Looking for some simple and inexpensive ways to improve your rental property and make it more attractive to tenants? Here’s some inspiration for you, and many of these ideas have been recommended to our Client Owners with great success.
74 Great Rental Improvement Ideas
- Detach the auto timer alarm on the oven – tenants sometimes report the stove faulty when the timer goes off, or the oven won’t work
- Trim back bushes and trees for better access and give better sunlight
- Line cupboards, shelves and the bottom of drawers with lino off-cuts
- Rub around doors, drawers and cupboard doors with a white candle to stop them sticking
- Change the battery in existing smoke alarms every time the clocks change – it is estimated that 60% of home smoke detectors in use do not work either because they don’t have a battery in them, or the battery is flat
- Buy a small flashing LED light unit from the $2 shop – great for making the house look like it has a burglar alarm system
- Fit door stops on all internal doors to prevent damage and save you $$$heaps in repair bills
- Put new element foil liners in your electric stove top and oven to make your stove look smarter
- Oil all door hinges with light oil or WD40
- Fit a smoke alarm above the door inside each bedroom – NOT in the kitchen!
- Fit an outflow into the drain for the washing machine – saves any damage from overflowing
- Check taps for drips and stiffness – change washers and re-seat taps
- Make all power outlets doubles and ensure there are plenty of them
- Hang a new shower curtain and rail
- Fit a new toilet seat, toilet roll holder, toilet brush
- Fit a fire extinguisher in the kitchen
- Lock outhouses and sheds with a strong padlock from a Locksmith, not a cheap little padlock from the hardware store
- Replace the stove with a reconditioned one
- Provide a plastic bucket, mop, sponge, cloth, cleaning products, gloves – lets the tenant know you like the place to be kept clean
- Fit deadlocks to all outside doors
- Fit sensor lights outside the front door / on the pathway
- Paint the interior walls and ceilings – any colour you like as long as it is white – avoid wallpaper!
- Put automatic lights inside all the cupboards so they come on when you open the door
- Fit an extractor fan in kitchen (ensure it vents outside!)
- Keep it clean – wash outside of building and get paths water blasted
- Re-fit the kitchen – you don’t need a whole new kitchen. New benchtops and repainted unit doors/drawers with new handles works wonders
- Make sure all windows and doors close properly and securely – fit insulation foam around frames
- Fit a phone jack point in every room
- Provide whiteware – fridge, freezer, washing machine, drier, microwave
- Fit a dishwasher in the kitchen
- Replace all the light switches and lampshades
- Provide a dehumidifier
- Provide some heating – heat pump, flat panel wall heater (avoid CNG gas bottle heater!)
- Replace all light bulbs with 100 watt bulbs – makes the place seem brighter and bigger
- Insulate the property with batts and/or underfloor poly insulation
- Get proper insurance cover that includes a Landlord’s Extension – talk to your broker
- Build a carport – quick, cheap and simple way to make the property more attractive to tenants AND add capital value
- Build a new fence. Offers security and privacy, and looks good. Also check to see if your neighbours would like to pay half of the bill
- Paint the outside of the property
- Fit an extractor fan in bathroom
- Wash all the walls and ceilings
- Fit a new letterbox
- Steam clean the carpets
- Fit new curtains
- Have the lawns and garden maintained and add the cost to the rent
- Fit a burglar alarm
- Have the existing (old and rippled) carpet stretched and re-edged
- Renovate the bathroom
- Offer your property inclusive of power, and add the cost to the rent
- Fit an outside light by the front or back door, or on the path, or by the garage/car deck
- Replace the front door
- Change all the internal doorknobs
- Water blast the outside of the building, including the roof, and the path / steps / decks
- Install a range hood over the stove
- Put a new doormat at the front door
- Change deadlock barrels and keys with each new tenancy
- Send each tenant a bottle of wine and a card at Christmas to say thanks for being great tenants
- Use carpet off-cuts in hallways and entrances to protect carpet from wear and staining
- Arrange for the lawns and garden to be maintained by a contractor
- Have the windows washed monthly and include it in the rent
- Fit a large screen TV in the livingroom for the tenant’s use
- Fit an alarm system – $500 to $1500
- Get your property Monitored – $25 to $35 per month
- Alarm Response – $25 to $40 per callout
- Install plenty of Smoke Alarms
- Fit keyed window locks
- Fit window stays to all ground floor opening windows
- Deadlocks on doors and ranchsliders
- Exterior security lights with motion sensors
- Quality padlocks on sheds, basements, garages and lockups
- Replace louvred glass window slats
- Get friendly with the neighbours
- Join (or form) a local Neighbourhood Watch group
- Sign up to neighbourly.co.nz
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If you have any clever, smart or just downright brilliant ideas that you’re prepared to share, then send us YOUR great idea to include in this list. The best idea each month wins a copy of Dolf de Roos’ book “101 Ideas for your Rental Property” worth $30.
