Maximize the energy efficiency, comfort, convenience, and luxuriousness of your holiday home with a few smart upgrades.
We’ve constructed a concise list of 5 smart upgrades for your holiday home investment. Both you and tenants who occupy your holiday home for a spell will benefit greatly from these simple and easy updates.
Upgrade The Kitchen
A primary reason people choose a house over a hotel for their getaway is the kitchen. Many guests prefer to cook their meals in a fully functioning kitchen.
Make tenants feel at home by upgrading your holiday home kitchen to something modern. Don’t spend thousands on a full kitchen renovation though! Rather make your upgrades more specific.
New appliances, silverware, cabinets, and countertops will undoubtedly enhance the energy of the room tenfold. Focus on easy-to-use and modern with these upgrades. Aim toward functionality and aesthetics.
Give the walls a neutral paint job. Replace your withering cabinets with some sleek, simple, chic, and warm ones. Add a backsplash of subway tiles to enhance the luxury of the space, and to add an extra layer of protection to your walls.
Finally, bring in extendable dining tables that guests can use as both a food-prep table and a dining table as they require.
Enhance Outdoor Spaces
The moment your guests enter the driveway, they will make an impression of your holiday home. You want it to be one of awe and excitement!
This means lots of decluttering, weeding, and painting. The effort put into this area significantly increases the potential rental income output.
Chores as straightforward as trimming the lawn, cleaning the gutters, and removing dead plants will encourage guests to snap a photo. And you get some free marketing and advertising if they upload the photos to social media!
Plant some gorgeous bushes and flowers, and bring in fresh mulch. Depending on the space you have at your disposal, we recommend the addition of a firepit, hammock, and some sturdy lawn chairs to your patio.
Cleaning is also a considerable part of curb appeal, which can significantly increase the value of your property. When guests arrive at a clean and tidy patio and garden, they’ll immediately assume the inside of your holiday home is well-maintained.
Energy-Efficient Improvements
Replace the regular bulbs in your holiday home with LED to significantly cut energy costs. The longevity of LED lights far exceeds that of traditional bulbs, and they use less than a quarter of the energy.
Install a smart thermostat to save 10-15% on the monthly electricity bill. Tenants commonly forget to turn off a heater or aircon when leaving the house for several hours. Smart thermostats prevent this issue from occurring, allowing the home’s indoor temperature to be regulated remotely.
These upgrades, as well as solar panels, are much more environmentally friendly than traditional methods. They can save you inordinate amounts of money and add extra value to your property.
So, add to the price a bit. Millennial tenants, specifically, are very willing to pay a fifth more for a holiday home with these types of energy-efficient features.
Technology & Entertainment
Guests prefer renting a house with the “home comforts” available to them in their own homes. They want to feel safe, secure, and at ease. It’s your job to provide this.
Consider installing some home automation technology such as smart security systems and voice assistants.
Smart locks help guests to feel safe during their stay. During vacant times, you can rest easy knowing your property is safe. Smart locks, in lieu of a key, allow you to change to a new security code for each guest’s stay. No more risk of guests making a copy of a key or getting locked out of the house!
Renters expect technological solutions as part of the rental package nowadays. A voice assistant is essentially a robot concierge for your guests. Program requests and pieces of information into a voice assistant that your guests can trigger as they require.
Why not build your guests a fun home theater or game room? These are other comforts of home they might miss while being away.
Bathroom Upgrades
We cannot stress enough the importance of a clean and updated bathroom in your holiday home! This could make the difference between a client swiping over your advertisement in a catalog and clicking “book”.
Rather than completely gutting and renovating a bathroom, follow the same rule as with the kitchen upgrade.
Make minor improvements to fixtures, tiles, and spa-like amenities. Replace toilet seats, sinks, hardware, and vanities. Keep an eye out for chips, cracks, and stains that can make your bathroom appear dirty and gross.
Your shower head should give the shower a shiny, modern, and luxurious air. Don’t skimp on making sure it has the option to adjust water pressure. Bring in candles, greenery, a radio, or a soundbar to listen to relaxing tunes, and make sure your towels and mats are always clean and soft. These are just a few ways to make your bathroom into a home spa and sensual retreat for your guests.
