Investor · Bethlehem, PA · Member since 2016 · 929 posts · 951 votes
4y
@Account Closed you're overthinking this. Just get the unit in decent shape and put it on the market. You can always adjust some features later, but don't let these little details slow you down.
The answer to your question is YES, recessed lighting looks more modern, BUT it's not necessary.
I don't think that's quite fair. I just did this in one of my units. An Electrical Contractor using a helper should have that done in one day, then another 4 hrs for drywall patch and paint. That's about 24 man hours or about $15 per hour. I don't know anyone licensed who wants to work for that amount.....
Rental Property Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2021 · 32 posts · 32 votes
4y
I would recommend recessed lighting if you are wanting to modernize. I would not recommend canned recessed lighting as that is becoming a dated look. There is recessed lighting that is flush.
Ceiling fans in rentals are a PITA anyway; we always take them down when they die. Tenants never clean them so you end up with dirt pancakes on top of the blades, and unless you get good ones they end up wobbling or squealing.
I've read this here many times, and yet have very few problems with the many low end ones I've installed. Tenants seem to like them, I think they're a plus when showing the unit.
That's why it's always good to do what works for you :) Most of the time the properties we buy, if they have a ceiling fan in it, someone attached it to a regular ceiling box rather than a ceiling fan box, and it's wobbly, off-center, loose, etc. Our electricians won't install a replacement fan without upgrading to a ceiling fan box, so when they die away they go. And eventually all the cheap ones die or get noisy.
Down here (south) everyone uses AC 7-8 months of the year anyway so they don't really bridge anything. I personally love ceiling fans but I'm also not as dumb as some (many?) of my tenants. We don't rent to C-class but I still can think of at least 3 or 4 fans where the tenants busted the pull-chains off the fan, or cracked a blade pulling on it or doing who knows what, etc.