Landlords:How good are your properties??

gerad_way

Would you consider the following too much on a let property.Basically am I wasting my money?
Newly installed bathroom and kitchen
re decoration throughout
central heating
new gas fires/surrounds
damproof course
window blinds
wooden floors downstairs carpet upstairs
interior doors
Am I doing too much. I look at it as I should provide the same standards that I would live in

clutton_2

"I look at it as I should provide the same standards that I would live in""

this is a laudable aim, but, you will find that you wil need to redecorate FAR more often than you would yuor own home.

i am finding that the competition is getting stronger every day and you have to have a "good quality product" to attract the right tenants.

you will now realise that for the first 3-4-5 year after purchase YOU DONT MAKE A PENNY !! (well not if you have an 85% LTV mortage).

Gingernutmeg

Since when did 'interior doors' become something noteworthy in a rental property?

clutton_2

i assumed OP meant should he replace them

UK007BullDog

I thought he already did it.

seven-day-weekend

I would do all those things.

Although had I have known when we had our new kitchen in our family home that I would be living in Spain and renting it out two years hence, I would not have had solid beech worktops, as the occupants (our son and two friends) just leave pools of water on them and they are warped to high heaven.

pickles110564

gerad_way wrote: »

Would you consider the following too much on a let property.Basically am I wasting my money?
Newly installed bathroom and kitchen
re decoration throughout
central heating
new gas fires/surrounds
damproof course
window blinds
wooden floors downstairs carpet upstairs
interior doors
Am I doing too much. I look at it as I should provide the same standards that I would live in

As we have found doing all this is a waste of time, renters will never look after the property as you would, you need to install the cheapest gear as you will have to replace most things when they move out.

Jorgan_2

gerad_way wrote: »

Would you consider the following too much on a let property.Basically am I wasting my money?
Newly installed bathroom and kitchen
re decoration throughout
central heating
new gas fires/surrounds
damproof course
window blinds
wooden floors downstairs carpet upstairs
interior doors
Am I doing too much. I look at it as I should provide the same standards that I would live in

It all depends what state the property was in prior to this work starting. In my experience, LL's who have poor quality properties tend to get through loads of tenants, those with better quality properties tend to keep tenants for longer.

Gingernutmeg

pickles110564 wrote: »

As we have found doing all this is a waste of time, renters will never look after the property as you would, you need to install the cheapest gear as you will have to replace most things when they move out.

How rude! I rent, and I've spent much of this weekend repainting the bathroom and installing shelves and a cabinet (with my LLs delighted permission). In my experience, LLs who install 'the cheapest gear' and expect to replace it treat their tenants with the same disdain and deserve all that they get. Oh, and incidentally, in every property I've ever rented I've always left it in a much better state than how I found it - I value having somewhere clean and pleasant to live and have absolutely no problem with caring for a property as if it were my own.

TJ27

I went to a property a few months ago, to check it out for HMO licensing purposes.

The landlord was a lovely chap and had just spent an absolute fortune on various things. He had gone and got himself a huge mortgage and wanted his tenants to have the best, as he thought he would be able to charge lots of rent and his house would always be in demand. He had put in fabulous new doors, decorated throughout, put lots of feature lighting in, new flooring and even installed a huge jucuzzi. He seemed very proud of his work and I had to agree that he had done a superb job.

Unfortunately however I also had to tell him to replace his expensive doors with fire doors, change the unsafe layout, upgrade every ceiling (requiring lots of redecoration), change his fire alarm, put in emergency lighting and install an extra toilet and basin.

The moral of the story? Unless you really know what you're doing, or have a good consultant, ask the council to have a look at your gaff before you do any work to it, however much you intend to spend. They won't charge you but it could save you a fortune.

N79

"Would you consider the following too much on a let property.Basically am I wasting my money?
Newly installed bathroom and kitchen
re decoration throughout
central heating
new gas fires/surrounds
damproof course
window blinds
wooden floors downstairs carpet upstairs
interior doors
Am I doing too much. I look at it as I should provide the same standards that I would live in"

It depends on who you intend to rent the property to. The best advice that I could suggest is that you need to get to know your market and know what they expect.

N79