Real Estate Community Forum

I am in the process of renting an apartment and I want to attract good tenants. I realize that many tenants want to live in a nice and clean apartment, but what else are they looking for? I am working on the apartment every day to make it more attractive looking so I can charge top dollar. Someone told me I should consider wiring the place for high speed Internet. Is there anything else to make my apartment more desirable?

I would not incur the expense of wiring the unit for high speed internet. Most of my tenants use cable modems these days. The trick is to be careful not to overspend in order to keep the rent rate as competitive as possible. I would make sure the carpet/flooring and paint are fresh. Some relatively inexpensive upgrades I recommend to attract a larger tenant pool are a security system, ceiling fans and window coverings (faux wood is relatively inexpensive and looks fancy). If your unit doesn't have them, a washer and dryer included adds a lot of value. Even if you buy them from a used appliance store

In my opinion in order to make an apartment look desirable, you need to provide extra annuities that make the prospective tenant fall in love with the place. Some features might include installing an automatic dishwasher, providing off street parking, modern appliances, washer and dryer hook ups. In fact, you may want to consider staging the apartment just like staging a house that's up for sale. You can simply dress an empty apartment with some nice furniture, curtains, floor rugs, that will help the person envision themselves living the place. Of course, staging an apartment can get costly, but I do know that you can rent furniture from rent-a-center. If that's too much trouble, then I suggest dressing the vacant apartment up with some wall decorations or getting some fresh flowers to put on the kitchen counter along with some candles to make the place seem warm and cozy.