For a tenant, there’s almost nothing worse than signing a lease and discovering their new rental home is sweltering in summer and freezing in winter. As we move into the colder months, keep your current tenants happy or attract new, quality tenants, by sprucing up your investment property to suit. Here are some easy ways to do just that.
Effective window insulation is key to keeping the heat in.
Improve window insulation
Tenants tend to avoid properties that are likely to attract sky-high heating bills.
Tenants tend to avoid properties that are likely to attract sky-high heating bills. One quick and inexpensive fix is to maintain your windows, to reduce the amount of heat escaping the home. First of all, check all seals to eliminate chilly draughts if necessary. Apply window insulation film to provide a protective layer over the top of the glass or hang heavy curtains to help keep the warm air in. If your rental property is located in a particularly cold area, investing in double glazed windows might be well worth it.
Draft-proof doors
It’s amazing how much heat can escape from doors that don’t seal effectively - and good old door snakes don’t really make much of a difference in winter temps. Self-adhesive weather stripping around door frames might do the trick. For larger gaps, purchase door bottom seals. Particularly old doors might be better replaced by new ones incorporating effective seals.
Rethink your heaters
If you supply heaters for your tenants, consider if there are better options to reduce energy consumption while providing a warmer environment. Portable, electric heaters are usually the most expensive to run. Better options include fan heaters for small spaces. For a more permanent option that’s low on greenhouse gas emissions, natural gas central or wall heaters are effective and cheap to run. At the least, have heaters serviced to ensure they’re running at maximum efficiency.
A neat garden and sheltered entertaining area do wonders to attract prospective tenants.
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Prepare the yard
If your rental property has a yard or gardens, preparing them for winter, in autumn, allows for easy maintenance and offers an attractive lifestyle option for prospective tenants. To keep the grass alive, feed it with slow release fertiliser. Remove any damaged or dead branches or trees. Invest in cold weather flowering plants, such as lavender or Lily of the Valley shrubs. When you’re in the mood for renovating, there’s nothing like a cosy, undercover deck or patio with warm, ambient lighting, for highlighting the lifestyle possibilities of your property.
When you take action to spruce up your property before the cold weather hits, it’s a win-win situation for securing current tenants, finding new ones and, consequently, the profitability of your investment.