Should I do upgrades for my rental property

[Carleton C.]

I’m on the fence about if I should upgrade the inside of my rental property and I’m looking for advice.

Right now, the home is rented out with the current tenants leaving on May 31st. The new tenants are scheduled to move in on July 15th. I’m wondering if I should take the month and a half of vacancy to upgrade the property (lvt flooring and stainless steel appliances) that way I can price the unit a little higher next year. I’m currently renting at $2,500 per month and the other units with higher end upgrades are advertising at $2,700 - $2,800 per month (I have white appliances and carpet, with white tile in the kitchen).

Usually my only vacancy time is durning tenant turnover and that time is about 10 days, however I let the current tenants end their lease early this one time due to Covid-19. Should I do the upgrades now while I have this long vacancy? Or even at all? I did have one group of prospects asking would I be doing upgrades, however, the tenants who ultimately signed the lease never asked about any upgrades and are okay with how the house looks now (I told them I would only be doing repainting & carpet cleaning during turnover). Also, I forgot to mention that I rent to students.