IP reno prior to renting - bare necessitities

[billie40]

Hi,
We have recently purchased an investment property which requires a bit of work. Half of the house is 60s original and the other is an extension built in the 90s that requires little work. We are thinking we will try to contain the work we do at this stage to a paint job, new blinds, recarpet/polish of floorboards if they're in good nick in the bedrooms.
A lot of the old house is fibre cement sheeting (asbestos) which we are going to leave for now (apart from sheeting over with gyprock in the hallway due to a crack). The bathroom tiles need an update and I'd be keen on suggestions. There is some cracking of the tiles in the shower/bath however we are trying to avoid ripping everything up (due to the subsequent need for waterproofing & the possibility we might need to resheet the whole bathroom). I have considered tile paint for the wall tiles and retiling over the top of the floor tiles. What are people's thoughts?

 

[A Jeremy]

From a tenants point or view: What would you like if you were living there? Play out both scenarios in your head and see if you would feel justified paying x amount of rent in each case.

From your point of view: How much rent do you want to be able to charge? Do you want to roll the dice on potential for water damage, relying on tenants (who absolutely will not) to tell you when things begin looking a little swollen and mouldy.

I was given advice from an old mechanic to always clean your car before taking it for a service because they will treat it much better when they know you do... much like in Seinfeld.

As a landlord and as a property maintenance carpenter I can say that this is also true of leases. If people see wear or damage in a property they won't take as much care and will claim that 'the paint was always like that' or 'all of the flyscreens were already torn before we moved in'. I haven't heard them all but I've heard most of them.

It's not in everyone's budget but by providing a tenant with quality you demand them to maintain and return that quality when they vacate. Dealing only with new properties and having my PM carry out regular inspections means that wear and damage are always obvious and tenants take care of the new properties.

 

[billie40]

Thanks Jeremy, you make some very good points and your opinion is much appreciated

 

[travelbug]

Hi, I agree with Jeremy about tenants looking after places. We have done a complete reno on a few places and we get the pick of the tenants and because it's brand new they have all been looked after very well.

It really depends how bad it is too. I wouldn't want to waste money retiling a bathroom floor when you'll need to rip the whole thing out anyway if tiles are coming off the walls. Maybe just usae tile panit then reno later if you can't do it now.
The things that turn tenants off though are bad kitchens and bathrooms. Waht's the kitchen like? Can you do a quick fixup of that if needed?
You need to judge how muich you will spend by the return in rent and the capital gain in order to not spend too much unnecesarily.

 

[jacked]

Quality post Jeremy

 

[billie40]

Great advice guys, thanks.
Yes its a bit strange - half the house is 60s original fibro and the second half is an extension buil in the 90s. As such the extension is in good nick, with a nice kitchen and ensuite. The original house including living space two beds and bathroom bathroom are in need of some immediate maintenance/repair work but we things like resheeting the fibro internal walls we could do down the track.
I agree though - the better it presents, the better it is likely to be maintained by the tenant.

 

[ulvit]

Just remember that there is no immediate tax deductions on the works prior to tenants as its considered capitol improvements.
It would be considered when you sell, or depreciation...

 

[zimby]

Just remember that there is no immediate tax deductions on the works prior to tenants as its considered capitol improvements.
It would be considered when you sell, or depreciation...

Thank you for this valuable bit of information!!!
We are in a similar situation