What Makes an Exterior Remodel Worth It for Rental Properties?

No matter how many times you repaint the living room, the tenant will still complain that the front door is drafty and that there’s a particular spot in the backyard that gets mushy every time it rains. And you can learn this the easy way or the hard way. If your rental property has a beautiful kitchen, that’s a huge plus in the tenants’ eyes, and it might even get them to sign the lease. That’s great, but what about the exterior of the building? 

That’s what decides how often you need to pay someone for repairs, and whether moisture ruins your framing or not. To be fair, not every remodel is worth the money, so smart landlords learn how to tell the difference between a good investment and money down the drain.

Which Exterior Fixes Make a Difference

Some upgrades are expensive, and all they do is make the place look a little bit nicer for a year or two before the same problems come back. The smart thing to do is to look at whether a fix actually makes the building more durable over time, or does it only make it look good in the listing photo?

Companies such as Choice Exteriors – which specialize in exterior house renovations that are both functional and aesthetic/design-focused – see this play out all the time because too many landlords are after what’s pretty instead of what’s practical. Don’t be one of them.

Better Siding Means Fewer Problems Later

The only good thing about cheap siding is the fact that it’s cheap. And that’s it. It can’t stop moisture from getting inside the house, but it’ll do a good job at hiding it, so it will surprise you at the most inconvenient moment. The water will rot your framing and grow mold, and by the time that happens, you’re looking at a 4-figure bill for repairs.

Go for fiber cement siding instead; it does great in the rain and in the sun, and you won’t have to repaint it all the time.Install it once, and you won’t have to deal with tenants calling you up all the time to complain about musty smells inside the house or about soft spots in the exterior walls. The price will sting a bit at first, but it’s so worth it.

Issues With Roofing Don’t Stay Small

A small leak in the roof is never a problem with just the roof. The water will get into ceilings, insulation, and basically any cavity that it can find before anyone even knows something’s up. Roof work is expensive, so it’s understandable that many people put it off for as long as possible, but in the long run, you’ll end up spending a lot more money than you would have if you had acted on time.

It’s pretty simple; if the roof is old, replace it. You can’t stick to a budget or even plan one if the roof is old because it can fail at any moment. Now, imagine how your tenants would react to that.

Water Around the Property

People don’t really realize what an issue this REALLY is. And it is definitely an issue. If you have a puddle close to the foundation after every storm, that water doesn’t disappear into thin air. It has to go somewhere, and that somewhere is usually inside the house. If the grading slopes toward the house, then all the moisture ends up in your basement. And then it freezes, expands, and cracks the walls and concrete in the basement during freeze-thaw cycles every single winter. That means that the damage keeps getting worse and worse.

The real culprit is usually gutters and downspouts. If a gutter sags in the middle or if a downspout empties right next to the foundation, you’ll always have problems with drainage.

How to Tell If an Exterior Remodel Is Worth It

The new siding or a new roof will look good for sure, but that’s not what you should be interested in. The question you need to ask is, “Is this going to keep the money in my pocket?” “If I do this remodel, will it prevent the same repair calls I’ve been making for the past 5 years?”“Will it help the foundation and the windows last longer?” Or something along those lines.

Those are the things you need to concern yourself with. Looks are important, but not nearly as much as functionality. If you put off work on the exterior, it will ALWAYS come back to bite you.

Conclusion

In short, if the remodel were to win a beauty contest, then it’s probably not what you want to spend money on, except if you really, really want to. The projects that are actually worth the time and effort are the ones nobody even notices, like a new gutter system or properly sloped grading.

And that’s exactly the point. Those boring, invisible fixes are what make your tenants comfortable, and what prevents you from making frantic emergency calls and paying a fortune for repairs.