A Well-Decorated Rental Property Generates More Traffic
No matter how much quality is inherent to your property, whether or not it generates regular traffic could depend on factors outside your control. If you’re running an Airbnb in Dodge City, Kansas, beyond golf tournaments, you’re not going to see a lot of traffic. If you’ve got a one room flop-house in NYC, you’ll make thousands a month.
Here’s the crux, though: in NYC, the general cost of living is so high, in most scenarios, making twice as much as the hypothetical Kansas Airbnb would represent the same ratio of wealth. It’s about twice as expensive to live in NYC (96.9% more expensive), so twice the profit as a place in Kansas means…well, nothing.
The key to profiting beyond the average involves details. The New Yorker and the Kansas native both have competitors. Drawing more traffic than them consistently will put you in the highest position possible for your rental property, regardless of external factors. Interior décor and amenities help. We’ll discuss 5 tips here.
1. Redoing Internal Decor
Get new countertops, use stain and polyurethane to make the floor more vibrant. Replace the original cabinetry of the unit with white cabinets by Best Online Cabinets (white cabinets tend to be some of the most aesthetically pleasing), get a new couch, redo sconces; you get the idea. Sometimes just rearranging furniture will help.
A room feels bigger with the TV in a corner, rather than flat against a wall, and a section couch making a right angle across the room. Of course, as with everything else related to décor, each space is different, you want to conform design to match the area.
That said, redoing internal décor, including furniture and cabinets, can give even the oldest rental property a stylish upgrade. Rental properties that feel new and trendy will likely generate more traffic.
2. External Decoration Consideration
Adding a hot tub is expensive, but it definitely puts your Airbnb in a distinct category. A fine little paver patio outside the back door, or a little pathway through the garden, will also do much to set your rental unit apart. Make sure any on-site foliage looks good. If you can’t upkeep it, find other ways of developing curb appeal.
3. Amenities Throughout the Unit
Ladies love amenities. Remember this: the “bed and breakfast” concept goes back generations, Airbnbs are just the latest iteration of that trend. You know the stereotype, in all likelihood: the lady drags her man to an Airbnb for an exciting romantic weekend. She likes the bed and breakfast over the hotel because of its amenities.
Well, now that Airbnbs are getting more popular than conventional hotels, this trend has definitely matured. So keep in mind: a rental property calibrated to tickle the fancy of a young professional woman will do well. Include complementary water bottles, candy bowls, welcome baskets, mints on pillows; whatever is doable for your property, you do that.
4. A Game Room
Many rental properties were previously residences. Don’t take all your prized possessions out. If you’ve got a pool table or an air hockey table or a foosball table, or some checkers, or chess, or Mancala sets, leave them. Also leave some DVDs, a player (perhaps even a VCR), and maybe an old-school gaming system, depending on the sensibility of guests.
5. A Guest Book
Always have a guest book near the entryway, and configure it so there’s some way guests can leave comments. This way they feel like they’re part of something, and you’re able to get information to improve the premises going forward. Also, it acts as an additional record which may come in useful legally.
Optimizing Your Rental Property
Guest books, game rooms, amenities, external décor, and modernized internal décor represent five rental property enhancements that are considerable for increasing traffic at your unit. Even if managing a long-term rental unit, such enhancements allow you to see steadily increasing profit.
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