How much to invest into your first Rental Property?

[David Mares]

Hi everyone, my fiance and I are planning to turn our primary residence (SFH 3/2) into our first rental property by summer 2020. We live off Potranco/1604 in San Antonio and the area seems to be growing especially with the new shopping center and movie theater planning to open in the future. Plus the highway just got finished.

My dilemma is that I am having a hard time deciding how much I want to fix up the property if we intend to leave next summer and rent it out. What are some things we can consider improving that will have lasting value but won't be a total waste of time/energy/money? Anyone else been in this position?

Thanks for the help!

[Jonathan Bombaci]

The same things that make a house more marketable also make a rental more marketable. You focus on kitchen, bathroom, and floors. Typically I put in mid-grade items in my rentals. You don’t get the Money for luxury but you also don’t want super cheap because it needs to hold up to tenant wear and tear.   If you need to replace a faucet a cheap one is maybe $30 an real nice one is $120, so find one in the middle for $60-$70. Samething with floors, carpets your cheapest option but you’ll replace it after every tenant. Hardwoods expensive but probably isn’t necessary, nice linoleum that looks like wood might be a good fit.