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Evaluating Benefits: Upgrades to Your Rental Property

Woman wearing yellow gloves and red shirt painting kitchen cabinets.
Making plans to upgrade your single-family rental home once a year is not just a wise investment strategy but, on top of everything else, a financial security measure. Just as rental homes must be regularly maintained, they should, in addition, be updated to keep them current and competitive in the market, thereby ascertaining a steady increase in property value through the years.

Property values throughout Baltimore rely really on the home’s condition, so investing a little to upgrade things now and then is worth the time and cost involved.

But take note, not all upgrades tender direct benefits for property owners. Actually, a number of enhancements have very clear advantages for residents but don’t add much to the property’s value or help protect your investment better.

Reasonable upgrades to maintain property value

Setting up new kitchen cabinets in your rental properties may come across as an upgrade that would benefit you and your residents. Your residents will be super glad with splendid cabinets, and you might certainly think that new cabinets would keep your property values surging up. But sadly, kitchen cabinets are one upgrade that isn’t worth the cost because any increase in value you might see won’t be like much of what you’ve spent on the job.

If the kitchen cabinets in your rental are in completely dismal shape, you should categorically replace them with something pristine. Otherwise, a good cleaning or a coat of paint or stain is all your cabinets need to keep them magnificent-looking and functional.

Fancy stylings usually do not add to property value

Another upgrade that has far more benefits for the residents of a rental home than for the owner is high-end window treatments. To customize their space, residents may wish and ask for upgraded blinds, valences, or drapery systems.

But while owners expect residents to make a rental home comfortable, there’s no proper benefit to providing any window treatments beyond certain excellent but essential blinds or shutters. Fancy window treatments don’t add a lot to the overall value of your property and are tied so certainly to an individual style that they very seldom have general appeal.

Trendy decorative features may not benefit tenants

Speaking of personal style, other decorative features like custom garage doors, upper-class paint colors, and so on seem like a great aproach to enchant quality residents. Except, as with window treatments, the appeal of decorative features is a matter of personality. Therefore, upgrading beyond good quality, basic doors, windows, and interiors holds very little to no benefit for property owners.

Residents may be crazy about trendy decorative features for a long time, but as trends change, so will that enticement. To build up a quality home with lasting appeal, avoid the recent trends and heed the less exciting but exactly more tried-and-true décor for rental homes.

Whether you’ve put into effect upgrades or not, rental property maintenance should often be a priority to maintain value. At Real Property Management Metro, we properly safeguard your Baltimore investment while establishing terrific relationships with your residents. For more information as regards to our property management services, please contact us online or call us directly at 443-718-9832.

 

Originally Published on September 21, 2018

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