What is the most underrated way to gain value in real estate?

Every investor has a thing.  Some people are into backsplash.  Some investors paint front doors.  Others are obsessed with the bathroom.  

I am obsessed with the extra bedroom.  Long-term AND short-term rentals.  The extra room is a total game-changer for demand and value for your property.  

I kid you not, we have created millions in equity value in the addition of extra bedrooms.  The best part is that you dont need to be a world famous designer or architect to do this too.  Three easy ways to add extra rooms:

Option 1 - I love to find a room that isn’t creating much value.  At one of our short-term rentals, there were two first floor rooms that didn’t make sense.  The library and work shed became two extra bedrooms.  Nobody is going to a high end rental to use a work shed!  At Bohemia Manor Farm, we turned the walk-in closet into a 4-bed bunk room!  

Option 2 - Add an extra wall to turn one room into two bedrooms.  At our 15 unit building, we had a bunch of extra large one bedroom apartments.  We literally added a wall with a door to turn them into 2 bedroom units.  This $1K change immediately created $150 in extra monthly rent AND more demand as well.  In one of our short-term rentals, we added a wall to turn the extra large master bedroom into two rooms.  

Option 3 – Find a space where a low cost addition can add an extra room.  My favorite example of this is at our high-end rental where we turned a garden into a really awesome bedroom.  The garden was never used by anyone because it was overlooking the wrong part of the property.  For $15K, we added a small roof / siding / min-split to make a killer extra bedroom.  

Extra bonus – This same concept applies to commercial space as well.  Post covid, there is more demand than ever for office space in a closed room.  Add extra small offices to your commercial building and you can create immediate added value.     

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