As a landlord, it can be difficult to know when it’s time to make improvements to your rental property. When your asset is tenanted, it might seem an invasion of privacy to carry out improvement works – but of course, you want to avoid lengthy vacancy periods. In today’s blog, Think Property & Co explain how we help our landlords know when it’s time to improve their properties.
Why Improve Your Property?
Many landlords fall into the trap of only carrying out essential works. While these are indeed ‘essential’, a proactive landlord is one who acts early, rather than waiting for things to go wrong within their rental property. Servicing appliances like heaters and air conditioners, replacing doors and windows and updating bathrooms and kitchens can all add value to your property, keeping it fresh and ensuring it remains competitive within the market.
At Think Property & Co, we take note of necessary and recommended improvements at each of our routine inspections. Not only do we ensure that tenants are appropriately caring for your property, we note areas that might be in need of improvement – then, we report back to you. We understand that these improvement works can be costly, so we make it our priority to forewarn you of maintenance matters, allowing you time to prepare financially.
Works Between Tenancies
As a general rule of thumb, every 5 years or so, we recommend our landlords paint their property between tenancies. A fresh lick of paint brightens up the home and gives it a sense of freshness for prospective tenants attending open for inspections. Between tenancies is also a good time to carry out more disruptive works like bathroom and kitchen improvements. These may be an imposition on a tenant’s quiet enjoyment of the property, and could subject you to making rental discounts or taking other compensatory measures.
Carrying out works between tenancies can also enhance your property’s value – and the best time to increase your rent is at the start of a new lease agreement. Tenants will pay more for a property that feels premium, and by improving your property regularly you may be able to enjoy higher returns. Installing air conditioning, dishwashers, washing machines, BBQs, smart storage solutions and feature-packed cooktops can all result in tenants queuing round the block to secure your property.
How We Help You
Think Property & Co help our landlords keep on top of works by preparing a 2-5 year budget schedule. In this report, we include urgent works that require attention immediately, followed by a plan of action for the coming years, prioritising works in order of urgency and likelihood of adding value to your property. Following our budget schedule helps our landlords get the best bang for their buck, supporting them to financially prepare for larger improvements. We’ll take into account your long-term financial goals, and bear in mind any plans to sell so as not to over-capitalise on any improvements.
If you’re a landlord looking for full-service property management including advice on improving and maintaining your rental property, Think Property & Co are ready and waiting to help you. It’s just another way we’re #BetterForEveryone.