Renovate Now or Later?

[Ayodeji Kuponiyi]

My wife and I are debating whether we should update our tenant's bathroom now or wait until the end of his lease. I want to update it soon and increase the rent when its time to renew the lease. My wife on the other hand wants to us to wait until his lease is over until we update the bathroom. What are your thoughts? I rather do it now then wait later but I would like to hear your thoughts. Thank you in advance.

[Linda S.]

The question is, are you getting a new tenant after his lease ends, or renewing with him?

A) If you aren't renewing with him, and say his lease ends in February, I'd personally wait until February to fix the bathroom.   It will be MUCH easier for you to renovate when the unit is vacant, and you can do it on your own time, much smoother and you won't have to worry about cleanup in the off days.

B)  If you ARE renewing with him, his stuff will be there regardless of now or later, if you have the funds/time, suck it up and do it now.  He'll enjoy the updates now for a longer time, and it won't look sketchy in that you are all the sudden doing stuff to get more money.