Updating Your Rental Property

If you own a rental property and are planning to update it this year, there are several things that should be kept in mind to keep costs down, profits up, and satisfaction high.

Our three key tips for updating your rental property:

1. Play Up Your Property's Best Features

Does your long-term rental property have a huge yard? Landscape the heck out of it! Does your vacation rental have a private pool? Turn it into a tropical oasis! By playing up the features your property already has, you're able to capitalize on money you've already invested. It doesn't have to be an outdoor feature, either. If your furnished rental property has a wide flat-screen TV hanging in a big living room, splurge on a large, cozy sofa for renters to lounge on while they enjoy the room. If your kitchen is state-of-the-art, make sure your kitchen table is equally as nice. In an unfurnished long-term rental property, try installing light fixtures around outdoor spaces or painting the walls a light color to make rooms feel bigger.

2. Don't Worry About Perfection

Play up those great features! Splurge on a few items or projects you love! But, don't fret that it must look like a model home in every way. People use vacation rentals instead of hotels because they want a more authentic, personal experience. They expect that people will have lived there before their stay—and that they might be returning! What is perfect to one person might be entirely different than what is perfect to another. Use your best judgement and your own interests to furnish and model your property. A property manager or owner representative at a place like Island Realty can easily answer any specific questions you might have about a certain item or idea.

3. Accept Feedback

If renters are constantly asking you or your property manager for something—LISTEN. After all, they are very clearly your target market. If you consistently get reviews that mention the need for more outdoor seating, buy some more chairs. If your tenants call you every other week telling you the icemaker is broken, invest in a new freezer. The upfront cost of any update like this will certainly equal out when those lackluster reviews or nitpicky phone calls stop coming through to you. Additionally, an open line of communication between tenants, property managers, and property owners is highly desirable for tenants. They're more likely to recommend you and your property to their friends of they know that you will quickly and appropriately respond to suggestions and feedback.

Want more ideas, tips, and tricks for updating your rental property and maximizing revenue? Contact our team of long-term property managers or vacation rental owner representatives today!