We're doing high-quality renovation vs landlord basic for a rental. Are we crazy?

[Matthew Banks]

we're a few months into the renovation of a 1920 house in an upstate NY city. 

we bought the house 2 years ago from a landlord with a poor reputation, and the house had some difficult tenant occupants who caused a lot of damage by the time they left last year.

We did substantial plaster repair work to the interior walls and ceilings. We refinished the hardwood floors. We're currently 3/4 of the way through re-wiring the house, to eliminate knob&tube wiring that was powered primarily by only two 15AMP circuits. We'll close up any remaining walls and ceilings once that is finished. After that we'll move on to the kitchen and bath, which are currently gutted and ready to go. The last project will be repairing and enclosing the large front porch which took a lot of water damage over the years. It'll add significant appeal to the house once that is completed.

We do a lot of historic restoration work and this will cost us over $50k to do everything, probably close to 75k. We're even using period light fixtures and paint colors to give the house a historic look & feel, which will distinguish us significantly from the competition.

Most investors I come across talk about doing cheap rehabs, using vinyl plank flooring, and contractor grade materials from big box stores. I don't really see the value of that if it means you get both less quality tenants and less money when the house goes on the market. Curious if others are doing what we're doing.

[Matthew Crivelli]

Quote from @Matthew Banks:

we're a few months into the renovation of a 1920 house in an upstate NY city. 

we bought the house 2 years ago from a landlord with a poor reputation, and the house had some difficult tenant occupants who caused a lot of damage by the time they left last year.

We did substantial plaster repair work to the interior walls and ceilings. We refinished the hardwood floors. We're currently 3/4 of the way through re-wiring the house, to eliminate knob&tube wiring that was powered primarily by only two 15AMP circuits. We'll close up any remaining walls and ceilings once that is finished. After that we'll move on to the kitchen and bath, which are currently gutted and ready to go. The last project will be repairing and enclosing the large front porch which took a lot of water damage over the years. It'll add significant appeal to the house once that is completed.

We do a lot of historic restoration work and this will cost us over $50k to do everything, probably close to 75k. We're even using period light fixtures and paint colors to give the house a historic look & feel, which will distinguish us significantly from the competition.

Most investors I come across talk about doing cheap rehabs, using vinyl plank flooring, and contractor grade materials from big box stores. I don't really see the value of that if it means you get both less quality tenants and less money when the house goes on the market. Curious if others are doing what we're doing.

I think it depends on the neighborhood, right? Do I think it's smart to do a high end renovation in a D class neighborhood? 100% not a good idea. Good tenants don't want to live in the ghetto. In a more affluent area, totally makes sense.