Renting a property is often called making a passive income. However, those who are actually making their living this way know, it’s anything but passive. In fact, the only way to remain competitive is to always change and adapt your rental property to the needs of its tenants.
The property needs to be customized based on who will occupy it. This is an additional expense for the owner, but it also means the tenants will remain loyal and remain in your rental property often for the years to come.
Families
Families with kids are the most stable tenants you could have. They are usually looking for a rental property that they could use for years as well as a stable payment arrangement. Such properties should have a layout that’s made for families. It’s best if there are separate rooms for kids that are close by, but still allow the parents a sense of privacy.
It’s also useful to make the set up as modular as you can make it. That way the tenants could change things up as their kids grow older and family dynamics change.
Millennials
Millennials are at an age where they want to rent their first homes and set up their lifestyle on their own. Their interests and values will have to find their way to the home they choose. For instance, the rental property should be modified to be more environmentally friendly. This could be done by adding solar panels or by changing the faucets and pipes to conserve more water.
When it comes to design and aesthetic, it’s best to keep the property minimalistic. This is partly because that’s the aesthetic that appeals to the younger demographic and partly because it gives tenants a chance to add their own touch to the property.
Related: The Best Cities to Invest in Real Estate to Rent Out to Millennial Tenants
Pet Owners
Opening up your rental property to pet owners means you have an additional market to use, since most property owners don’t like accepting tenants who have pets. However, it will require a few significant modifications. It’s best to get rid of carpets wherever you can and opt for tiles instead.
It’s also useful to install fences in the rooms you don’t want the pets to enter. This is always done for the kitchen and bathrooms, but it can be done for other rooms you want to keep the pets out of. The fences should be easily removed when needed.
Short Term Tenants
There’s a lot of profit to be made in renting your property to tenants for a short period of time. Renting the property for one night or a weekend could possibly be the most lucrative rental strategy. This is an option for those properties where the location is the most important part of the appeal.
It’s fine if an apartment set for this purpose is sparsely decorated. You’ll still need to invest in accommodations by purchasing drinking glasses, bed sheets, and so forth, but what you’re mainly selling is a place to sleep and sights to see.
Home Offices
Modern tech advancements make it easier to set up and run a business, without the need for traditional infrastructure. Many decide to run their offices from their home and thus save on both the infrastructure and the commute.
If your tenants plan to use the rental property in this way, you should make adjustments to help them do so. Start by making sure the electoral wiring is fit to set up and run all the gadgets that the company might need. It may also be useful to leave one room for the actual office, so that tenant could separate home and office life even in these circumstances.
A Stylish Home
There are always tenants who greatly care what their home looks like and especially what it will look like to their guests and visitors. There’s no reason for a rented home not to be stylish and this doesn’t need to be expensive either.
The key to having a stylish rental property is to focus on a few items that will pop and showcase your aesthetic amongst the more practical and maintainable furniture.
A Retro Home
It may seem counterintuitive, but homes with a retro design are mostly sought after by younger tenants. This is partly a trend, but also partly a statement about the confusion and stress that comes with modern technology and a modern lifestyle. The market for these homes isn’t large, but the niche does exist and can be catered to with the right approach.
When setting up such a rental property, it’s important to choose a time period and therefore an aesthetic and stick to it. Combining many different time periods can look tacky and unorganized and that will turn the tenants away.
Mix and Match
These customizations are made to accommodate the needs of particular tenants. However, it’s a rare occasion that a tenant will fit one of these descriptions entirely. In most cases, you’ll need to mix and match different styles and therefore create a home that’s fit for multiple purposes at once.
It’s important for the rental property to have a sense of aesthetic even when it’s made for different purposes. A rental home should always be a bit simpler than it has to be so that the tenants are able to put their own touch on the place.
Conclusion
A rental property needs to be made to accommodate the needs of the tenants. Many property owners try to focus on niche markets and thus make rather specific accommodations based on those niches. These changes don’t need to be expensive even though sometimes they require both redecorating and remodeling.
Have in mind that regardless of their background and aesthetic preferences, all tenants want their home to be safe, clean and comfortable and that should be your primary concern when setting the property up. Everything else could be changed and improved later. The tenants don’t always stay long, so you have to consider how hard it would be to reverse the changes as well.
This article has been contributed by Amelia Atkins.