Making smart renovations to your rental property will help you earn more rental income and attract the best tenants. Today, we’re talking about how you should decide what upgrades and updates to make.
Compare the Neighborhood Properties
The first and biggest key to determining which renovations to make is to take a look at what the rest of the neighborhood is like. You don’t want your property to be the palace among normal homes. You don’t want it to stand out that way. It should be similar to the other homes in the neighborhood. So, if every other house near yours has granite, you should put in granite. But if they don’t have granite, don’t bother making those renovations. If every house has hardwood floors, go ahead and update the flooring in your property. But if you’d be the only house with wood floors, don’t do it.
Renovations and Smart Investing
If your property is too different from the rest of the neighborhood, it’s going to cost you money. You’ll have a hard time finding people to rent it, and later on you’ll have a hard time finding people to buy it. You’re selling to a mass market. It’s also important to remember that this property is an investment for you. A lot of new investors will make a classic mistake: they’ll approach a property and think about what they would want in a home. That’s a terrible strategy. It doesn’t matter what you would want; it matters what the neighborhood wants. That’s what tenants are looking for. So hold off on the granite and the hardwoods unless it’s the standard throughout the neighborhood.
Cost Savings Over Time
Another thing to consider is your cost savings over time. I often install laminate plank vinyl, or LVP, because it will save 
me money in the long run. It might cost a little more initially, but the advantage is that this type of flooring does not put you outside the neighborhood, and you won’t have to continually replace your floors.
If you have any questions about the types of renovations you should be making for your Columbus rental property, please contact us at Bradstreet Proper. We would be happy to share more information with you.