One of my rentals is old. Like built in 1956. Sometimes I wonder about the wiring being too old, or the garage where the laundry hook ups are needs a new ceiling and has some wall gaps. Will I need to redo the kitchen (cabinets with oil based paint) or bathroom before I sell. Original teal colored tiles, plumbing with separate hot and cold faucets. Hardwood floors need repair in one spot(just looks bad obvious do it yourself work). I mean I could put serious money into it. Or just keep renting as is because it usually rents fast, being less expensive than many houses. It has a very homey feel. People stay years. It’s a step back in time for sure.
What’s your goal for your rentals? Are you intending to have your kids inherit, or are you looking to exit the business at some point?
What’s your area market like? In our area, if it was your goal to sell in the near future, now would be a great time to sell. There is so little inventory available for sale that your not doing work would likely be over looked.
We just sold our rental, closed end of April. We are retired and wanted to get more play time, less responsibility. Additionally, it was our residence for 2 of the past 5 years, so if we sold this year it would give us 2/5 capital gains exclusion up to $250K. That would go away in a few months. We did some changes to push emotional buttons, but we could have absolutely done more. Wasn’t necessary. Set new neighborhood records which will probably be broken next month.
I mean I could put serious money into it. Or just keep renting as is because it usually rents fast, being less expensive than many houses.
Set your goals and you will find your answers. Don’t over invest for the current market.
For now my rentals are, oddly enough, almost like a hobby. It’s really not about maximizing profit. Not at this point. It’s about having two extra houses so if real estate continues to grow like crazy and someday houses cost a million like San Francisco my kids will each still be able to own their own home. They’ve doubled in value. I’ve got enough in stocks to retire so this is a side gig. I go years without raising rent because I get busy or feel sorry for my tenants. Still break even plus some. I realize this is probably an odd reason to own rentals. Maybe it’s because my mom owns rentals and it connects us.
For now my rentals are, oddly enough, almost like a hobby. It’s really not about maximizing profit. Not at this point. It’s about having two extra houses so if real estate continues to grow like crazy and someday houses cost a million like San Francisco my kids will each still be able to own their own home. They’ve doubled in value. I’ve got enough in stocks to retire so this is a side gig. I go years without raising rent because I get busy or feel sorry for my tenants. Still break even plus some. I realize this is probably an odd reason to own rentals. Maybe it’s because my mom owns rentals and it connects us.
So kind of like a bond proxy with emotional attachments?
People have all kinds of reasons why they invest. It’s just important that you understand your reasons so that you can make decisions that are valid for you.
I wouldn’t necessarily knock it. When we built our new house about 5 years ago, the shower has as “new” one knob controller. It has a cartridge in it that senses pressure differences between hot and cold and adjusts outflow pressure accordingly. I’m guessing a safety feature to keep one from being scalded in case every toilet in the house gets flushed at the same time. On cartridge #3. Not a fan. New and improved isn’t always better.
“…plumbing with separate hot and cold faucets…”
I wouldn’t necessarily knock it.
You understand they’re talking separate faucets?
At least I am ssuming it means not just separate knobs, but separate spouts as well.
So if you want to rinse your hands under running water you have the choice of freezing cold or scalding hot.
There are options to retrofit those kinds of sinks/faucets with two knobs and one spout. Or you can do a mixing valve to combine hot and cold before the faucet.
I wouldn’t keep it that way in a sink I used daily.
Actually it’s the bathtub and it’s separate knobs, one hot one cold, but one faucet and one shower head. My plumber said it’s not code but grandfathered in.