I really like buying properties that were built in the 1920’s and 1940’s for rental properties. Why buy such an old house? Simple. I can get these really cheep.
However, there are certain upgrades you need to make so they will be more valuable to your rental customers. When they are more valued by your customers, they will stay longer and you will get a better cash flow for the property.
In this article I’m going to give you three tips on the types of improvements that I would recommend you make to these types of properties.
1) Increase the Energy Efficiency
The first improvement is to increase the energy efficiency property. One of the best way to do this is to make sure you don’t have too many windows. Many times these older homes have way too many windows because they were built for time when the only air conditioning was by opening the windows.
For instance, if it has more than one window in the bedroom I will usually close off unnecessary windows. Usually I have one window per bedroom, and sometimes as many as two. I’ll be sure that I do that in a way to so that wind can not get through.
Another good idea is to make sure that there’s plenty of installation in the attic. When you buy a house, make sure you look in the attic to see how much insulation you have up there. It should at least cover up the 2 x 4’s.
2) Improve the Layout
The second tip is to improve of the property. In older homes, there are often way too many walls and partitions. For example, in a duplex that I recently renovated, there was a wall partition separating a living area from kind of strange room that didn’t make too much sense. It was either a terrible bedroom that you had the walk through to get to the rest of the duplex, or it was a dining room which probably wouldn’t get used as a dining room anyway.
I decided to take out the wall partition. I made it into a much nicer, larger, more open living area. It makes the duplex much nicer and more appealing.
3) Upgrade Plumbing, Electrical, and Heat and Air
OK. The house is almost 80 years old. That means those pipes and wiring might be that old if hasn’t been replaced.
That’s expensive, though, isn’t it? Yes, it is expensive. But it’s probably inexpensive compared to the alternative.
It’s far better to go ahead and replace those systems with newer more up, to, date electrical, plumbing, or heating and air if it cuts down on your maintenance cost. Also, if you continually need to get maintenance done, your tenants are going to get very frustrated because things are not working properly. I recommend that you update those items in a cost effective way so that the house will be more functional.
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