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Learn where your property sits relative to your market. Price accordingly.
An updated property gets you faster turnover and pick of the litter for tenants...
but it won't get you appreciably higher rent than the market as a whole will allow.
If you're in an $800/mo neighborhood you won't be attracting $1000 or $1200/mo tenants...
Focus instead on getting the best $800/mo tenant out there.
This I agree with.
The floors in my new place are absolute crap - the previous tenants painted the older floor (without the LL's permission!) with a cheap grey paint which peeled and chipped; they painted the walls a light grey; and the countertops are WAY worse than yours but they're not chipped, just worn and old. BUT everything else is great. I lived for a year in a place with a small apartment sized stove and a small apartment-sized crapy inefficient 'fridge. I do some catering from home and it was such a pain. This place has a BIG quite new stove and a full sized good quality 'fridge and freezer. I covered the LR floor with a full sized rug, asked the LL to repaint the walls white (no problem). LL said he'd have the countertops replaced but I didn't want to wait to move in, all my small appliances cover it and as long as it's functional that's all that matters to me. I love the area, the layout; have a great LL and if the place was "tarted up" I'd be paying WAY more rent.
Different strokes for different folks (I've been both tenant and landlord) but unless you're in a high rent area and can get more rent by spending money on updating I wouldn't worry about it. It's not "Homes and Gardens" but it's clean and functional and for many that's what's important. Get the good tenant in there first who likes it for what it is and after they've been there for a while and ask about some improvements then you can think about it.
I'm hoping to increase rent by $100, so my upgrades should match these expectations, which means no way I'm spending thousands of dollars, which will take years to break even.
The average rent for a 4 bed house like mine is ~$1950-2100 in this area.
I'm actually priced below market at $1850, so I need a reason for shoppers to justify paying market rate, without spending too much out of my own pocket. I saw a nearby $1950 rental, and they have slightly more upgrades. They have a tile countertop at least.
I need to pick and choose, because there are LOTS of things that could (but don't need to) be upgraded in this house. A lot of these upgrades are needed to help sell the house, not renting it though.
I just need to address what rental shoppers would find most important.... for the purpose of meeting market price point, and attracting more stable-job tenants, but at the same time, minimizing expense and vacancy, and maximizing rental income.
Last year, I put in more powerful toilets, new vanities, porcelain bathroom floors, and the stove.
So right now, the house is serviceable, and everything works.
My house is plain but cozy, has a good floor plan, big back yard, nice front yard, and a clear view of the mountains, is in a very quiet neighborhood, good location.
But something negative in the house is outweighing these positives for some people, especially the stable $70000+ households with 2 parents, 1.5 kids.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hillmarie
The counters are a BIG turn off, but so are the cabinets and floors.
ha! Most people with that reaction are women.
It's bad for me when women are also the decision makers.
It's bad for me when women are also the decision makers.
No doubt. I hope this isn't an entirely new concept for you.
Quote:
Last year, I put in more powerful toilets, new vanities, porcelain bathroom floors, and the stove.
So right now, the house is serviceable, and everything works.
Can we assume that you did these things because there was a need for them?
Was the need entirely mechanical or did the cosmetic play a role as well?
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But something negative in the house is outweighing these positives for some people
Something? Look at the picture in post #1.
I thought this was a rough neighborhood section 8 house.
In any case... you're on the right track as you know that the kitchen needs work.
The rest is about balancing the economics involved.
Good luck with that.
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especially the stable $70000+ households with 2 parents, 1.5 kids.
Is that the market you're in? ($70k/12) $5833 x25% = $1458 as affordable rent.
Your target rent ($1950) is 1/3 of that gross before any other housing expenses.
LA is a crazy market but that seems to be pushing it from here.
Good luck with that too.
Considering that you have already done the market evaluation and are looking for $100/mo, I suggest you NOT do tile countertops (grit gets in between the lines) and just get a nice laminate. Cheaper and much easier to keep clean. There are really some lovely and inexpensive laminates out there in all different styles. Just go look. Put in a nice tile backsplash. That will make worlds of difference in the appearance of the kitchen and will be much cheaper than tiling the countertops. Clean the cabinets up really well and run a same color stain over and re-varnish (should cost you under $50) and then put on new hardware. Even tho the color and style of your cabinets is not the current hot style, simply cleaned up with a fresh laminate countertop and nice backsplash.....they will look wonderful. The floor is kind of ugly, maybe retile but if its in good shape you might leave it. Get rid of the ugly curtains. I did a similar update (smaller kitchen) and did use granite just because I got a great price (Total including labor $1000 for the granite vs. $600 for laminate) but the new backsplash (I installed myself for $50) and cleaned up cabinets made the most difference. This whole project costed me $1200 including the new hardware on this property.
