Upgrade Hacks

Everyone wants the most bang for their buck. This belief is true for so many different aspects in life and could not be more crucial in real estate investing. Real estate is expensive has has lots of risk involved in it. That being said, a wise investor calculates these risks and makes smart decisions that will benefit his or her portfolio. Upgrade hacks can be a powerful tool for an investor to use. It is through these “hacks” where an investor will set themselves apart from the rest and drastically increase their portfolio’s performance.

What is a Upgrade Hack?

An upgrade hack is using higher quality materials to upgrade a part of your property that you were already planning on renovating.

This upgrade should not be done everywhere throughout the house. It would cost you tons of money to do something like this and would not necessarily pay off unless your specific market called for something more extravagant. Rather, you are going to upgrade your materials in small areas of the renovations.

The first area to do this in would be in a smaller bathroom. Here you can use higher quality tiles for the floor and shower to make it much more appealing. The catch here is that since this is a smaller space, you really are not paying for that much more when it comes to materials. A high quality tile will not cost much more in total as compared to a standard cheap tile because the space is so small. Having a nicer tile will not only look better which will entice a higher quality tenant but it should also be more durable over time. This means that you will not have to spend money on it like you would if you used a cheap tile that breaks after one tenant is in your property.

Another place to use upgrade hacking is in the kitchen to create a better appearance. Kitchens are one of the first places a potential tenant will pay attention to when searching for properties. Having a nicer kitchen will also attract the higher quality tenant who is likely to pay more for your property and keep it in better shape. The backsplash in the kitchen is a great place to spend some money on. Just like in the bathroom, it will not require a ton of materials so it is not that much more expensive to go ahead and pay for a higher grade material. This will last longer than a cheaper material and with the right choice will look good for years to come.

I would highly recommend using this strategy in your own portfolio. With this small amount of extra effort, there will be a massive reward. Give it a try, I’m sure it will pay off!