Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa July 2018 | Page 26

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GREG HARRIS
CEO of Chas Everitt Property
Rentals
IMPROVING
Rental renovations
to attract top
tenants
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NEW FLOORING
Nothing says “dated” like scuffed floors or old carpeting, no
matter how clean it is, and installing new low-maintenance
tiles or wood flooring throughout will immediately give the
home a more modern and attractive look. Alternatively, if
there is parquet flooring under the old carpet, it is well worth
having it restored to its original gleaming condition.
S
o the lease ended, your tenant left
and now it’s time to advertise your
rental property again. But before
you do, you may want to consider doing
something more than the basic clean-
and-repaint work in preparation for the
next tenant.
It might be worth making some big-
ger home improvements now, even if
there is no immediate opportunity in
your local market to raise the rent. There
would certainly be an advantage, for
example, in being able to attract better
quality tenants – the kind who always
pay their rent on time, look after your
property as if it was their own, and are
becoming increasingly difficult to find
in the current economic climate.
And if that is what you aim to do,
you should know which renovations are
most likely to increase the appeal of your
property. These include:
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JULY/AUGUST 2018 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine
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NEW LIGHTING
No matter how well-located your property is, if the lighting
doesn’t do it justice, you could be sinking its appeal. A bright
home is always more inviting, so get rid of old fixtures and
dim globes and install some modern fittings and high power
LED or long-life globes. You should also think about some
additional over-counter lighting in kitchens and bathrooms.
MORE STORAGE
One of the top reasons always given by
tenants for moving is a lack of sufficient
storage, so take a good look at your rental
property to see if it really has enough
cupboards, cabinets and shelves, or if there are
unused spaces that could easily be converted to
aesthetically pleasing storage. Bear in mind that
clutter creates stress and that tenants who can’t
find anywhere to store their extra towels or winter
woollies are quickly going to get tired of making
do.
KITCHEN REVAMP
You don’t have to break the bank to
improve the kitchen, but it is worth
spending some money to take it from
ordinary to special. The kitchen is one of
the rooms that receives the most scrutiny
from potential tenants and if they don’t like it, they
are quite likely to move on to the next property.
The best kitchen “fixes” are attractive, durable
countertops; new cabinet doors; tiled instead of
painted walls; modern backsplashes; modern taps
and handles, additional plug-points and extra
spaces for appliances.
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BATHROOM UPDATE
As with kitchens, bathrooms can make or
break your competitive edge in the rental
market, so it is worth updating them to
set your propert y apart. The best “fixes”
in this case are bigger vanities with more
counter space; tiled instead of painted walls; mod-
ern taps, handles and shower heads; large mirrors;
bright lighting and frameless, walk-in showers.
SA Real Estate Investor Magazine JULY/AUGUST 2018
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