How much would you spend to increase the income on your existing rental?

[TexasHusker]

You said I'm in the minority. Well I'm very proudly there. The fact that you feel the need to spend thousands to make this place even more gorgeous than it clearly already is is awful. People are way, way, way too demanding if they would make a rental decision based on the style of the ceiling fan or quality of the picture hanging on the wall. I could never be in a business where I was forced to cater to the whims of the public like that.

Now some of the things on your list seem perfectly reasonable. Sofas wear out. Bigger TVs are pretty much the norm today. Adding the arcade unit is an extra amenity but having to change door hinges is just plain nuts in my mind. If someone is that outrageously picky that they aren't going to come because they don't like my door hinges than I don't want their business. I'd suck at this.

LOL. Well, my rule of thumb is, if I am going to charge big bucks, I had better deliver the goods. Statistics show that it is the wife that selects the cabin, and whether or not there is guest satisfaction is largely based on HER opinion, because SHE will be the one doing the review. Women look for cleanliness. "Dated" doesn't mean unclean, but it certainly infers neglect and deferred maintenance to a female. I can't change consumer demand, but I can meet it. Changing out a few hinges and handles is only a few hundred dollars and takes a couple of hours.

When a woman walks in and sees nice stainless appliances, an authentic persian rug, original art, up-to-date lighting and fixtures, and nice leather furnishings, you make $50K a year.

[disneysteve]

LOL. Well, my rule of thumb is, if I am going to charge big bucks, I had better deliver the goods. Statistics show that it is the wife that selects the cabin, and whether or not there is guest satisfaction is largely based on HER opinion, because SHE will be the one doing the review. Women look for cleanliness. "Dated" doesn't mean unclean, but it certainly infers neglect and deferred maintenance to a female. I can't change consumer demand, but I can meet it. Changing out a few hinges and handles is only a few hundred dollars and takes a couple of hours.

When a woman walks in and sees nice stainless appliances, an authentic persian rug, original art, up-to-date lighting and fixtures, and nice leather furnishings, you make $50K a year.

I'm sure every bit of that is true. You know your business and your customers well.

I think part of my perspective is that we are frugal budget travelers. We have rented many, many vacation homes over the years. We do it at least once a year and often twice. But we do it because it is both cheaper and better than staying in a hotel for so many reasons. Since we are approaching it as a budget vacation, we care about the condition of the place but there's no way we would ever even think about commenting on something as insignificant as what kind of door handles the place has. We couldn't care less if they were brass or bronze or nickel or pewter. We do scrutinize the photos to look at the type and apparent condition of furnishings and appliances. We have a few criteria that immediately disqualify a place like leather sofas, glass top dining tables, and gaudily decorated bedrooms (especially the "kids" room since our daughter is now 23 and feels weird in those). But beyond that, as long as a place looks clean and well maintained, we're good. The last condo that we rented two trips in a row had a small tube TV in the master bedroom, but we hardly ever watch TV in there so we didn't care. There was a nice large flat screen in the living room which is where we did 99% of our TV viewing, which was minimal anyway.

Now if our goal was to rent a high end luxury house, I suppose we'd be looking for different things and having different expectations. When we stay in a luxury hotel, like a $400/night sort of place, we certainly expect different things than when we stay in a $119/night Fairfield Inn. I guess the same is true with house rentals. Though I still can't imagine ever caring about or even noticing the door hinges.