Currently I am rehabbing my latest 1600 sq. ft. / 3/2 fixer upper. The neighborhood here is definitely Class C but this house, once I am done, will attract the higher end of Class C tenants and maybe even a B tenant who can afford $1,200.00/month in rent. I have never had rent in 4 digits before, but this house will be the ultimate test as to what is possible in a C hood.

Right now my rehab crew is there working and one of them is waiting on me to make an 'executive decision' as to what amenities this house should have to attract the type of tenant that can afford $1,200/month in Class C neighborhood. This decision is whether or not a dishwasher should be installed in the kitchen. This would require a 24 inch wide loss of existing cabinet space to make room for a dishwasher adjacent to the kitchen sink. In all of my other houses, I remove the dishwashers since most of my tenants do not use them and if they do use them, they get broken quickly or leak water which rots out the sub-floor.

So, do I need a dishwasher to attract a $1,200/month upper end C tenant? Are there any other amenities that I need to think about?

MC,

Sounds like it begs for a dishwasher; but the repair thoughts!

I'd say do it. This can be your "test" for the future. If it's installed correctly,I think there is little they can do to cause it to leak. I actually don't know what they can do to physically break it from misuse but I'm certain it's possible.

I'm guessing the response above saying that "mama wants a dishwasher" has no idea what type tenants live in "c" units. I have NEVER had a tenant nor prospective tenant mention a dishwasher ... it's something that doesn't exist in the lower end world. They are all price shopping not "amenity" shopping.

Dishwashers are required for better tenants. Even if they don't use them LOL! They want them.

We only have a VERY FEW places without them and only because they are studios so few dishes to wash in the first place.

The decision can be made during the walk through /

condition report process.

AllyM, dishwashers are a very "green" appliance. They use far less hot water - far less water overall - than hand-washing. And if you turn off the heated dry and open the door and let dishes air dry, that expense goes away too.

I have a dishwasher in my C- / D+ unit. My long term tenants use it regularly & so far there have been no problems with it leaking.

All dishwashers have a removeable filter in the bottom. If dirty dishes are not rinsed first, that filter will get clogged quickly and will require a service call to unclog it.

Today I had a talk with my plumber who plumbs new houses under construction. He says to install the dishwasher if I have any remote plans to re-sell the house, which at this writing is an uncertainly. I rather have $1,200 in rent and not a huge capital gains tax situation on my hands.

We have class C rentals and only 1 home does not have a dishwasher. And the only reason it doesn't, is we are waiting to do a re-model. We had a mobile home without one and it was incredibly easy to simply remove a 24" base cabinet and install the 24" dishwasher.

We have purchased a tiny home of 399 square feet and we will most likely remove some cabinetry and install a dishwasher in there before we rent it out.

We are currently living in one of our rentals while we build a home and we installed a dishwasher in this small 600 square foot 1 bed duplex before we ever rented it out.

The woman will pick the home and she will want to see a dishwasher. We have had zero problems with them.

We constantly had problems with with separate kitchen sink faucet sprayers and we have had all those removed.

"I have never had rent in 4 digits before"

Roy, I had this problem myself, but it was a self limiting belief. I thought our homes weren't worth very much and I couldn't seem to price them in the four digits. I underpriced them by 500-600$!

We non-renewed a couple due to lack of timely payments. They were paying $1050/month for a 3 bed 2 bath on 1 acre (and they were only in the four digits because they chose twice monthly payments which added a small convenience fee and had a dog which added $35 to the rent) and now it's listed at $1,600/month. Don't sell your properties short!

Another couple just bought a house. They were paying $950 for a 3 bed 2 bath on about 1/3 of an acre (and they were only paying that because they too chose twice a month and they had 2 dogs), now it's listed at $1,450.

Another Roy classic! “What should I do?” *then ignores everyone *

Roy, you seem to be attached to the cabinet, so keep it and ease your mind.

“Are there any other amenities that I need to think about?”

