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Owning property is one of the shrewdest ways to build a robust financial strategy. Not only can owning property allow you to earn rent from tenants, but you can also grow your investment through the natural inflation of house price values.
Raising the value of properties in your portfolio allows you to benefit even more from housing inflation, granting you greater returns should you decide to sell in the future. In the short term, properties with a higher market value can also be let at higher rental rates – albeit proportional to the average rent of the property’s location. How, then, might you approach improving the value of your portfolio?
How Can You Increase the Value of Properties in Your Portfolio?
Maintenance and Repairs
Property repair and maintenance should already be a key priority for you with regard to your real estate portfolio, whether or not your properties are actively being let out to private tenants. As a landlord, property maintenance and repairs are legal requirements courtesy of the Defective Premises Act 1972; with dormant or empty properties, regular maintenance prevents the deterioration of the property and costly repairs in the future.
Regular maintenance and repairs can also serve to keep a property looking its best – a superficial point, but one with real impacts on the value of your portfolio beyond sheer monetary value. The more appealing your properties look, the easier they will be to rent out, giving you a more regular source of rental income over time.
The Kitchen and Bathroom
While living and sleeping spaces tend to take centre stage with regard to renovations, the kitchen and bathroom can be instrumental in developing the value – both monetary and perceived – of a property. With this in mind, some careful and targeted renovations can make tangible differences.
The better your bathroom suites look, the more enticing they will be to specific kinds of tenants. Visiting a bathroom showroom can help you figure out your direction here and strike a balance between affordable renovation and valuable end-product. The same is true for kitchens, where fresh units and surfaces can make cooking spaces feel a little bit more special.
Optional Extras
Attracting tenants in the short term is about more than presenting a respectable property. With some tangential investments in ‘extras’, you can make the decision much easier for tenants viewing your property and increase both rental yield and reliability of rental income.
These extras can take a number of shapes, from the provision of free fibre broadband to the inclusion of high-end appliances like smart fridges and dishwashers. Your imagination is your best friend here in finding new and unique ways to tailor the rental experience.
The Exterior
Lastly, we come to the exterior of your properties. First impressions are everything, and neat and tidy gardens can serve them well. Good landscaping can also improve the market value of your home through the addition of tangible features and the improvement of kerb appeal.
