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5 Investment Property Renovation Tips for Under $1000

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Owners of residential investment properties share a common dilemma: how to maximise rental income with minimal expense outlay. At the same time, prospective tenants are often seeking properties that have convenience, comfort and modern touches. Here are 5 tips that give an aesthetic boost to your investment property whilst not breaking the bank. In my experience, tenants will be happy to pay more in weekly rent when you’ve spruiked the property with these simple additions.

 • Replace kitchen cupboard and drawers handles
– Cost $100

This may seem simple enough but you’d be surprised how few investment property owners realise updating kitchen drawer and cupboard handles provides the room with an instant makeover (think: facelift for your kitchen). It’s as simple as taking a drive to the local Bunnings and buying stylish kitchen cupboard and drawer handles for the cost of a week’s avocado smash. Add in a screwdriver, an hour or so and there you go. C’mon any of us could do this.

• Replace bathroom tap wear and showerhead
– Cost $400 to $500

You’d be surprised how a fancy rain shower or hand-held shower can give your tired shower that touch of ooh la la. Some new taps, snazzy toilet roll holder and sleek towel rails all lead down the path of increasing your property’s growth and potential rental income. Equipment could be bought at Bunnings and installed by a qualified plumber. Most of the costings here are for labour. Even still, a fantastic way to upgrade your bathroom on the cheap (but we won’t tell anyone it’s cheap because it looks swish AF).

• Replace oyster lights with downlights or track lighting – Cost $200 to $600

Downlights not only provide more versatile and direct lighting but they look uber-modern and stylish. Out with those old oyster lights that look as appealing as soggy hot chips and in with the classy looking cool-tone downlights. If downlights won’t do the trick in your particular property then track lighting is another winner. You could even go all out and pop some pendant lights over benchtop areas for a sheik and fashionable look. Depending on the number of rooms to upgrade, pricing could range from $200 to $600. Should you supply the lighting equipment yourself then all you need is your favourite electrician to install all items (shout-out to Arthur my favourite electrician). Brand new lighting gives each room a classy and updated feel without breaking the budget.

• Install built-in closets in bedrooms
– Cost $700 to $950 per closet

Question: how do I entice tenants to lease my property, make the small bedroom(s) look spacious and increase the worth of my property all in one go? Answer: install built-in closets in the bedrooms. Built-ins provide additional storage space beyond that of a garage or storage area – which is a huge plus for prospective tenants. Mirrored glass sliding door closets open up the bedroom(s) and give the illusion of space and depth. The sliding doors also do not require additional room for opening which can be important should the bedroom be quite small, and hey, we know in a lot of newly built apartments the bedroom is the size of a sardine can. Mirrored built-ins in these cases are a necessity rather than a sweet addition. Regardless of the situation, installing built-in closets is a simple, yet cost-effective means of ticking multiple yes boxes at once. Interested tenants – check. Capital growth – check. Space-saving – check.

• Paint bathroom tiles rather than replacing
– Cost $300

The idea of re-tiling a bathroom is not only laborious but can prove costly. As a quick fix that will go the distance for a couple of years consider painting the tiles to give them a new lease on life. For a few hundred dollars you can say goodbye to the drab apricot tiles of the 1980s and transform them into glossy white sparkly numbers of 2019. Add in the tip from above regarding new tap wear and you could deliver an aesthetic makeover to your bathroom for a grand total of $600. Now that is my kind of renovation budget.

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