Flooring
Another potential deal-breaker is the flooring that you have in your living areas. While flooring can certainly be pretty expensive, it also adds significantly to the value of your property. If you don’t have elegant hardwood flooring, then any kind of hard floors are usually easier to clean, and will provide the house with a contemporary kind of feel. If you have carpets anywhere in the home, make sure they’re clean before being inspected by potential tenants.
Curtains and blinds
Make sure that any blinds in your home are not falling apart, and that they’re clean, so they don’t look like dated, old-fashioned relics. Curtains should be clean and should blend well with the interior of your home. If you’re not sure about how to coordinate curtains with the rest of your house, ask the advice of an expert otherwise you would lost to rent your home.
Fans and light fixtures
For any ceiling fans you have installed, make sure to choose the ones that are managed by strings rather than remote controls, since the remotes are pretty easy to lose. New fixtures are an inexpensive way to add appeal to the interior of your home, and modern LED lighting is much preferable to incandescent bulbs. This would be to your advantage, because LED bulbs are much more energy-efficient.
Appliances
You don’t need to have the very best name brand appliances installed in the home, but they should be clean and totally functional. If you have hookups for a washer and dryer, it’s best to include these in the house, because it will add a great deal of value for the tenant. Make sure your heating and cooling systems are operational, that filters are cleaned, and that duct work is clear.
Doors and windows
Doors are one of the first things prospective tenants will see when they enter house, and windows will provide a view of the outside, so they are just as important. It’s very necessary to make a good first impression via windows and doors, because they will stick in the mind of prospective tenants as providing views of the interior and exterior.
Landscaping
Just as the front door will provide the very first glimpse of the house itself, the front yard will be the first thing tenants notice as they walk up to the house. A messy or cluttered front yard will detract from your home’s appearance, so you’ll do yourself a favor by maintaining a pleasant, orderly arrangement of shrubbery and nicely mowed lawn outside the home.
Paint
The paint on the exterior of your home can make a huge impression on prospective tenants, and they won’t want to see peeling or chipped paint around the house. Paint on the interior of the home should also be well presented, so if it’s necessary to paint either the inside of the outside of your house, that’s a very small investment which will achieve a very worthwhile result.