Arranging for regular upgrades to your single-family rental home each year is a smart strategy to optimize your investment. Just as how rental properties need regular maintenance, so do they also need regular updating. It is what keeps them current and competitive in the market. Property values throughout Glendale depend on the state of the home. If either the inside or outside of the home is problematic, the property values would reflect it. This is why investing to upgrade things— even if it’s just a little and done from time to time— is worth the time and cost.
However, not all upgrades directly benefit the property owners. Really, there are some upgrades that fail to protect your investment or fail to increase the property value. These upgrades bring a lot of advantages for the resident but virtually nothing for the property owner. It’s important for you to study the options you have before making any large updates to your rental property in Glendale.
For instance, when thinking of a way to upgrade your rental properties, you might go for installing new kitchen cabinets thinking that this would benefit both you and your residents. Truly, your residents will most likely be happy with the quality cabinets, and this might lead you to believe that new cabinets increase property values. However, the effect kitchen cabinets have on your property values are so small that it is typically not worth the cost of installing it. In this case, the cost of the upgrade outweighs its benefits. If the kitchen cabinets in your rental home are in very bad shape, you really should have them replaced with something better. Otherwise, a good cleaning or maybe a new layer of paint or stain is really all you need to do to keep your cabinets in good condition.
Another upgrade that has far better advantages for the residents than for the owner of the rental home is high-end window treatments. You may notice that residents request for upgraded blinds, valances or drapery systems to customize the look and feel of their space. But while owners expect residents to do what they can to make their rental home comfortable, there is no real gain to providing any window treatments beyond standard blinds or shutters. Fancy window treatments rarely have broad appeal because they are closely linked to an individual style and they don’t really add much to a property’s value.
Speaking of individual style, other ornamental features like custom garage doors, contemporary paint colors, and so on might appear to be a good way to draw quality residents. But as with window treatments, the appeal of ornamental features can vary hugely from person to person. For this reason, upgrading beyond excellent quality, basic doors, windows, and interiors holds little to no benefit for property owners. To build a quality rental home with lasting appeal, avoid the newest trends and stick to the less exciting but clearly more tried-and-true décor themes that are regularly found in other rental homes.
Whether or not you’ve made upgrades, the chief priority, in order to maintain value, should constantly be the maintenance of your rental property. At Real Property Management East San Gabriel Valley, we are committed to protecting your investment while forming exceptional relationships with your residents. For added information about our property management services, please contact us online or call us directly at 626-600-2884.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
