5 Tips to Renovate Your Multi-Family Home Before Selling

If you’re the property owner of a multi-family home, you’ve invested in your future. You’ve been able to rent out each unit successfully, but now you’re wondering about the potential revenue you could make by selling it.

At some point during the sales process, you’re probably going to have to make some improvements to your residence. It might sound like a large undertaking, but it doesn’t have to be.

If you want to sell your home for the highest possible value, take a look at the following five tips for how to renovate without breaking the bank.

• Make Each Unit Functional

Renovating a unit can be as simple as rearranging the furniture or replacing a few cabinets. But sometimes, you may wish to consider accepting a larger investment in your upgrade for a higher return. 

Think about how you could increase the amount of space in each unit. Assuming it’s a multi-family property, you’re most likely to sell to someone who’s intending to rent the units out, either as a landlord or through a property management company.

The buyer is going to expect the space to be as functional as possible for their future tenants. If there’s an unnecessary portion of the wall that obstructs the view of the living room from the kitchen, you might easily work with an affordable contractor to tear it down.

• Use Faux Paneling

Faux paneling can be your best, most affordable friend in terms of interior design. You can create an accent wall or add a backsplash above the kitchen sink for a fraction of the cost of real tiles or wallpaper.

Plus, you can do the home renovations yourself instead of paying a contractor to do them for you, and that could end up saving you upwards of $1,500.

• Stage Each Unit

As we mentioned before, your future buyer is more than likely going to be looking to rent the property out. Professionally staging each unit will give people a chance to envision the potential of each unit.

The idea with staging is to be minimal, but effective. People will still need an opportunity to picture what they might do with the space themselves. Too much clutter and personal items in the spaces can limit their ability to do that.

Make sure all the tenants have moved out and each unit has been properly cleaned before you schedule a showing.

• Update the Landscaping

Curb appeal is critical when you’re hoping to sell a multi-family house. It’s the first thing a prospective buyer will see before he or she enters the front door.

Always mow the lawn before an open house. You may also want to consider adding extra shrubs or new trees around the property.

Keep the enhancements to a minimum, though. As the landlord, you’re aware that it’s your responsibility to handle the upkeep. The next potential owner doesn’t want to see the prospect of too much extra work on top of the responsibilities he or she is apt to have working with their tenants.

• Make Units Energy Efficient 

Making each unit energy efficient doesn’t mean you have to install brand-new windows or upgrade the insulation in the attic (unless of course you have the budget for it). You can do very simple things to lower monthly costs for the buyer.

Switch all the lighting to LED bulbs. Those can save an average household around $1,000 over 10 years.

Replace your old thermostat with an electric one. This allows you to manage the temperature of the home with ease by setting timers or even controlling it from a mobile device.

Lowering the thermostat by ten degrees during the periods when you aren’t home can save upwards of 15% on your energy bills.

Summary

Renovating your multi-family home to raise its value doesn’t necessarily require as much intensive labor as you might think. There are small ways to make big improvements.

When in doubt, talk to a local property management company. They have experience buying, selling, and renting multi-family homes and can assist throughout the selling process.