10 Easy Tips to Improve The Rental Value Of Your Property

With a large inflow of foreign remittance and higher level of disposable income, Keralites have long started investing in multiple properties for rental income and value appreciation.

Though property value appreciates well over a period of time, rental income is still not quite lucrative in Kerala. An apartment bought for 30-40 lakhs fetch only about Rs. 10-15k as monthly rent, which translates to just 4-5% return annually.

However, if you opt for some out of the box ideas instead of relying on just regular rentals, you can rent out your property to get much better returns.Here are some such actionable, yet easy tips that can help.

1. Location

If you haven’t already bought the apartment, then ensure that the one you buy is in a prime location with easy access to shopping malls, offices, IT complex, hospitals, schools and other amenities. Not only will the price in such areas appreciate dramatically, but also, rental demand will be much higher.

2. Focus On Amenities

Amenities like gym, club house, swimming pool, house-keepingare no longer a luxury. With most apartment complexes having these facilities, the ones that don’t have them are finding it hard to retain its value in the market. No matter how ideally located your property is, if it doesn’t have such features and facilities, families and health conscious individuals wouldn’t prefer to call such a place home.

3. Furnish and Ensure Ample Storage Space

Furnished apartments always demand a premium rent over unfurnished ones, especially if your property is located near a commercial hub or IT park. You can also demand higher security deposit on furnished apartments.

Beautifully furnished places are quite alluring and much in demand from IT professionals and bachelors who change jobs and location frequently.

While furnishing, ensure ample storage space and proper natural lighting inside every room as these are qualities that most tenants would love to have.

4. Home Appliances

Just like furnishings, being equipped with home appliances is also a value addition that you can monetize upon.

You could also offer to get dryer, dishwasher and such smart energy efficient appliances if the tenant agrees to enter in to a long-term tenancy contract.

5. Care About the First impression

Always keep your apartment clean and presentable before a potential tenant visits. Nothing turns off a tenant more than unkempt apartment that require plenty of repair work.

Ensure that the plumbing works are done and that there are no leaks. Also, apply a fresh coat of paint and take care of all maintenance works. You could opt for deep cleaning by professional cleaners, followed by weekly maintenance by the building house-keeping staffs to ensure that the place looks spic-and-span all the time.

6. Opt for unconventional methods of renting

If your rental property boasts of a great location, you can opt for alternate methods of renting like Airbnb or Stayzilla. While you may not have 100% occupancy, you can demand a much higher per day rent, thus making up for the lack of occupancy. For example, a place which otherwise demands Rs. 15,000 monthly rental will easily fetch Rs. 2-3k daily rent on sites like Airbnb. Even if you are able to rent out the place for just 8-10 days a month, your returns will be higher compared to monthly rentals.

If your property is in a busier location, you might be able to have a higher occupancy rate too.

7. Tie Up With Corporates

Most corporates enter into long-term lease/ rental agreements with landlords for their guesthouses. You can contact reputed local real estate agents to find such deals. Not only will you be able to fetch premium rent for your luxurious well-furnished apartment, but the property will also be well-maintained by the in-house corporate house-keeping staffs.

8. Better Photography

Pictures sell! If you are putting up an ad in real estate portals for renting your apartment, then it pays to put in time and effort for proper photography. A walk-through video is an even better choice! It helps solicit more high quality as they would have already seen the place and ‘almost’ made up their mind.

That being said, don’t go over the top with Photoshop and lighting and prospective tenants could get disappointed if they don’t get what they saw.

9. Proper Maintenance

Your apartment may look perfect on a superficial level. But seasoned tenants know that they need to check for leaks, bathroom fixtures, cracks and kitchen cabinets to really know if the property is well-maintained and trouble-free. So, keep an eye on your property even after you have rented it out. Check out the place every 3-6 months and ensure regular repair and maintenance are done so that your place retains its freshness and appeal in the long term.

10. Be proactive in listing your property

Keep 2 month notice period in your tenancy contract so that you have ample time to find a new tenant when the old ones leave. A month of vacancy means 8.3% loss in annual rental income. So, be proactive and when market turns grim, be prepared to take in 3-5% cut on rent as in the long run, it is much better than keeping the property vacant for extended duration.