Improvements to Rental and Investment Properties
Posted by Kevin Barnes on Thu, Feb 05, 2009 @ 12:27 PM
I hope everyone is surviving the cold weather and weathering this economy!
I just got finished reading a great article about the residential remodeling and construction industry and how it is being impacted by the current economy. Clearly, spending on home improvements and remodeling has taken a big hit with the decline in home prices and stricter lending practices. While most homeowners have historically viewed buying a home as not only investing in a place to live, but also as a means of building wealth due to the appreciation of a homes value. However, these recent trends (decline in home value and stricter lending) have exposed some of the risks associated with buying a home. This in turn may lead many people to look at renting home versus owning.
During the housing boom, exactly the opposite was true. Many people in the renters market were suddenly able to buy their first home due to rapidly appreciating home values and aggressive lending tactics. During this time, it did not make sense for investors and owners of rental properties to invest signficantly in their properties, other than general maintenance and upkeep. With the anticipated increase in number of people looking to rent versus ownership, its a great time to invest in improvements and upgrades to your exisitng rental and income producing properties.
Please feel free to contact us if you need any assistance in determining what type of investments will make sense in your property(s).