Increase Rental Home Value | Expand Furniture

How to Increase Value in Your Rental Home With Smart Ideas.

Achieve a higher rental rate and pay off your rental mortgage faster in Vancouver, New York, Los Angeles or other expensive cities.

Property Style is Key.

Whether you already own a home, are looking to buy for yourself or are looking for income, the principles we describe here will help you regardless. In cities like Vancouver and New York where you have a very high cost per square foot it make senses to buy smaller. Design and styling of your apartment needs to utilize every square foot to receive back maximize value of your investment. Vancouverites should not have a tough time renting out their properties in a city where 52% of residents are actually renters and the vacancy rate for rentals hovers round 1%. The tough part is how to get a high enough yield from your rent to help pay off your mortgage or even make a profit on your house or apartment. Or if you are looking to buy and live, use these renting and design techniques to reduce your mortgage cost on a potential property purchase. If you do not already own a home property, look for smaller homes with good layouts in dense locations. Look for a property with a nice kitchen and nice bathrooms. A living room or den can be used as a convertible bedroom through a MurphySofa or a wall bed desk. Remember people in the city are active and are there for the location, not the vast space of their potential home. Functionality and features are huge deal and some convertible furniture goes a long way. Consider a building that is pet friendly, people love their pets and it’s premium feature you can offer over another rental unit. It is not easy to move to a new location, and it’s even harder if you have a pet. Cater to this market and you will be rewarded. Even if you do not want to rent to a pet owner, consider that you may want this option in the future so do not limit yourself by buying a property where the strata excludes pets.

Renting Out Your Property

A key step to renting out your property is finding the right tenant who will respect and treat your place like it is their own. A high end renter will often take better care of your property so it can be worth the investment to rent the unit furnished for a premium. Remember that you have to advertise why this location will work for the type of renter you are trying to attract. A small investment in cleaning, painting, decorating and furnishing can have a huge impact on the price you can rent a property at and will attract a respectful tenant. Make it as if you would want to live their yourself.

Space saver Wall bed couch combination and black glass extending table demonstration from expand fur

Watch this video on YouTube

Everyone and especially Vancouverites love a place with a bit of style that they can show off to their friends. Tenants want a wow factor and are willing to pay a premium for it. If your apartment is a bit older a fresh paint of coat can do wonders, and a few new appliances can and really make a difference. Next on to the furnishings, you don’t need to buy too much, minimalism works if you have some impact pieces. A nice table and some art on the wall makes a apartment feel warm and like a home. Finishing off the apartment with the right pieces can help you increase rent by +50%. That is a big increase and if you want to see some examples look no further than rentitfurnished.com. There are some rentals there which are short term that can go go for a 100% premium, but if you want stress free management 50% for a long term rental isn’t unusual.

Why would people pay such a premium for a furnished apartment?

Vancouver and New York have a lot of wealthy renters who simply don’t want to deal with furnishing and decorating an apartment but want instant gratification and a place they can move in without a hassle. Another big factor is a lot of potential tenants have transferred to Vancouver for work, they want a high end look and a home feeling but do want to buy furniture when they might not be in Vancouver for more than a year. The right furniture can also make a huge difference in the livability of an apartment. I have seen too many 600 sq ft apartments which don’t have the livability of a well furnished 400 sq ft apartment. Some of the simplest tricks – have small furniture and only use what you actually need. Just because your friend has a free wardrobe, doesn’t mean you should use it. Multifunctional furniture creates a massive opportunity to showcase the open space and possibilities of your home.

junior giant compacted as a console table

junior giant extended as a conference table

If you have a 0 bedroom or a 4 bedroom, there is always room for improvement with convertible Mexico space-saving furniture. One big example is how often do people actually use their dinner table? Most want to claim regularly, but realistically it is once per week if even that, so why do you let a clunky table take up so much space? With a junior giant expanding table you can hide this away against your wall during the day as a console table, yet have the option to seat 8-10 when the occasion calls. Another great option is a coffee table which most people use everyday – which expands into a dining table when you need it. The coffee table rests hidden in the living room, lifts for snacking in front of the sofa, and converts into a dining table when you have guests over.

Small sofas, well placed TV’s, organized electronics are a great start for a minimalistic clean look. A pet peeve which I have seen far too many times, is a regular sofa in front of a Murphy bed – in the day it is your lounge and then at night you have to physically move this by yourself to sleep. Not only is this cleary inefficient but it is a pain, awkward for the tenant and has no style (is very outdated). For a small investment into a MurphySofa you will have a modern stylish wall bed which actually folds over the sofa without having to move it. This is the kind of centerpiece that will really wow renters friends and family when they are over to visit and will keep your tenant happy in a smaller space. A convertible wall bed is absolutely necessary for a bachelor or studio apartment, but can make quite an impact on any sized home. When you can add a room to any home, it can attract a premium rent. This could be turning the main bedroom into an office/bedroom with a wall bed desk, or having a lounge with a hidden wall bed in the living room as a main bed or for guests. A majority of us like the option of having guests visit and not making them sleep on a blow up or a couch, but do we really need to dedicate a full time room in case guests come? That is why a Murphy bed is a perfect fit to help in these situations increasing your space during the day but giving the option of another room at night. When a tenant walks in to view the place for the first time, they will be impressed by extra space that is created through functional furniture that is in its compact mode, then they will be stunned by how it all works. That is the kind of thing which will attract your premium renter who will say yes on the spot. Lastly another bonus is after you have paid off your mortgage faster, you can sell your home for more as it is already staged well and has increased value to show to your new buyers.