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- Why?

When your rental property becomes a desirable rental accommodation, you can charge above average market rent, have higher tenant retention and reduced maintenance costs. You will have quick turnover when a tenant moves out. This adds up to maximum ROI. It is vital to provide the most desirable rental accommodation your budget can afford.

When you have curbside appeal, an open, well-lit entrance, fresh paint and clean smelling house you will attract the ideal tenant. The way you renovate tells your future tenant that you care about where they live. If your tenant loves your property, they will consider it home, treat the property better and they will stay longer.

Once renovated your long term maintenance costs will go down. Most often deficiencies are noticed and repaired during the renovation process. I strongly recommend that items like old taps, toilets, deficiencies in the plumbing and electrical system are upgraded during this renovation phase. Once complete, requests for repairs and maintenance go down significantly.

If a tenant moves out in one or two years, typically all that is required is touch up paint or repainting the entire unit only. There is less down time between tenants and minimal loss of rental income.

It is highly essential to know what improvements will add the most value to a house or apartment to realize the greatest ROI. Key Properties Niagara has extensive renovation experience for renovating in today's market for excellent ROI now and in the future.

- How?

When first considering renovations and upgrades to our properties we assess to what extent we would like to renovate the property. Then we establish a budget. We want to create the most desirable accommodation that the budget will allow.

The first impression of a property is not the interior itself but the first 30 seconds someone arrives at the street level. We upgrade landscaping, cut back or remove large or overgrown trees and shrubs, fresh paint on the front door, level sidewalk slabs, ensure handrails and railings are painted and secure. We install modern, bright, exterior light fixtures. 

Inside the property the first 30 seconds are critical. Newly painted modern neutral colours and a clean well-lit entrance is a must. Ensure there are no unpleasant odours. Ensure the heating and cooling system is on and set accordingly. We focus on creating a pleasant atmosphere as soon as you walk in the door. 

With the remainder of the interior we put an emphasis on fresh paint, new or updated flooring, kitchen and bath room. We do as much upgrading as the budget will allow.

Before you renovate consider, bringing in a professional with experience in rental property renovations. This will save the property owner time and money. An experienced professional can look at a property and identify key areas of which renovations to invest in that will produce the biggest benefit. 

Key Properties Niagara has extensive background in renovating rental properties. We have been helping our clients to achieve maximum ROI on their renovation dollars for over 20 years. 

- The Numbers

In today's market, investors are receiving substantial Returns On Investment (ROI) from renovating and upgrading older dated units. Renovation costs can range from $3,000 to $6,000 for upgrades and $10,000 to $20,000 for major renovations on a per unit basis. 

One of our client’s apartments were recently renovated. This was a bachelor apartment and the tenant that was paying $570 per month in rent. We advised our client to renovate to the entire unit and add a bedroom from an underutilized adjoining laundry room.  The renovation budget was $26,000.

The renos included new flooring throughout, new kitchen, appliances, bathroom, light fixtures, paint, doors and trim.

The apartment is now a brand new 1 bedroom apartment. The new tenant is paying $975 per month.

The ROI looks like this;

Amount invested - $26,000. Annual rent increase - 12 month’s x $405 = $4,860 per year.

Return On Investment - $4,860 divided by $26,000 = 18.7% Annual ROI.

This is an improved use of space, will be easy to rent in the future and will attract a better tenant profile. The increased rent will also increase the market value of the property. 

Key Properties Niagara has been involved with renovations like this for over 20 years. For knowledge and insight, contact us today. 

I define assets as something that puts money in my pocket.

I define liabilities as something that takes money out of my pocket.

Is your rental property an asset? 

Your rental property is an asset in that your property may go up in value (property appreciation) over time and the mortgage will get paid down (mortgage reduction) over time. The sum of these two is the equity in your property. Equity is only accessible or useful when you sell or refinance the property.

I consider your rental property a long term asset.

Is your tenant an asset? 

When done correctly the monthly rent(s) will be greater than the monthly expenses. This surplus is called the monthly cash flow. Monthly cash flow goes in your pocket.

On a monthly basis I consider the rental property a liability and is directly responsible for taking money out of your pocket.

On a monthly basis I consider the tenant as the asset and is directly responsible for putting money in your pocket.

If all goes well on a monthly basis, I consider your tenant a short term asset.

Both the property and tenant are assets and both must be well taken care of for real estate investing to be viable.

In today’s residential real estate investment market finding a quality, equity building tenant is more important than ever for your property to become a long term asset. 

At Key Properties Niagara our many years of experience, knowledge and our due diligence on each and every potential tenant has enabled us to find quality tenants for our clients to help maximize the equity in their properties for long term wealth building.