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CategoriesLong Term Rentals

3 Low Budget Spruce Ups for A Tired Apartment

By brioproperties,

 

 

 

Does your rental need some sprucing up but time and cash are low?  No worries, there are plenty of ways to breath new life into a rental without sucking the life out of your wallet.

Cabinet knobs and drawer handles

I feel like knobs and handles are overlooked and underrated improvements.  If your cabinets are in sturdy shape, hardware is a great way to add a new spin on them. Adding hardware even has a practical purpose: it helps extend the life of varnish or paint on the cabinets because it reduces the skin oil absorbed and fingernail destruction.   A package of 10-12 usually runs between $15-$20, this of course depends on the style you get. If you already have hardware (says dark 1970s hardware), swap them out for a more modern silver finish.

Outlet covers and light switch covers

Nothing makes a empty room pop like an electrical cover that is different from the wall color (but doesn’t clash with the outlet or switch color!).  You don’t have to do every room either. You can chose to only do the living room and kitchen (where people spend the majority of their waking time).  These covers run anywhere from .25 cents to $1.10 depending on the finish and type you need. A silver or black outlet cover is great way to add contrast to a white outlet and white-ish wall.

Showerhead

One of the best ways to make an old and tired bathroom sparkle is changing out the shower head and sink faucet. Oddly enough renters love shower heads that do more than just spray water. You don’t need to get one with a hand held adapter if the idea of a water fight in the bathroom scares you.  Many fixed ones come with 1, 2 or 3 alternative spray settings.

These are some low budget ways to spruce up the look of your rental. In a future I blog I will give you a review of the more expensive way to update an apartment using refinishing kits for counters, tubs, and cabinets. Yes, I’ve done all of them (not all in the same unit).

CategoriesLong Term Rentals

Tenant Proofing Your Units: Is There Such A Thing?

By brioproperties,

Most landlords would agree that the most aggravating aspect of being a real estate investor is tenant damage.  It is also one of the reasons most of us fear turnovers (preparing the unit for the next tenant).  Especially we have a gut feeling about the the unit condition.

I was listening to a real estate podcast a few months ago and the investor being interviewed mentioned he was attempting to develop a formula for “tenant-proofing” his rentals.  The idea is of intriguing.  He was quick to clarify that “tenant-proofing” did not mean making the unit (or an aspect of it) invulnerable to tenant damage. It was more about making a unit tenant-resistant as a more achievable goal.  My brain started going a flutter with the possibilities.  

After a few months of research and now implementation into my last vacancy I believe there are ways we can make our units tenant-resistant.  Part of it is due to better technology for flooring, blinds, etc.  Others are going back to the way things were “back in the good ole” days.  Yet some are simply thinking outside of the box for rentals.

Hollow Core Doors v. Other Doors

As landlords we do look at the price tags of items we buy for our rentals. It’s how we keep within a budget that makes our units cash flow.  Doors are not inexpensive especially when we may have to include staining or painting them in addition to simply buying it.  There are typically 3 kinds of interior doors to choose: hollow (least expensive), foam core (moderate price tag), and solid core door (most expensive).  The difference between a hollow door and the foam core door is like the difference between an spoiled apple and and ripe apple. The spoiled apple (hollow core door) easily gets dinged and punctured where as the ripe apple (the foam core door) can withstand a more pressure.  A solid core door would be the most durable option but I’ve been told the difference between foam core and solid core is not enough to justify the price tag.  There is usually a $15-$20 price difference between hollow to foam, then a $30-$50 jump from foam to solid.

Backsplash The Kitchen

One of my favorite things to do is to add a backsplash that runs the entire height of the wall space between kitchen counter and the bottom of the upper cabinets.  Its add dimension to the kitchen and also prevents wear and tear on a very tricky area to paint.  (It is the most annoying part to paint in my opinion.)  A backsplash can be individual tile and grout, a premade sheet of smaller tiles, or decorative tin or metal pieces.   The great part is that with the exception of tile and grout, the other options can easily be DIY.  

Get Rid Of Carpet

If you are still putting carpet in your rentals it is also one of the biggest ways you are inviting tenant damage and wear and tear.   Laminate flooring technology has increased greatly in the past 5 years so if you haven’t evaluated it lately at trip to your home improvement store is in order.  Now this isn’t to say laminate is foolproof.  You will want to be sure installation is done properly to avoid gaps.  It needs to be snug and tight.  If you rip up your carpet and find old hardwood flooring.  It may be salvageable.  You can rent an industrial floor sander for fairly inexpensive and cut your time and backbreaking work in half.  Best part is if you are a fan of golden tones you may not have to stain the floor. Poly brings out a warm golden hue in most wood floors.  Be sure lay down at least 3 coats poly.  After All, this is a tenant who will be living there and not you.  

Hinge Doorstops

For starters, if you aren’t making sure every door has door stop then that is an easy way to make your rental slightly more tenant resistant.  Yet baseboard door stops can easily get damaged.  Pets love to play with the baseboard door stops. Funny Fidos make it their mission in life to remove the nub (because its an awesome toy!).  Once the nub is gone your door stop is just a metal rod.   I like using hinge door stops lately.  I find that in combination with my foam core doors I barely have any door or wall damage from the opening of the door.  The nubs are also way to high for Fido turn into a toy.  

Heavy Duty Chair Rail Paint

As avid blog readers would know, all of my rentals that I own are old homes…I mean OLD.  So many of my units have items like chair rails, half wall paneling, and other wood details and accents not found in more modern rentals.  Needless to say these chair rails and paneling can take a beating.  I  took a suggestion from my handywoman and painted the chair rail and wall paneling with the epoxy shield-coating meant for basement floors.  Three months in it’s held up well where as with normal paint I would have had at least a half a dozen chips by now.  I won’t pretend it was easy to apply but the extra durability is proven to be worth it.

 

 

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