From Buyincomeproperties.com

Landlord
Keep Your Property in Good Shape: Stay Profitable
By BuyincomeProperies.com
May 30, 2006, 09:25


Real estate business is all about making good money, and doing everything to stay profitable. For this, you need to follow certain marketing strategies. Spending some money to keep your properties in good shape is a good marketing strategy. However, most investors do not like this idea. According to them, it is just the waste of money with no significant return. This is not the complete truth. It is certainly a waste of money if you spend thousands of dollars in repairs and to keep your property in good shape. Even if you have unlimited cash, such a huge expenditure is no good for you, and it will not fetch you that much return. 

However, there are many inexpensive ways to maintain the good condition of your property or even improve them. It takes a little cash to keep property in good shape, but plays a very important role to attract tenants and buyers. This little expenditure will eventually prove profitable to you, and you will certainly get a significant return. Let us have an overview of those inexpensive ways that will ultimately work for you as a profitable investment. Here is a list of few things that you need to take care of.

Stay Profitable In Real Estate Business: Create a Good First Impression
Always remember, in real estate business, you never get a second chance to build the first impression. Carefully examine and find out what are the things that are making bad impression for your property. Take, for an example, the front door. If your front door is old, your property will also look old. If it is cheap, it will give a cheap appearance to your property as well. The next thing is the foyer area. Most rental property foyers are graced with linoleum floors that do not leave a very good impression of your property. The good thing is that you do not need to spend a fortune to improve these things. It just takes little cash. 

Let us understand how. If the old heavy door is creating a cheap impression for your property, just paint it with high-gloss paint. If the front door is old, do not hesitate to replace it with a new one. Buying a new stylish door will cost you not more than $100 to $125. Moreover, in order to improve the foyer area, you can consider a nice 12-inch Mexican tile. It will also cost you not more than $100. Last but not the least, when it comes to creating a great first impression, you cannot ignore the entry way and the living room as well. Adding crown molding will certainly be a great idea in order to improve the same. 

Stay Profitable In Real Estate Business: Improve the Interior
The first impression will last as long as the interiors are perfect. Therefore, you cannot ignore the interiors as well. Carefully examine and decide if the interior needs a paint job. If you do not want to paint the whole interior, the most inexpensive way is to paint the trim only. If the property has beige or white walls, paint all the trim in the house with a semi-gloss bright white paint. You can also use other color but make sure that should match with the walls. Once, you are through with the walls, look at the floor. Is the floor trim worn, cracked, or just plain ugly? If so, do not hesitate to replace the same. You can go for the new foam trim, pre-painted in several finishes. It will not cost huge money, as you can buy them at less than 50cents per linear foot. 

Stay Profitable In Real Estate Business: Look at the overlooked things
Most real estate investors paint the entire unit but leave the old and ugly switch plates. What is worse, sometimes, they even paint over them. These things certainly create very bad impression because unlike the investors, buyers or tenants notice every little thing. Therefore, it is always prudent to replace the old and ugly switch plates. 

Even if you replace the entire property with new switch plates, the money you need to spend is just around $20. Moreover, you must pay special attention to foyer and the living room. Try nice brass plates for such areas. Another overlooked area is the door handle. Crusted paint on old door handles leaves a very dull impression. Replacing them with new brass handles will be a good idea for keeping your property in good shape. It is better if you use ¡®S¡¯ handles for the guest bathroom and bedroom doors. Last but not the least, one of the most important but overlooked thing is the shower curtain. You can find many investors who just show their properties with either no shower curtain or with an ugly one. You, being a prudent investor, do not overlook this thing. Use a nice new rod and a fancy curtain. 

Stay Profitable In Real Estate Business: And Do Some More
Once, you have taken care of everything including the overlooked ones, do some more. What do you think about putting a colorful mailbox instead of the traditional black one? Your buyers or tenants will not only notice these things but will also like the same. 

Hence, here we see how you can stay profitable in your real estate business by keeping your property in good shape and that too, at a very nominal investment.



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