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How adding hardwood floors ups the value of your rental property

How adding hardwood floors ups the value of your rental property

Owners are often wary of making upgrades to their rental units, and for good reason.

Why spend loads of money on things that can be damaged or otherwise devalued as soon as they are added?

There are a couple of upgrades you can make that will not only add value right away but for years to come, and will make maintaining the property even easier than it was before.

One of these is taking out the carpet and adding hardwood floors.

Thankfully this is a relatively simple process that pays off in the following ways.

Instant Property Value Increase

As soon as you replace carpets with hardwood floors, the entire apartment or house looks classier and cleaner.

These aesthetic changes also translate into cold hard cash, as a recent survey of realtors found that 82 percent agree that simply adding hardwood floors meant that properties sold faster and for more money.

For rental property owners, the advantages are even better, as this is not just a one time value increase but a way to continue to get more for the property every time it is rented out.

Because the property is now more attractive to renters, you not only get more money for it, but you may have more interested potential renters.

Long Term Savings

Hardwood floors may cost more to put in than simply carpet, but over the long run most landlords with hardwood in their properties will end up paying less overall than those with carpet, and enjoy the higher rental income as well.

This is because carpets usually need to be cleaned after a guest moves out, which often involves a professional service of shampooing, vacuuming and drying.

Hardwood floors on the other hand can be quickly cleaned with a mop and some good sterilizer and hardwood-safe spray.

Carpet also will need to be replaced at some point, especially if the property gets a lot of turnover.

It is only a matter of time before a major spill or accident takes place.

Once again, hardwood floors rarely stain and are not as susceptible to damages from cigarettes or other burning material and therefore withstand the test of time much, much longer.

Hardwood Floors and LEED Credits

For those that would like to get their property certified as a green building by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), getting hardwood floors put in is often a necessary step.

A green building is one that uses a certain amount of environmentally friendly products or materials in its construction, and in doing so contributes positively to the environment.

Green certified buildings also tend to fetch higher price points on the rental market, as the supply of them is limited and those that demand them tend to be willing to pay more.

If you have a historic building that is made of wood, stone, or other natural materials, simply replacing the carpets with hardwood floors may be all you need to do to earn the LEED green building certification.

For newer buildings however, there are many more areas of the edifice that may need to be replaced before it can be considered green.