Renovating Your Rental Property: Get the Most Bang for Your Buck!
When it comes to renovating the property, you want to get the most value for your dollar you can. This is especially true when it comes to renovating your rental property in Chicago. When you work with a property management team, you can easily find contractors to work on these items or you can do them yourself if you choose.
It is vital that the property updates will not only add more appeal to the apartment, they also need to be wise choices for your budget.
Here are a few ways you can work with your Chicago property manager to get the best value when doing renovations on your condominium building.
Before Replacement, Try Repairs
There is a tendency when a tenant moves out to completely repaint the interior and replace all the carpeting. While this is something that is fairly common, it’s also not always budget friendly. This is especially true when you have multiple homes or condominium units. The best practice is to first try to clean the carpets if they are not too old. Make sure to use a certified, qualified commercial carpet cleaner and see if they can bring new life back to the carpets. This will cost far less than replacing the carpet itself.
Cleaning the walls can also help prevent you from having to paint on a regular basis. While sometimes certain areas cannot simply be cleaned, other walls just need a little freshening up and they’re ready for the next tenants.
Plan Ahead for New Tenants
When your potential tenant comes to view the home, make sure they can visualize themselves living there. If the apartment is dirty, dark or dingy looking, they will most likely keep going to the next place on their list. Make sure your renovations and cleaning are done before showing it to a new potential tenant.
Remember this is Not Your Home
Many landlords and property owners try to treat their rental property as their home. That means buying the “best of the best” when it comes to fixtures, paint etc. You want the Chicago condominium to stand up to a tenant living there full time, but it does not need to have the same top of the line materials that you may elect to use in your own home. In most cases, your tenants are only going to live there temporarily and that’s typically how they treat it.
Start with Kitchen and Bathroom Areas
These are two of the main areas that get used the most when it comes to a condominium in Chicago. The kitchen is the central hub for most of a family’s activities and the bathrooms are used multiple times a day. Start renovating and updating in these two areas as they will help sell the rental of the home. Be sure you update the kitchen with appliances and fixtures and that the plumbing in the bathroom is up to date and standards.
Connected Property Management can assist you with making sure your budget-friendly renovations can get the most value for your effort.