How do you prioritize what gets updates/repairs for your rentals?
I'm not sure where the most relevant place is to post this so I thought I'd start here in the Utah Q&A with some locals. If anyone has a recommendation of a more appropriate place for this let me know. Thanks!
How do you prioritize what gets updates/repairs for your rentals? Because there is a lot that could be done in mine (whether it should be is kind of the reason I'm asking), I feel a little hesitant to take action because I would hate to use my limited resources to do an update or repair when the money could have been better spent else where--like buying another property. I'll give you a rundown of my current situation to give you some more insight.
We are owner occupying an older single family home that has been converted to a legal duplex with a basement apartment. Basement is currently rented. The tenant rent covers 60% of the mortgage so we aren't cash flowing right now. Any repairs or updates are coming directly out of our savings. I feel like we have enough to make a decent dent in some of these things I'll list below but not really sure how to proceed.
-Replace 3 and possibly up to 6 windows upstairs. A couple we don't open because we may not be able to close them again. Haha
-Replace the frame around a couple of the basement windows as the bottom plate is in bad shape
-New gutters that will fit with a gutter filter system to keep out leaves and pine needles. My current gutters are plastic and won't fit anything on the market right now. Or cut down a couple of the trees causing the problem. This was my first "welcome to land-lording" experience. A month after moving in we had a storm that dumped a lot of water really quickly and I had no idea that my gutters were clogged. The water over flowed the gutters and poured right down into the basement window well. That was nearly a $1,000 surprise and that was with me doing the work myself.
-Install a sprinkler timer and update the sprinkler heads. Some still seem to work just fine but they are the old metal pop up style and I'll have to repair about half of them anyway so I should probably just do them all at once. Currently it is a manual system so installing a timer makes it easy on the future tenants.
-Related to the sprinklers, there are some dirt/dead spots on the lawn and the lawn itself isn't level.
-We've painted one bedroom but the other two need it as well along with most of the house. The people that owned the place over the years channeled their inner Bob Ross and tried to use the full color palette. There are 13 different colors between both units!
-Our biggest after closing expense has been updating the electrical system. Our unit could still use some minor electrical updates. Mainly GFI outlets.
-Replace the garage door. The property has two unattached garages. A 2 door and a single car. Ours is the 2 door. It's manual which I don't mind but it's wood and is splintering in places and catching on the frame of the garage at times when you close it. Also, a panel or two has been kicked out before and they are just kind of nailed back into place but could easily be kicked out again. Additionally, you can't lock the garage so it wouldn't be very secure if you were planning on using it for storage which a tenant is likely to do.
-Last but not least, a kitchen remodel. Or at least replacing the cabinets. I've heard that a remodel can increase the value of the property and allow you to justify higher rents. In our case, the cabinets are very old. Not sure if they are original but the fact that they are pink on the inside tells me all I need to know. Some of the cabinets don't close all the way because they show some signs of warping and the latching mechanisms are junk.
As I look back at the list I know that some of these absolutely need to get done due to safety/security issues or to help protect the property against damage. But as I mentioned, my struggle is deciding what takes priority and to what extent should I fix things. For example, the sprinklers. Half of the sprinkler heads still work but they are old. If I have to replace a few of them anyway should I just replace all of them at the same time or save some money and just get what is necessary?
If anyone wants to chime in on a specific repair I listed that's great and would definitely be welcome. However, I'm also hoping to hear any rules of thumb or principles you use to determine what you fix or update and why? I'd appreciate any input you have.