Tips for refurbishing a rented flat

José Luis Echeverría, architect and partner of Monapart, published an article on 1 June last in the PLAN REFORMA blog on the questions you should ask yourself before renovating a property you want to rent. Below is an extract from the text. If you want to read the original article click here here.

Renovate to rent: CHOOSE YOUR CUSTOMER

[...] The refurbishment you can or want to do will determine which future tenant you have. Of course the area and size are the most decisive factor, but given these "immovable" conditions, it is up to you to put a product on the rental market that attracts a specific target. [...]

Well, now that we know that within a margin, we can select our future tenant, these are the questions to (self-)formulate:

1. How liquid do I need my asset to be? In other words, can I afford not to be able to sell my property in the next few years? Depending on your future forecast, the renovation you carry out should attract short term tenants (furnished flat, 100% equipped, for young people, in particular singles and foreigners) or long term tenants (empty flat, equipped or not, leaving possible improvements to be agreed with the tenant).

2. What is my risk profile? Do I want clients who pay more, but with higher turnover (higher risk-higher return) or do I want them to pay me less, but not move for 10 years? What do you want to rent one or the other?

3. Can I or do I want to invest more and therefore be demanding with the rental conditions, or do I prefer to invest less and compete on price, attracting people who can pay less? [...]