The #1 reason some landlords get more rent than others for a single family house is LOCATION -- quieter, closer to school, easier access to transit, safer looking yard all are the kind if things that folks with families will pay extra for. The number #2 factor beyond location is RAW SIZE -- an extra couple feet in bedrooms means kids can have sleepovers, extra room in garage means car and bicycles are all safe, extra space in basement means no need to store personal items in locker. If you have nice appliances and stuff life a washer / dryer as well as laundry tub and central air there is no reason to thing that countertop "upgrades" will get you more rent,min fact longer term tile counter tops will look GROSS far faster than laminate and trying to rent this place out after tenants have stained grout with coffee, wine, fruit, goodness-knows-what will take mney out of your pocket down the road!
The #1 reason some landlords get more rent than others for a single family house is LOCATION -- quieter, closer to school, easier access to transit, safer looking yard all are the kind if things that folks with families will pay extra for. The number #2 factor beyond location is RAW SIZE -- an extra couple feet in bedrooms means kids can have sleepovers, extra room in garage means car and bicycles are all safe, extra space in basement means no need to store personal items in locker. If you have nice appliances and stuff life a washer / dryer as well as laundry tub and central air there is no reason to thing that countertop "upgrades" will get you more rent,min fact longer term tile counter tops will look GROSS far faster than laminate and trying to rent this place out after tenants have stained grout with coffee, wine, fruit, goodness-knows-what will take mney out of your pocket down the road!
As a real estate agent and a property manager I would say don't fix it if it isn't broken. Depending on where you are trying to rent this house you need to compare it with other rentals and the price they are fetching and the amenities that are included.
It is true your kitchen looks dated but if everything is clean and works then it is good to go. I have seen people that spend big dollars to bring their rentals up to their standards then a year later I go in to access the damage and guess what.. No one will ever take care of your stuff like you would.
Keep the kitchen simple and functional meaning no big money upgrades, don't tile the counter that is also dated. When the time comes when you need to fix something like the burn mark on the counter the tenant left then do it. For now save your money.
To brighten things up for little outlay you could consider painting the cabinets a light colour or restain and varnish them also painting the walls to brighten them up.
It looks OK to me. The trouble with nice upgrades is that too many tenants just destroy them. Clean is the biggest selling point in a rental
If you want to see if an upgrade can increase your rent, get granite or, even better, travertine tiles and do the counters and a high back splash in those tiles. Then you can advertise travertine counter tops without the huge expense of solid granite counter tops. If tenants damage stone tiles, you can replace the damaged tiles and not the entire countertop, It might look fancier if the tiles are set turned pointed corner to the front, so you get a diamond effect. More cutting, but it is a pretty cheap upgrade if you are installing yourself.
That looks like that commercial flooring. if it is, give it good coat of wax and call it good. Tenants have a hard time damaging that stuff. If it is peel and stick, then replace it with Allure. If you do the floors, get something that is not slippery. My experience with tile in kitchens is that tenants drop something heavy and it will break or chip one tile. I haven't had problems with it in any other room.
I'd just give the cabinets a good cleaning and oiling. If you paint, then the tenants will chip the paint and you will be retouching forever after.
Personally, I don't mind the cabinets. They are dated, but they don't really bother me. Now painted white cabinets, as someone else mentioned doing, bother me. I would take dated wood look cabinets over white painted cabinets any day.
The floor is also not terrible to me.
The countertop would be an issue for me. The dated look, first of all, but also that front lip thing. Never seen that before in a house, and it would drive me crazy. I'd replace the countertops with just a simple kitchen laminate countertop.
And get rid of the curtains. That would help a lot, in my opinion.
Please don't install a ceramic tile countertop. The grout will end up a stained mess. I think a new light-colored laminate countertop that doesn't clash with the floor will make a huge difference. The current one gives me a headache. I don't think the floor looks bad at all. The cabinets are dated but won't look nearly as bad with a new countertop and new hardware. And I agree, lose the curtains.
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