Do you need to carpet the fixer upper home you just bought? Is it going to be your primary residence or a rental property?

You might think it doesn’t matter who will be living in your house, but it does.

If you plan to make the fixer upper your home, you’ll want it to be nice. You know you will take care of the carpet and all the other improvements you plan to make. As you price carpet, you can look at higher quality brands without much guilt.

But, if you plan to use the fixer upper house for rental income, plan accordingly. Even the best renters with the best intentions let some things go when they know the property isn’t their own. Don’t look for a carpet so cheap that it won’t hold up to normal wear and tear, but don’t buy anything so plush and expensive that you’ll expect your tenant to run around with a damp sponge and carpet cleaner in hand all the time either.

The same principle applies to other aspects of renovating a fixer upper. Will you opt for easy to clean linoleum or other vinyl floor coverings or high gloss hardwood floors? Again, don’t expect a tenant to treat the property as you would and keep that in mind when making your remodeling decisions.

There are other areas in which you can scrimp if your fixer upper home is not going to be your primary residence. Make sure your house meets your local codes as far as insulation and energy efficiency, but if it’s a rental you don’t have to invest a whole lot into going above and beyond those codes. If it’s your own house, though, make sure to take all energy saving precautions.  For instance, if your local code requires renovations made to existing homes to include a certain amount of insulation, do it regardless of who will occupy your fixer upper. But if codes don’t require a standard amount, let the house’s insulation needs go for a while until you see a surplus of income from the rental… as long as you are not paying the utility bills as part of your rental agreement. Then, you can upgrade once the property can pay for the improvements. If you live in the fixer upper house, you’d probably like to install central heat and air. For a rental unit, however, most landlords opt to leave the heating and cooling to space heaters and window unit air conditioners rather than pay for the upgrade and maintenance.

Don’t make a lot of improvements to a rental fixer upper unless you plan to sell it in the near future. Don’t go in and redo an entire kitchen thinking you can rent the fixer upper for more. It’s true you could probably sell it for more with a renovated kitchen, but rent is rarely affected by such improvements.

Make sure your fixer upper is safe regardless of who will live in it – you or a renter. But when it comes to aesthetics, you don’t have to go all out for a rental property fixer upper. Make sure your rental fixer upper is clean and safe. Don’t decorate. Your tenant will probably not share your tastes anyway.

As you attempt to rent your recently purchased fixer upper home, listen to potential tenants and what they say as the view the property. If more rental homes in your community do have central heat and air, think about adding it to your fixer upper or lowering your rent to reflect the lack of that amenity.  If you watch your expenses closely, you can turn your fixer upper house into a great money making rental. The more money you save while renovating it, the more money your fixer upper will put into your pocket.