Here are some great tips to ‘bullet-proof’ your income.. including this easy way to make an extra $200 per week!
1) Furnish the Space
I’ve seen landlords boost their cash flow by up to $200 a week simply by fitting out the property with simple, stylish pieces. There’s also the tax concession element, when you furnish a place, you can depreciate it as well!
2) Pets Please
Yes we know it’s scary to allow pets, but there’s rewards for the courage. A “Pets on Application” statement can attract up to $20 increase/week and make your property in hot demand…a “no brainer’ really when you consider 60% of Aussies are pet owners and a third rent. The icing on the cake is your tenants stay longer (especially if they’ve struggled to find a pet-friendly rental).
3) Create a Second Bathroom
Most can appreciate the trials and tribulations of sharing one bathroom. If your property has an internal laundry, why not ease your tenants’ woes and create a second bathroom or ensuite? A laundry to bathroom conversion can increase rental yield by around 10– 20%. I’ve seen a landlord increase their rent by $100 per week with a $5,000 outlay. Returns on the renovation/investment are 100%! Not to mention the capital growth received from this conversion, which was about four times the renovation cost.
4) The ‘Ol Backyard Shed
Always popular with tradies and in bayside suburbs where backyard boats are common. One of our investors popped a $560 tin shed in the backyard…voila upped the rent by $35 per week. His shed was paid off in some 12 weeks and continues to increase his rental yields!
5) Go Solar
For around $4,000 plus installation fees, you can have a 5kw solar panel system installed that should generate enough power to look after the tenants’ needs with a little leftover to put back into the grid. In landlord terms this would allow you to charge an extra $20 per week rent for the property (as the tenants would be saving over $1,000 a year not having to pay power bills). You could also get up to $350 a quarter back for your grid contribution. Nice one!
6) Room-by-Room Letting
This is not one of our services but we’re all for ‘great for your back pocket’ ideas. If you’re prepared to be more hands-on with management, the growing trend of room by room letting may appeal. Find tenants seeking a single room (yes there’s plenty out there!) and charge a 20 – 30% premium for leasing the rooms separately.
7) Fab Four Furnishings
I’m not suggesting a full house furnishing; the fab four would be a good start – dishwasher, washing machine, dryer and microwave. You can install a dishwasher for a small investment of approximately $1,000, making your property more appealing to a wide range of tenants while also increasing the rent by around $5 per week.
Take even just one of these tips on board and you’ll be high kicking Fredrik Eklund style in no time.
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