Making a bathroom look impressive in a rental property can be easier than it looks. Whether you’ve just acquired a rental property with a lackluster bathroom or you’ve got an outdated unit ready for a fresh upgrade, these inexpensive and easy changes will impress tenants when they view your property.
Premium Shower Head
When renters look at properties, they don’t often use the sink or turn the shower on, but they’re thinking about it. Would it be comfortable for them to take long, hot showers in the bathroom they’re looking at? If you have a premium showerhead in your bathroom, the answer is yes. You can get a decent one for under $100, and most are easy to install yourself. Many renters will also switch out the shower head temporarily if you leave them with a substandard option, so this saves them trouble and keeps them away from your plumbing.
Self-Closing Toilet Lid
Slamming toilet lids are annoying, and they also break. Save yourself some maintenance headaches by providing a self-closing toilet lid. This is especially attractive for tenants who have children, and it’s a great way to help your tenants comply with any residential quiet hours.
Shower Storage
Most standard rental unit bathrooms don’t come with storage. Everyone in the family is expected to put their toiletries on the tub corners. Instead, make your tenants feel welcome with extra shower storage. Add a hanging shower storage solution for under $20 from Amazon. This will help your tenants keep the tub clean, too.
Curved Curtain Rod
In older homes and apartments, in particular, the shower can feel like a small, boxed-in space. open it up a bit with a curved curtain rod. Curved curtain rods, now often used by hotel chains, fit in a standard curtain rod slot but provide more space in the shower. It feels like a luxury but doesn’t cost as much as one.
Convenient Shelves And Over-The-Toilet Racks
Storage space is a concern for many tenants, but few think of their bathrooms as ideal places for storage. However, a few shelves in a spacious bathroom or an over-the-toilet shelf in a less-than-spacious bathroom is a real space saver. Add a few inexpensive Ikea fabric bins to keep it all tidy.
Lighting Upgrades
A simple light fixture change is one of the most dramatic changes you can make when it comes to upgrading a bathroom in a rental property. You can switch out the fixture to modernize it — or even switch the type of light bulbs you’re using to brighten up the space.
Mirror Replacement
Slim and sleek wall mirrors are your solution to an easy and inexpensive bathroom problem. You can hang them directly on the wall above the sink. Complement with over-mirror lighting. If your bathroom has tile or wallpaper, you can even snag some DIY acrylic mosaic gems to line the edge of the mirror to make it match accordingly. This cute touch will help you differentiate your property from others the prospective tenant is looking at.
Toilet Upgrades
Old toilets aren’t powerful. Those water-savers with multi-flush options just don’t get the job done. You need something plain, efficient, and powerful — and while this is a more expensive bathroom upgrade and may require some assistance upon installation, it’s worth it. Save yourself many, many maintenance costs or trips (and save your tenant the embarrassment of having to call!) by having a comfortable, modern toilet in each bathroom.
Flooring Upgrades for Rentals – Floor Tiles
Are you dealing with a dismal floor situation in your bathroom? Since most bathrooms are small, it’s actually pretty inexpensive to replace the flooring. Whether you re-tile it or consider a vinyl flooring option, it’s pretty easy to get the job done in tight quarters, too.
Vanity Improvements
Storage in a rental unit bathroom is always at a premium. That’s why it’s important to have a vanity with plentiful, spacious storage. Tenants store toilet paper and toiletries in there, and this is especially important if your rental unit is light on closet space or lacks a linen closet in particular. Ikea sells affordable, beautiful modern cabinetry that fits right in place in your rental unit. Give it a try!
Towel Storage And Towel Warmer
Go above and beyond by providing places to store towels and warm them. Warmed towel racks are just the luxury your tenants may need to go with your unit!
Cabinet Handle Upgrade
Once you’ve done your other rental unit bathroom upgrades, it’s time to take a look at your cabinet handles. This is such a small detail, but a noticeable one, if you have doors that open on the vanity. Add some accessible, modern handles to make the whole bathroom look a little more appealing.
Standing Toilet Paper Holder
Everyone hates those standard toilet paper situations — the ones where the plastic roller eventually falls off (and maybe gets eaten by the tenant’s child or dog). Help your tenant avoid that hassle with a standing toilet paper holder. These come with metal rods that allow you to simply slide the toilet paper tube right onto the top of it — and provide precious space for extra rolls below! Many of these even have cell phone storage areas so you can go hands-free while you go!
Vinyl Decals
The last but not least upgrade you can provide for a tenant’s bathroom is a vinyl decal upgrade. Instead of replacing tile or wall, you can refresh it with a whole new look. These often come with intricate shapes that you can select to match the rest of your bathroom. Consider a floral pattern, a tiled mosaic feature, or decals that look like standard tile. You can order custom decals to match your theme: from a starry night to something beachy, vinyl decals can match your tone and color scheme.
There are many small projects that increase value of your rental that you can do to help your rental property be more attractive to renters.
