I guess it’s a philosophical difference. I know several investors who have a bare-bones approach to getting rentals ready and maintaining them. I see their point because they are looking at it as a revenue generating object. Maintain just enough to protect the object and the investment.

On the other hand, I tend to go in the other direction and perhaps do too much to get a property ready and maintain it. But here’s the deal: my philosophy is to increase value and attract better tenants and keep them satisfied.

I don’t know if I’m right, but there is method to my fix-up madness. I want to attract a tenant who will be pleased with the house. I also have this idealistic notion that people will take better care of the property if they see I care about the property. Okay, you can quit snickering now.

Here is a list of reasons why I go a little overboard on fix-up and maintenance.

  1. I want the tenant to know that I care about the property and that it means something to me.
  2. I want the tenant to be proud of where they live.
  3. I want the property to be much more valuable when I sell it than when I bought it.
  4. I want to get a reputation of renting good homes in good condition and keeping them maintained.
  5. I want to be respected as a landlord and attract tenants through word of mouth.
  6. To minimize turnover and vacancy.

However, I do see that doing too much can negatively affect return on investment, so I have learned from other investors how to be frugal and not throw money away on vanity and a overdeveloped sense of aesthetics. Like everything else, I guess it’s about balance, but I tend to go more in the direction of doing more rather than less in hopes of getting a better return in the long run. Naive? What are you, and over-doer or an under-doer?