It is time for some good old-fashioned Cape Cod vacation rental renovations. This means preparing the exterior and interior for a tenant. It means getting all the pieces in place so your rental can earn equity and stay a cozy place to live.
It also means avoiding some often costly mistakes. Renovating is often about navigating the mishaps. Below are three surprisingly common mistakes you could make when you begin renovating your Cape Cod vacation rental.
Not Planning Ahead
Not planning ahead is the first, and most common, landlords make. Not planning ahead almost always involves making one huge and related mistake. They spend too much money.
An eager landlord may have 100 great ideas, but they have to determine which ones are the most important. If they don’t, they are out of money in no time at all. Planning requires you to be frugal when it comes to your finances. It also allows you to prioritize the repairs and renovations which provide the biggest impact.
Planning head includes a clear budget, a hierarchy plan, goals, and steps required. You should also look at what can and should be outsourced to others.
Taking Shortcuts
We see so many landlords take shortcuts. And we understand why! It is incredibly appealing to get a project done at a quarter of the cost and in half the time.
But we have to ask, what is the cost? When does something constitute smart planning or an unfortunate shortcut? Taking shortcuts usually means worsening the quality of the end product to get it done sooner. Take, for example, paint. Some may take days to choose the perfect color. Others just paint whatever they have in the closet.
Paint, though, is extremely important to get right. A bad color could stick out like a sore thumb. Poor paint jobs could peel. It could make a big difference to everything else in the rental. It doesn’t take a lot to make sure this part is done right. The landlord who chose whatever they had in-stock may not have thought it through, and they took an unnecessary shortcut. It will undoubtedly impact their success.
Not Shopping Around
It is rare to get the best offer the first time out. It happens, but it shouldn’t be expected. It is always smart to shop around. At the very least, it gives you options. You get to receive an average price for a specific service. You also open up the opportunity to get insightful suggestions from different professionals. Simply shopping around for different product options has its own perks too. You can discover great deals or spark a new idea.
It only makes sense to take the time and “play the field.” Learn about what kind of project you want to do and the options you have available. You never know what you may surface when you patiently shop around.
There’s so much to cover when it comes to renovating your vacation rental. The above only covers the bare essentials. Always be sure to commit to consistent annual maintenance. Don’t cut corners needlessly to save a few bucks. Your tenant may feel it. The cost of repairing it later can be more than the cost was original. You could lose a good tenant in the process. It could even open up the door to legal troubles.
You also want to look at the overall Cape Cod rental market projections to get an idea of where you are.
Make sure you stay on top of your home. Love it like it is your own and your tenants will too.
