Just Renovated. Prospects freq ask if pre-wired for wifi & cable

[Jon S.]

Complete renovation of triplex, now showing. One lease signed, two remaining. Many prospects ask if it is pre-wired for wifi or cable? It's not. My logic is that I can't choose for tenants which carrier they want to choose for wifi or cable. We have Verizon and Bright House in Tampa. I think Google is testing areas of Tampa. And I think there might be something going on with Comcast, but I'm not sure. Either way, the wifi technology choices are changing rapidly, so I don't feel comfortable selecting one. I also think it would be expensive to pay labor and materials to get wired for services but if you are actually signing up for a service then I think they come out and do the wiring installation for free (or at a discount?) as part of their new account acquisition, is that correct? Still, the question remains, since prospects ask about it all the time, should I be paying someone to come out and pre-wire the 3 units up for wifi? Or should I just let the tenants figure that out for themselves when they move in? Will lack of pre-wired wifi or cable be a deal killer for some prospects, and if so, should I worry about it? I'm hoping others have already dealt with this dilemma and can give me some insight. Thanks

[Mike Wood]

@Jon S. I get asked about WiFi on some of my units.  I do see more and more apartments being offered with free WiFi, as one account provides the WiFi for the entire building.  That is likely what your perspective tenants are asking about.

As for Cable, the installers now charge for anything but a basic connection to the house.  I always pre-wire my houses for cable.  Otherwise you never know what some donkey cable installer will do, like drilling a million holes or running all kinds of wires everywhere.

I can't see either as being a deal killer, but I guess it depends on the class of tenants.  My guess your new tenants could be looking at $100-150 cost from the installer to run all the wiring for cable.  Not sure about the WiFi.