When adding value to your rental properties, many investors make the mistake of thinking they have to spend major amounts of cash to find a profit from their updates. Thankfully, if you simply look toward trendiness and aesthetics, you can find affordable ways to make your properties look hip and new while spending little to no money during the update process! To guide landlords toward the right updates to keep their properties looking fresh, here are seven tips for designing (and updating) a trendy but durable rental property:
1. Bamboo Blinds
Blinds are an underrated accent that can make or break a home’s charm. Not only are they beautiful, but they are cheap, making them a great way to invest in a trendy switch that can be easily (and cheaply) replaced if need be. With the right color of bamboo, you can make the inside and outside of rooms look absolutely filled with personality (and they are great for keeping the light out when you’re taking a midday nap as well – not to mention how sustainable bamboo is)!
2. Update Your Electrical Outlets
Electrical outlets are easy to forget about (until they decide to give out that is). However, with new homes, adding USB and other useful connections to electrical outlets have become a major trend. Not only will this help you avoid needing so many USB boxes that you’d otherwise be able to ditch, but the switch-up will provide an incredibly cheap way to make your investment home look hip and up to date.
3. Consider Adding Bidets
Bidets are becoming more and more normal with every passing year (and American tushies are happy to hear it). If you’re renting to younger demographics especially, adding a bidet is a great way to show how hip and considerate you are as a landlord. Using bidets saves tenants money and keeps them much cleaner after a trip to the bathroom, and the daily use will add tons of value to your rental property with just a small, easy-to-install one-time investment.
4. Add Plants (if you can afford the upkeep)
Plants are the trendiest form of house decoration in the last decade. The variety of beautiful house plants you can buy up for a reasonable price is difficult to beat, and while the upkeep can add some costs, they tend to be fairly low as well. Not only will plants boost your home’s decorative appeal, but they will add more oxygen and an emotional boost to your home’s environment as well. Even if you’re renting in a location that does not have a natural tropical charm, the right houseplant can really make a property feel like you’re bringing a vacation home.
5. Update Your Lighting Fixtures
One of the least attractive qualities a rental property can present to potential renters is a poor lighting setup. From poorly maintained bulbs to old-looking lighting fixtures, it’s easy for the wrong choice of lighting fixture to become an annoyance for tenants every single time they turn on the lights. Finding hip, trendy fixtures that will not only look amazing but spread the light in a room in a more intimate fashion, is highly recommended.
6. Paint Your Ceilings
Walls are not the only part of your home’s interior that can benefit from a fresh coat of paint. The ceilings in your home might go generally unnoticed, but how much of that is due to how infrequently you do something to spice them up? If you add a beautiful paint coat to your ceiling and make it feel brand new, your home’s appeal will shoot up drastically. Fancy designs and patterns can be incorporated into ceiling paint for an even more dynamic feel. Especially in bedrooms, a fresh coat of paint on a ceiling can add a ton of personality to your investment home.
7. Update Your Doorknobs
It’s easy to forget that you use doorknobs every time you go into and out of a room. To make that experience that much more charming, it’s critical to keep your knobs looking trendy (and functional). Finding ways to add polished nickel or some other type of material that screams luxury is easier as well, thanks to how minor the investment is in comparison to other home updates. The mixture of this update and the new paint on your investment home’s ceilings will make every room look brand new.
Trendy Properties Rent More Quickly (and for More Money)!
By implementing these seven inexpensive updates into your rental properties, you’ll have a much easier time standing out from the competition. Especially when it comes to everyday functionality, bidets, light fixtures, and blinds can prove incredibly useful. To find renters at record speeds, and keep them locked into leases that will bring you consistent income every month, making these hip, trendy updates to your rental properties is an absolute must.