What Upgrades Do Renters Like? (tenants, house, carpet, noise)

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I know there are lots of renters that read this forum. Would you please give a bit of help to my future tenants and let me know what upgrades are important to tenants. When you are searching for a new place to live, what features make your eyes sparkle?

[Jkgourmet]

After many years of home ownership, we rented in 2012-2013 while our house was being built. Keep in mind that I rented for 15+ years before I purchased a home, generally rented nicer places, and was a happy renter. This last experience reminded me of the bad part of renting. So I'll add my 2cents (as a senior citizen, which is a growing demographic of renters in some areas of the country).

Ditch the carpet. Please.
Built in microwave.
Wifi and Cable tv. I'll pay for it. Just have it all ready to go.
Noise control. But I don't know how a landlord could manage that, especially since I want you to ditch the carpet.
CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

I know there are lots of renters that read this forum. Would you please give a bit of help to my future tenants and let me know what upgrades are important to tenants. When you are searching for a new place to live, what features make your eyes sparkle?

I haven't been a renter since 2009, but when I was hunting for a new rental the things I valued highly were:

1.) A garage for my car. Attached garage: even better!

2.) A garden tub in the master bathroom.

3.) Ample closet space.

4.) Large pantry in the kitchen and modern appliances (fridge, dishwasher, stove, etc).

5.) Tile or wood floors. Carpet in a rental is nasty.

6.) Washer/dryer hookups.

I got most of that with my last rental, though the old crappy air conditioner that ran up my electric bills wasn't fun. The constantly-overflowing master toilet and leaking master tub (leaked into someone else's condo) weren't fun either. Landlord was too cheap to fix any of that properly.

Overall my last rental checked most of those boxes. (And for most women, no W/D hookups is a deal-breaker.)

[MtDreamer16]

We were long time renters (about 12 years), owned a home for 8 years, moved from St. Louis to Utah, and are back to renting again.


I don't know if I'd call them upgrades, but between finding where we are now, living with what we got, and learning what we want in the next place when we move in June, here's what is important to us:


1. No carpet, or as little as possible. Wood or tile is fine - whatever I can easily Swiffer. Another vote for carpet being gross.


2. Modern appliances. They don't have to be stainless or the newest - just not gross. The freezer side of the fridge here doesn't make ice at all so we buy bags, which is fine. Interestingly, the fridge side freezes everything toward the back regardless of the setting. And I wouldn't use water or ice through the door to save my life. Look at the works for those things sometimes and see what your water and ice are going through to get to your glass. I've learned I'm not a fan of side-by-side fridges.


3. Manuals or instructions for appliances, HVAC, and anything else we need. In STL there's no such thing as vacation mode for heat or water. We didn't have hot water for 24 hours here because the water heater was set to vacation mode since the house had been empty for a couple of months. We had never heard of such a thing and couldn't reach the property manager to figure out what to do. We did get left manuals for some appliances, which was hugely appreciated.


4. A covered outdoor space. Patio, deck, doesn't matter. It's beautiful here, even in the snow and cold, but there's no covered space to be outdoors and protected while you watch a sunrise or sunset.


5. Storage! Houses in Utah are ginormous. This place is 2700 sf, way bigger than the house we sold in STL, but there is still a huge lack of storage. Knowing this when we moved, and that we were moving again in 10 months, we didn't even unpack about a third of our stuff - just planned that way when we were packing and prioritized what would stay packed versus unpacked. Guess we'll learn what we can live without by June.


Overall, it's not really upgrades that matter to us. What matters is clean, useable, and not gross. It's the little things.

[prettybaby80]

nice counter tops, lots of storage, modern kitchen , no tile floors, something soundproof ( carpet?) good insulation between floors and floors, big closets, maybe outside storage , double sink, washer and dryer.... sound deadening products... insulation, insulation.. i'd pay extra for soundproofing and probably never leave

[StPaulGal]

It's been a few years now since I have rented, but the amenities that mattered to me were:

Deal-breakers
-Must have a dishwasher
-Must have private laundry facilities
-Must have a garage
-Must have at least 1.5 bathrooms
-Must have a gas stove

Preferred
-Hardwood floors, little to no carpet
-Original historic details
-Nice modern appliances
-Updated kitchen

Those are the ones that immediately spring to mind for me personally.

[RubyJune]

1. Hardwood floors
2. Granite counters
3. A colour other than white/beige
4. Dishwasher (a good one!)
5. Gas stove
6. In-unit washer/dryer (a good one!)

I don't ask for much in life, but my last place had all of the above and it was almost the most perfect condo ever.

[LifeIsGood01]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

I know there are lots of renters that read this forum. Would you please give a bit of help to my future tenants and let me know what upgrades are important to tenants. When you are searching for a new place to live, what features make your eyes sparkle?

Washer and dryer in the unit, or a hookup for them.

[kayelle77]

New windows and a nice bathroom.
What can I say? I'm easy to please.

[kayelle77]

Oh, and a parking spot. My current place doesn't have one because the guy who rents the garage uses it.