4 Tips to Make Your Rental Apartment Cozy
When it comes to getting your vacant property rent ready, you might be wondering how to make the rental apartment cozy & attractive to tenants for showings.
Sometimes—especially in a competitive renter market—it’s important to add a few special touches to an empty unit. This can help potential tenants better envision your property as their future home!
You want to be mindful of budget and spending too much staging a vacancy.
Of course, if you plan on using any purchases (like furniture, curtains, rugs, wall art) as a set of “staging supplies” that you simply store when the unit is filled and then re-use for the next vacancy—feel free to invest in larger purchase items!
However, this article will take a “minimal” approach to make a rental apartment cozy. These four tips are unique & cost-effective ways you can make an apartment feel a little homier, without breaking your budget—or having to store staging supplies until the next go-round!
Cozy Rental Tip #1: “Smart”-en Up The Place
While tech may seem like the last thing you’d use to make a rental apartment cozy, adding a few smart amenities can really drive up excitement for your property.
Plus, is there anything more cozy than not having to get out of bed to see who’s at the door, open the blinds, or turn on the light?
We’ve written about some cool & interesting smart amenities that you can add to your rentals, but a few, in particular, that could really make your listing cozy are:
- Smart doorbell—so your tenant can see who’s at the door, right from their phone
- Smart blinds—so the tenant can go to bed or wake up with a tap of a button
- Smart plugs — a great tenant welcome gift that they can use for their lamps, coffee makers, and more!
Cozy Rental Tip #2: Don’t Be The Stinky Rental
Smell is one of the most underrated tools landlords, property managers, real estate agents can use when it comes to making your rental apartment cozy. Humans associate smells with good and bad emotions, so it’s crucial that whatever squiggle-line waves that radiate from your rental are of the pleasant variety—and not the “trash day is Tuesday” variety.
There are a few easy ways to make your vacancy will pass the smell test for potential tenants:
- If smokers were your previous tenants, ensure cigarette odors are removed
- Weather permitting, open the windows for a few hours before the showing to increase air flow & circulate out any stale odors
- Purchase a few scent diffusers (depending on how big the property is) to place throughout the home
The types of scent diffusers you purchase will be up to you & your comfort or preference. For example, there are many cheap candles on the market that can add some lovely aromas to your apartment. However, if you’re worried about potential fire hazards, plug-in scent diffusers or reed diffusers are an equally viable option.
Cozy Rental Tip #3: Add Some Greenery to the Scenery
Most human beings like nature of some sort. Even if you’re not a camper/hiker/outdoors person per se, adding a few indoor plants can go a long way in making your rental seem inviting.
Whether you’re worried about your own green thumb or your future tenants, snake plants are a low-maintenance, hardy indoor plant that are relatively easy to take care of.
Additionally, if you want to leave any plants with the tenant, succulent plants are a cost-effective option to adding some natural accents, while still making the rental apartment cozy.
Cozy Rental Tip #4: Throw on Some Paint for an Accent Wall
Accent walls can be REAL hit-or-miss for adding some personality to a rental. This is mostly due to the accent wall being TOO bold. Instead of going for a distinct design that might not appeal to renters, paint one wall a palatable color and leave it at that.
A painted accent wall can offer the tenant a splash of color, while also not overriding their own vision for what the space could look like. Be sure to do a little research on what paint types work best for the room where you add an accent wall.
How to Make Your Rental Apartment Cozy
When it comes to imbibing an empty unit with the feeling of “home”, there are simple & budget-friendly options at your disposal.
Smart tech that makes life a little easier, an accent wall that adds some personality to a room, inviting scents and greenery to cultivate a pleasant atmosphere—all these tips can be used to make your rental apartment cozy as your showing it to your future tenants!