Rental improvements - break even timeframe?

[James Snedaker]

Hello everyone. I'd like to know if anybody uses a cost recovery timeline when making decisions about rental improvements. I own a 3/2 in a transitioning neigborhood in miami. It does not have central A/C and I know that this will easily fetch an additional $300 to $500 per month. My tenants are good, pay rent on time, let me know about basic maintenance, dont cause trouble. I dont want to price them out of my property.

If I put in 8K to 12K for a central A/C unit, how long should I expect until the improvement breaks even? If I raise rent $300, it will break even after 3 years for a $10,800 improvement. Do landlords have an ideal cost recovery time?

Thanks,

James

BTW I am a 34 year old CPA who turned my first house into a rental. Rent is currently $1,975 costs are $2,300 per month. Sitting on over 100K equity, not selling because neighborhood/equity is vastly improving more than negative cashflow. Just trying to pick low hanging fruit to bump up cash flow.