Keep it basic vs make it fancy low cost vs putting in a little more

[Steven Maduro]

I was talking to a friend of mine who has been renting apartments for about 10 years. his advice to me was just clean the apartment really well
everything is commercial grade carpet and builder grade fixtures and counters vanites,etc

me being somewhat of an artist wanted to make the apartment a little hgtv worthy.

He disagreed completely citing a story of some tenants that used an iron to burn marks in his carpets in every room

and poured cement down his drains
as well as took a hammer to all the tile in the bathrooms

ok horror tenants aside/

my argument to putting niceties in the rental is to keep the rental rented,

with the housing market the way it is there are a lot of rentals to chooose from

what makes yours special I am not saying buy marble counter tops but maybe corian
perhaps go to ikea and get a floating vanity
instead of a pre purchased tub surround tile with 12x12 make your bathrooms look like a 4 star hotel or at least a three star.

why?
so you can find good tenants quickly

my friend had his apartment vacant for three months
at 1,700 per month he lost a lot of income
if that happens twice in five years
he lost more than the spruce ups i mentioned.

what do you guys think?

[Lynn McGeein]

While I do agree that a $1700/month rental probably is expected to have some upgrades, can you be sure the 3-month vacancy was solely due to a lack of them? Some months seem to be harder to find qualified applicants, Nov & Dec for me, so I now try to avoid vacancies at that time of year. It could also be that there were others vacant at the same time priced lower, so his took longer.

Some areas expect stainless steel appliances, granite counters, jetted tub, etc.; others, it's just an unnecessary expense as you're not going to get higher rents to cover the upgrades. Once you know your market, or the different markets you are in, then you'll know where it works and where it doesn't. If you like the idea of "hgtv worthy," then pick areas where it works for you financially and have fun with it.