Spending time and money on your investment properties can pay off you just have to look at the big picture. I come across alot of landlords that invest in property and they just don’t want to put their hands in their pockets, this tells me that they have total disregard for the properties themselves and also for the tenants living in them. Its funny because we all spend money on ourselves like buying a new dress, having a hair cut, a massage or a new handbag but landlords don’t spend money on gutter cleans, chemwashing, chimney sweeps etc and we are talking about something that’s worth thousands of $$$$$$’s.
A well presented property attracts a different type of tenant that is willing to pay higher rents than everybody else, the tenant knows that the landlord maintains the house regularly and they are not going to have a constant battle trying to get them to fix something. Whenever I buy an investment property I always stand back and look at it carefully – I question myself ‘would I be prepared to live in this property’ and if I wouldn’t then why would I expect somebody else to pay to live there?
This smart landlord spent approx $25k for a full interior and exterior renovation on a home and income in Manurewa (3 bedroom house, 2 bedroom minor dwelling and double garage) a majority of the work was carried out by the landlord. The landlord gained quality tenants renting the 3 bedroom house at $455 per week and the two bedroom minor dwelling at $380 per week, recent valuations showed that due to improvements and capital growth the property is now worth $530k.
If regular inspections are done on the property (which will be every month) the landlord can keep a close check on how the tenants are looking after his investment and if any problems occur he can act on them quickly.
The landlord now has a cashflow positive property, a property that won’t need renovating for another 6 years and the ability to pull the equity out and purchase more investment properties
