Rental Property Investor · Fort Collins, CO · Member since 2016 · 56 posts · 12 votes
Hello, I'm doing some work to my first rental and hopefully will be putting it on the market in Fort Collins, CO next month. I have lived in this town house for three years with out issue but it's 30 years old and is due for some upgrades. It used to have a wood burning fireplace but someone converted it to a gas insert. Fort Collins does not allow any new construction to have wood-burning so you have to be grandfathered in, which mine would be. I either have to have the gas capped and convert back or get a new insert with some safety features. Any thoughts on which would be better from a safety and marketability standpoint? Would one increase the rental value? Also, I had to remove the old vanities to have tile put in in the bathrooms. They are in good shape but dated. Should I just put them back or get newer ones? Would new ones impact my rental amount? I'm going to be picky about renters so I'm not going to have college kids in there or anything. Thank you so much for any advice!
Real Estate Agent · Fort Collins, CO · Member since 2010 · 350 posts · 222 votes
9y
While there are exceptions, the majority of Buyers I've been in houses with in town in Fort Collins prefer gas fireplaces to wood fireplaces. That changes slightly if you're up in the foothills or north toward Laporte where it becomes a little more common to have wood burning fireplaces. So, for marketability, I'd say gas. I'd probably also say gas for safety.
From a value perspective, and maybe there's an appraiser on here that will correct me if I am wrong, but I don't see much difference in rental value between either.
Updating bathrooms might give you a slight edge getting it rented, and might bump rent a very, very small amount.
Real Estate Agent · Fort Collins, CO · Member since 2010 · 350 posts · 222 votes
9y
While there are exceptions, the majority of Buyers I've been in houses with in town in Fort Collins prefer gas fireplaces to wood fireplaces. That changes slightly if you're up in the foothills or north toward Laporte where it becomes a little more common to have wood burning fireplaces. So, for marketability, I'd say gas. I'd probably also say gas for safety.
From a value perspective, and maybe there's an appraiser on here that will correct me if I am wrong, but I don't see much difference in rental value between either.
Updating bathrooms might give you a slight edge getting it rented, and might bump rent a very, very small amount.
Investor · Fort Collins, CO · Member since 2015 · 56 posts · 30 votes
9y
I agree with @James Orr both on renter's preference of gas as well as safety. As an independent insurance agent I also see higher homeowner premiums with wood burning fireplaces. Hope that helps your decision!
Insurance Agent · Member since 2015 · 191 posts · 124 votes
9y
I agree with everyone else that the type of fire place will probably not effect the rental rate and I would do whatever is less expensive. However, I was in Vail with my family over Christmas and we were all discussing how much of a bummer it was not to be able to burn a real fire.
Richmond, VA · Member since 2016 · 215 posts · 129 votes
9y
Originally posted by @Account Closed:
However, I was in Vail with my family over Christmas and we were all discussing how much of a bummer it was not to be able to burn a real fire.
I prefer a wood burner over gas as well, but only when I'm in a house where I can get the wood off my own land or otherwise cheaply. Not buying it by the bundle at some local store. I also wouldn't put one in a rental due to the maintenance and the potential for the tenant to burn the place down.
Residential Real Estate Broker · Chicago Suburbs, IL · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 594 votes
9y
We acquired a rental with a fireplace (gas). Had a fireplace company come out to take a look at it and found out for a number of reasons that were very expensive to fix that it was a fire hazard. We removed it. I honestly wouldn't trust that tenants wouldn't still try to burn wood or burn whatever in a gas fireplace. If you read the thread "current tenants say the dumbest things" you'll understand why.