Retain tenants with design and rehab
In a given year, 50 percent of tenants will move out of their current rental unit, which can lead to extra work and extra costs for property managers. An older facility is especially vulnerable to turnover as renters seek newer living spaces.
While building a new property may be out of the question, an upfront investment in your property during a turnaround period can improve its living quality, generating higher satisfaction and motivating the next residents to stick around longer. If you want to keep your retention and renewals high and increase your market rate, make an extra investment during the turnaround period to rehab and design your space for the contemporary renter.
Even living spaces that have been gently lived in will suffer wear and tear over the years. To keep your property competitive, rehab is necessary after the departure of each resident. Nail holes, pin holes, and wall damage from furniture being moved in, out, and around is evidence to potential clients that a space has been well used. Minor wall damage may be one of the most superficial repairs to make, but that means it’s also one of the first things apartment hunters will see—especially if you are showing an unfurnished apartment. A patched wall and a fresh paint job for new tenants will give them the sense that they are living in their own space, not a used one.
But other repairs are also important. Old appliances, besides being huge energy wasters for your tenants, are a sure sign of a property’s age. On the other hand, newer appliances can make a space feel, if not state of the art, at least up to date. Make sure all of the everyday elements of the apartment work smoothly. Do sliding doors slide? Do doorknobs turn? Do drawers go in and out smoothly? Does the ceiling fan still move air? None of these things make an apartment unlivable, and it may be tempting to go the cheap and easy route by skipping the small stuff. But small annoyances will build up, frustrating tenants and motivating them to move on when their leases are up.
Attention to design also makes a huge difference in the look and feel of a property. Property managers often reach for the cheapest and easiest elements when they are rushing to put a property back on the market. Little consideration goes into whether a fixture matches a countertop, or whether the laminate wood flooring in the living room matches the flooring in the bedroom. A mismatched detail here and there may seem like the way of the business, but the overall aesthetic that such inattention creates devalues your apartment. On the other hand, when the elements of a space synchronize, an old building can look and feel fresh and new. A careful and professional hand designing a space, rather than simply running through a checklist of minimum repairs, creates and aesthetic that tenants will pay more for and stick with longer.
At satintouch, we are equipped to take your property through the whole process of rehab and design. Our method is customer centered: we work to develop a partnership with our clients and deliver a great product that is tailored to our clients’ visions for their properties. We love to help our clients create spaces that people want to live in—no matter how old the shell is.