Yes. Clean, clean, clean, clean. Not halfway clean, but spotlessly clean inside and out. Clean out the gutters, power-wash the home, sidewalk, porch, driveway, etc.

Nice flooring throughout, not a patchwork of mismatched flooring. (not that you do this, I’m just thinking aloud and for others who might not have your experience)

Nice modern, fresh paint color throughout. Same colored appliances. No honey oak cabinets or whatever that color is that is so prevalent. If you have those cabinets, you can paint them white. Same for towel bars- none of that honey oak color.

Exterior not raggedy looking. Weed eat around everything, fresh black mulch, trim up trees, fresh stain or paint on mailbox post/deck/exterior stairs, new modern house numbers. Fixer Jay Decima suggests starting on the exterior so people have time to get used to the nice new look. If you like a lawn, start watering the yard so everything looks nice and green.

Think about planning a tree or two in the front yard with a fresh ring of mulch around them. Is your front door in need of a fresh coat of paint? What about your porch light fixture? If it is some bare light bulb thing or one of those old fashioned carriage light looking things, get a nice modern fixture.

If any of the bathroom mirrors have their silver finish missing at the edges, replace with a large framed mirror (not just a piece of mirror, but one that has a frame around it) or a large modern mirrored medicine cabinet- not those ones that have wood around the perimeter.

If you are replacing the lighting fixtures, go modern with matte black. Look at AirBNB photos for some ideas to make your place look cohesive- not stainless in the bathroom and black in the kitchen and brass in the primary bath. You want seamless.

Think about installing some nice curtain rods so your new tenant doesn’t just screw something into the woodwork. A nice curtain rod set that will stay with the home and that way you won’t have multiple sets of holes in the walls when tenants move in and out.

If you have the funds, what about a backyard fence? Fixer Jay says Moms love fences because they keep children and pets in place and Moms pick the home.

Do you stage the home when it is for rent? Try it. Don’t say your applicants don’t care, they do. Don’t say they will steal it all, they won’t. We do this all the time and we have never had anyone steal anything and we don’t come to the open houses.

Nice new shower curtain, rings, and liner in the bathrooms. Pick a color from the shower curtain and get 3-4 matching towels, and display them in the bathroom. Same with a nice matching rug near the shower. Leave the tags on so your applicants will know they are new. We try to do mostly white as it helps everything fee spacious and spa-like. Go to Ross Dress for Less or someplace like that. Do not put those little half circle rugs by the toilet. Get two pots, fill with soil and put some colorful flowers in them on the front porch. Get a welcome door mat inside and out to help keep all the dirt at bay. In the kitchen get a mat to put in front of the stove and a few kitchen towels to put on the countertop. Leave all this in the home as a welcome home gift for your tenants. I just bought all this for a 3 bed 2 bath vacancy at Ross (minus flowers and pots) and it was $131.08.

More about staging. Try naming your home. Really. Do you have a tree on the property, super simple… Oak House. Make many copies of a welcome sheet and leave at the house. 1 sheet with the name, an outside picture, the price options, nearby schools, shopping areas, parks, etc. Welcome to Oak House professionally managed by Roy(AL). This newly remodeled 3 bed 2 bath is 2 miles from Peace Park, 4 miles from HEB, and 6 miles to Wal-Mart. We are pleased to offer our Residents the following payment options $1,200 once a month, $610 on the 1st and 15th, or $290 each Friday.

Renne,

Thanks for the information and I am a Fixer Jay fan also. I have read all of his books and attended his seminars. I would not even be in this business if I had never read his first book in 2005.

Jason,

My plumber has rental properties and has made a small fortune in flipping houses that he had rehabbed. He is also a great plumber too and he gives me a 30% discount for being a long time regular customer.

Renee/TX has described rentals that are on other planets when comparing to mine. Even with doing a good portion of what is on her list, no matter what I would do off her list, A and B type tenants will NEVER move to my places. The locations on main roads, in alleys, one in an alley off another alley, row houses, etc., are an entirely different playing field.