Different ways you can increase your rental property returns
Tuesday 21 January 2020
Below are some of the most ideal ways you can increase your rental property returns.
Update the property
A new coat of paint, new floor coverings and resurfacing of the bathroom should increase rent by 10%. If you decide to put in a new kitchen, this alone should increase the rent by a further 10%. Updating rental properties not only increases your rental yield, but it also helps to attract a better-quality tenant.
Make the grounds easy to maintain
Most people don’t want to spend their free time pulling out weeds and deadheading flowers, and if your tenant does not have green fingers, the place will soon look a bit sad. Not to mention friction between landlord and tenant as to how things are maintained. Easy-care plants and a good layer of mulch should keep things looking good.
Allow pets
Many people own pets; tenants are no different; there is a lower percentage of rental properties that are suitable/allow pets. If you can make your property pet-friendly, you will often find that tenants will pay you a premium for this. The plus side is people with pets tend to stay longer.
In contrast to this, one of the worst ways to increase your rental returns is to cut back on maintenance. Sometimes when you can’t increase your income, you may consider cutting back on expenses. Don’t! There are several reasons you shouldn’t do this. Firstly, a property that is poorly maintained aggravates the tenant and will create headaches for you (and your property manager). Secondly, a poorly maintained property doesn’t attract good quality tenants. Finally, you don’t want to be contravening any residential tenancies rules and take the risk of fines at the tenancy tribunal by providing sub-standard accommodation.
The golden rule is happy tenants mean happy landlords.
