As a landlord, it’s in your interests to make your property as appealing to renters as possible – you will know the challenges of finding and keeping good tenants. One of the key things that will attract someone to a property is the way it looks, so a more premium appearance is preferred if you want a better class of tenant to move in. This applies to all of the decoration, furniture and interiors: touches such as new wallpaper, a fireplace, character grade oak flooring or solid wood worktops can give the property real charm and appeal. Of course, you need to balance the requirement for practicality with the desire to make a property more beautiful, but the benefit of higher quality furnishings is that they will usually be longer lasting too.
Let’s focus on the flooring: why might you want to install oak, widely regarded as one of the most premium types of wood, in a rental property? Oak is very strong, hardy and long lasting, which are all characteristics you want for rental property flooring. It’s also incredibly beautiful and a much coveted floor covering, so tenants will notice touches like this immediately at their first viewing. It can help to attract the types of people who will appreciate the care you put in to finishing a property off beautifully.
Why is character grade oak a good decision for flooring?
Character grade oak is a natural type of oak – it is classified as being character grade because it still has the natural features you’d expect to see in wood. This is what gives it a unique character, and plenty of charm. Some of the features you might spot in character grade oak are knots, face shakes, fillable defects and colour variations. This serves to give the flooring more character, and makes it more obvious that it really is made from real, solid oak. If these features are removed, it might make people wonder whether it’s imitation wood instead.
Why do landlords choose to install character grade oak as flooring in their properties?
These are some of the top reasons why you might want to consider character oak flooring in your rental property:
- Premium features mean higher rental income. If you’re willing to spend the money on making your property more attractive, you can charge a higher price to live in it. People will be happy to pay more rent if they know a property has been well furnished and properly looked after.
- It’s a good way to attract, and keep, good tenants. Good tenants will spot premium features and it will help to seal the deal. If you have good tenants and you want to keep them, redecorating and laying new flooring can really help. Laying character grade oak flooring is a great idea that they should really appreciate.
- Character grade oak is a solid wood product that is designed to last. Wood is tough and hardwearing, perfect for laying in high traffic areas of the home like kitchens or living rooms.