Add value by re-purposing & adding a little wow factor.

Porch before

In any market, there is a limit to what you're able to charge for an apartment.  The question is, how do you maximize the property's appeal in order to be able to get the high number... And at the same time have prospective tenants fighting to get the place.

Here is a shot of an old enclosed porch used to hold laundry machines & cat litter boxes.  It had an un-insulated closet at the far end, it was cold and the floors had a smell from the cats.

       

Some upgrades had been done to the apartment over the years, but this space had been neglected, probably because it was an additional space to pass through on the way to the living room or the kitchen - it didn't seem to add value like an additional bedroom might. 

  

I really believe having an in-unit laundry is essential to anyone. Not having one makes people feel like "renters" every time they have to pack up their dirty clothing and take it somewhere to wash it.* (*this excludes college students :))   Tenants will stay longer if they have a few comforts that make their rental more of a home. With this in mind, we turned the closet at the end of the hall into a laundry room by adding a new stud wall and door after properly insulating, adding electric and laundry hookups to the space.  Because of years of foot traffic, the hardwood floor was totally worn, so it was patched at the far end at the doorway leading into the kitchen.

before closet

In this closet turned laundry room,the brick wall and the stack were both painted.  I decided to paint the stack black for an industrial look - I 'm not sure if this look was achieved, but it's done, it's clean, and I don't think it looks out of place.  The HVAC crew used that area to run the necessary AC lines into the attic as well.

floors before

floors after

Oh yea - the floors.  You don't have to look very hard to see all of the paint I dripped on the hardwood floors. This is why the floor finishing is always saved until last - at least for me.  Why worry about the floors?
If you look at the step, it is worn, and even concave from years and years of foot traffic.  I thought about tearing it out early on, but by the time I got to this step, (no pun intended), I had grown to know and appreciate that step, so I decided (an easy choice) to keep it.  I sanded it lightly with a power sander.  I kept some of the old finish and added some new poly - the step has history and I think it it adds to the story of unit #9.  

I feel the floors are nice but did not end up in a pristine condition - full disclosure this was my first time refinishing floors and I had a limited time on my rented sander.  They have some spots and other divots, but I think, for this purpose, they work well and are in much better shape than the older alternative    

When you walk in, this is what you see - bright and clean with a little bit of a wow factor.  The finished porch area ended up being clean and welcoming.  The space is well insulated, has new windows, and a new laundry room in an ideal place.  I ended up renting unit #9 (for a top market price) to the very first people that looked at it.  I'm happy, and my tenants are very happy going on year #3 living in their home. Oh, and the smell of cats is gone.