Upgrading a dated home…Is it worth it on a rental property?

[Eric Mauricio]

Hello BP community. This is my first "real" topic that I'm posting and I want to hear your take. So, we bought this home in June and we thought this would be the home where we'd raise our family for a few years. Unfortunately, my job thought differently and we'll be moving out of state next summer. We are debating on whether to sell it (if we have enough equity) or rent it out (which is what I'm leaning towards because we'd love to come back here in 4-6 years). I'll start that as a new topic when the time gets closer.

Now, back to my original question…Is it worth upgrading a dated home on a rental property? 

Our home is 4 bed/3 bath, approx. 2600 sq ft, 3 car garage, in a desirable neighborhood. However, the home was built in 1987 and it shows. I'm pretty sure the bathrooms have never been upgraded (linoleum is in good shape, just looks dated). The kitchen floors and counters are tile with some ugly, dirty grout. The white kitchen sink has some small nicks. The kitchen cabinets are nothing to praise about. The only things in the kitchen that were upgraded were the appliances (stainless steel). The 2 fireplaces are definitely dated (surrounded by tile with no mantle). Even the light switch and electrical outlet plates are all almond color. The laminate and carpet in the home is in good shape, though.

We have put some work in the house. We removed the popcorn ceiling and spray textured it, but you can see the imperfections ( I don't look up too often so it doesn't bother me). We upgraded the dining & breakfast nook lights and ceiling fans. We also painted the kids' rooms, but it might be too "loud" as a rental unit because one room has "Victoria Secret" pink stripes with a ceiling fan definitely for a little girl's room and the other room we painted teal and it has a modern looking black ceiling fan. 

A property manager said in today's rental market we SHOULD be able to get $2400/month (which would cover most of our mortgage/tax/insurance) just based on the location and size of our home. 

Would you make some updates and if so what would they be? Thanks for reading my ramble.  = )