What to look for in an investment property

What to look for in an investment property

I’ve had a lot of rentals in my time, and one thing I’ve learnt is that the best tenant is the one that never calls you. Get the best kind of tenants with a little foresight and ongoing maintenance.

Things to look for in the property.

In general, think about the common things that you might get called out to fix.

• Check the water pressure in the shower. Would it be acceptable to you if you had to shower there every day?
• How does the paint look? Is it neat and presentable?
• Is there mould? Is it warm? This comes down to insulation, both top and at the bottom.
• Taps and fixtures. Water damage can have a huge effect and be very expensive to repair. I’ve had a whole house flood due to a cheap tap bursting, causing $120,000 worth of damage. This was a huge stress – thank goodness for insurance
• Look for low-maintenance materials. You’ll thank yourself in the long run.

Pay attention to and be wary of the normal, routine things that you would notice if you lived there every day. These are the things that will cause you stress with a rental property that could otherwise be a low maintenance source of income. Ask yourself, would you live here? Could you rent it in its current state?

Be practical about it.

After buying your investment property, make sure you get good tenants, and that you or your property managers are doing regular checks, and most importantly, don’t leave things to get worse. Avoid having to repair things; instead. you want to be spending time and money on maintenance and prevention. Maintenance costs can be claimed back, while “improvement” right before you sell can’t.

The most important thing to remember is that maintenance keeps up the value of your investment property. While repairing is you spending money to try to get it back to where it was. Make sure you keep on top of it.

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