When you purchase rental houses in Atlanta, Georgia for the first time, or when your most recent renters have moved out, you’ll usually want to put in a bit of repair and maintenance work, bringing the rental back to great condition for the next tenant.
However, you might be working on getting a new kind of renter, such as the growing segments of Millennial and Gen Z renters, or hoping to boost your rental rate while adding sought-after features to the property. Here are just a few of the rental upgrades that property investors are using to draw in interested tenants while also keeping their own company bottom line in mind.
Lighting and Hardware
It’s amazing the impact that a change in lighting can have on your space. Experimenting with soft white versus bright white lightbulbs, adding some LED efficiency and longevity to your lighting, and making sure that no spaces in the rental houses in Atlanta Georgia are left under-lit all make your place that much more inviting for renters. Small upgrades in lighting can make a space go from feeling sterile to comfortable.
Hardware on your bathroom and kitchen can start a similar transformation. Some think they need to completely redo the kitchen or bathroom to get the effect of a remodel, but doing some painting or adding a new modern set of handles and drawer knobs can really make a kitchen or bathroom pop without the price tag of a full-on remodel. You’ll be amazed what small tweaks can do.
Home Automation Technology
Home automation is any technology that allows something that used to be manually controlled to be controlled by a responsive technology. This includes everything from the webcam doorbell for security to the smart thermostat for keeping the home warm or cool, mostly when people are home. With these and other home automation items, your renters are in control still, but when they want easy access to the house’s lights on a phone app or the ability to speak to a speaker and start music playing, home automation can help them do things quickly and easily.
USB Wall Outlets and Other Conveniences
Small touches can make a property feel modern. Just replacing traditional wall outlets in convenient spots with outlets that have USB connectors to charge electronics can make a space feel attuned to the needs of younger generations and, really, everyone now that technology is such a prominent part of our lives. A great way to figure out what the latest in convenient upgrades are is to ask your current renters what they’d add to the property or what they like that their friends or family members have in their homes. You can get great feedback from those who are very well-acquainted with your space.
Energy-Efficient Appliances To Lower Utilities
When it’s time to replace the refrigerator or dishwasher anyway, Energy Star appliances provide a win-win for you as a property owner as well as a cash benefit to your renters. Energy efficiency in appliances helps keep the costs of electricity and other utilities down, essentially giving your renters a little bit back. If you include utilities in the rent, you get those savings yourself, but if you have residents pay their own utilities, they’ll benefit from the new appliances.
Thinking Bigger? Durable Flooring, Repainting, and Other Added Value Items
The above-mentioned items are usually smaller-ticket fixes or part of necessary additions or maintenance. You don’t have to stop there! Larger upgrades tend to require a bit more investment on your part, but when you make an effort, your rental property looks better for longer.
Repainting may be a common maintenance step, but it can really change the look and feel of both the interior and exterior of a property. If your property has carpet that is starting to look worn, replacing it with more durable hard flooring may cost some now, but will return dividends as you rent the property for years without having to replace the flooring as often as when it was carpet.
Work With a Great Property Manager to Upgrade Your Houses in Atlanta Georgia Intelligently
Property management understands the demand for rental houses in Atlanta Georgia. While making a multi-thousand dollar investment like a remodeled kitchen might seem like an exciting way to upgrade the property, your property manager will be able to talk to you about a few smaller fixes and changes that can achieve the same boost in renter appeal for a fraction of the cost. They can also advise you on when it makes sense to do the big fixes in order to command a long-term higher rent and keep your vacancy rate very low. Talk with us today!
