Property Owners vs Residents: Who Benefits from Upgrades to Your Cottage Grove Rental Property?

If you are thinking about making some upgrades to your single-family rental home, then you are on the right path. The best strategy for making sure your rental home’s value is kept afloat is to make sure that you have a plan to enhance some key items each year.  Just as rental homes need to have regular upkeep, they should also be updated to make sure they are up to speed on the current needs of potential residents, therefore, making them competitive in the market. Property values everywhere in Cottage Grove depend profoundly on the state of the home, which is why spending a little to upgrade things from time to time is deserving of the time and the cost associated.

However, not all upgrades offer immediate benefits for property owners. In particular, some upgrades have distinct advantages for the residents but don’t add much to the value of the property or help you protect your investment any better. Luckily, there are simple and cost-efficient upgrades you can make that will help get your rental home competitive without hurting your pockets.

For example, installing new kitchen cabinets may seem like an upgrade that would benefit both you and your residents. They will be thankful if they are afforded with quality cabinets, and you may even believe that new cabinets would help keep your property values high. But the reality is, kitchen cabinets are one upgrade that does not quite live up to expectations. They are costly, and any increase in value they give does not usually equal to the amount spent on the job. Consider giving the kitchen cabinets in your rental a good cleaning first, or maybe a change on the paint or stain would give it the change it needs before replacing. On the other hand, if the kitchen cabinets are in awful shape, then you unquestionably need to replace them.

The other upgrade that has far more benefits for the residents of a rental home than for the owner is high-end window treatments. Residents may try and request for upgraded blinds, valences, or drapery systems to modify their space. But while owners anticipate residents to make a rental home cozy, there’s no real benefit to furnishing any window treatments beyond some quality but basic blinds or shutters. Fancy window treatments don’t add a lot to the overall value of your property and are tied so strongly to an individual style that they rarely have broad appeal.

Addressing personal style, other features that are purely decorative like custom garage doors, cool paint colors, and so on may appear like a good way to captivate quality residents. But as with window treatments, the appeal of decorative features is a matter of personality. For this reason, upgrading over sound quality, fundamental doors, windows, and interiors holds little to no benefit for property owners.

Residents may relish those modern decorative features for a period, but as inclinations shift, so too will that appeal. To create a quality rental home with an enduring appeal, shun the latest trends and stick to the less exciting but more tried-and-true décor typical to rental homes.

Regardless if you’ve made upgrades or not, rental property maintenance must always be a priority to preserve value. At Real Property Management Greater Madison Metro, we are committed to protecting your investment while building exceptional relationships with your residents. For more information about our property management services, please contact us online or call us immediately at 608-310-1290.