Property Improvements: What You Need to Know

Whether you’re managing condominiums, townhomes, duplexes, or apartments, maximizing your income is always a high priority. While adding new properties to manage may not always be the most stress-free way to bring in more income, implementing a good year-round property improvements checklist is a great way to not only protect your investment, but also lengthen the life of it and ensure your tenants haven’t damaged any of the properties and are happy with where they live. However, before you start any property improvement projects, you will want to put some thought into rental property upgrades including what upgrades to make, why the upgrades are necessary, and what they mean for the future of your property.

Before Getting Started on Property Improvements

When dealing with any sort of property improvements on the exterior or interior your rental property, there are a few things you should know before getting started.

Tenants May Complain About Renovation Noise

While standard renovations include putting new paint on the walls or giving the carpets a detailed cleaning and shampooing, there are other projects that won’t be so pleasant on the ears of your tenants. This is why communicating any upcoming construction or renovations with your tenants is extremely important and while an e-mail or phone call may work in the instances where you need to talk to your tenant about small things, communicating via written letters is the best practice when it comes to bigger renovation projects.

Written communications not only help in the event of a dispute but putting all of the improvement information in writing also reduces your risk of liability and reduces misunderstandings.

At the end of the day, the construction noise may be loud, but the finished product will be well worth it so be sure to communicate with your tenants about when construction will happen and why it is happening.

We suggest working with your construction contractor to choose a time when most of your tenants are at work and avoid scheduling work extremely early in the morning or on weekends.

Improvements That Add Curb Appeal

When you’re driving through a particular neighborhood, you can almost always tell which property owners keep their buildings in the best shape, and it all starts with the exterior. A property that is well maintained sends a good signal to potential renters after seeing how well you maintain your buildings.

The first impression of a property is the most important, not only for marketing purposes, but it also helps your case in charging more new renters. As a property owner or manager, you have an obligation to ensure your monthly budget is put good use and that you have allocated enough funds for exterior maintenance.

Driveways that are free of potholes, fences that aren’t dilapidated, and landscaping that is well kept are all things you can do to increase a building’s curb appeal, no matter the type of property.

Maximize the Worth of Your Property

Not every tenant improvement project needs to be extravagant, some residents may just want a new ceiling fan, installed which makes the communication aspect of property management extremely important. Reach out to your current tenants and see what they want, then compare it to what other properties are improving upon and see if you can meet tenant needs and increase your property’s value.

Constantly improving your rental property is one of the best ways to ensure that you get the best return on your investment. After all, upgrades entice tenants to stay through multiple lease cycles and help you avoid tenant turnover.

Making the right tenant improvements will set your building apart from any others sitting on the market and save you money upfront.

At Camm Construction, we work with clients across the Kansas City area to make property improvements that can help bring increase revenue and make existing tenants happy. Contact us today to discuss your next project