How Much Do You Improve Your Rentals?

[Brandon Turner]

I'm working on a blog post for the BiggerPockets Blog and I'm curious:

How nice do you make your rentals before putting a tenant in?

Specifically, I'm writing about turning a primary residence into a rental, but this question could apply to tenant turn-over as well.

I'll be taking some answers from this thread to pepper in quotes for my upcoming blog - so please, share your opinions!

[Mike H.]

Here's a quick checklist that I try to follow when I rehab my rentals. I see that other people have put some of the reasoning behind their rehab effort but I thought it would be good to have some responses at the detail level as well:

1) No gold in the light fixtures. Even if its perfect, gold is all replaced.
2) Replace all the electric outlet devices unless they look mostly new (and always replace all the lightswitch/outlet plates). New devices and covers along with a paint job go along way in making the house seem like new construction. Don't ask me why. But it just seems to work that way.
3) New appliances - black
4) When flooring is needed: Medium grade frieze for carpet in living areas, ceramic in kitchens and bathrooms although sometimes I do laminate in kitchen depending on the height/surface in connecting rooms.
5) Replace countertops if dated or damaged.
6) Paint all walls - but only paint ceiling if really bad.
7) Certifiy HVAC
8) Replace kitchen faucet but not bathroom unless really bad.
9) An upgraded ceiling fan in living room and master bedroom.

Thats typically my list and then I do what most of the others have mentioned above. What is my return if I want to do more? Will it help me get more tenants if I do something else? How am I doing on my budget? How much is the rental? (big difference in whether I will budge on an upgrade if the rent is 1,400 vs 1,100).

There are some rehabs where I end up doing more because I have extra money left in my budget (i.e. I had no surprises) so I don't mind spending that to upgrade the living room from carpet to laminate. Or to put in a new bathroom vanity where the existing one was still functional.