Renter-Friendly Design Tips for Your Dream Home

Living in an apartment or another type of rental comes with conveniences and inconveniences. While you have on-call maintenance that can come to fix your appliances whenever they break and many amenities are included in the cost of rent, you can’t always design your apartment like you want to. 

It can be difficult to make a rental feel like your home when you can’t make too many changes to it. However, there are plenty of ways you can make your apartment or rented home feel like it’s yours without risking your deposit. 

Add Your Own Built-Ins

Some luxury apartments come with built-in shelves you can use for anything from books to trinkets. However, most apartments don’t. If you have bookshelves you put in storage because you thought your space would be too small, it’s time to find moving companies that can help you get them inside your apartment. These bookshelves can also be used to separate rooms for more defined spaces. 

When looking for the right bookshelves, make sure you find tall ones that will almost reach the ceiling. Also, they shouldn’t be able to be easily knocked down. While you won’t be able to nail your bookshelves to the walls to ensure they won’t fall you can use command strips on your walls to give your bookshelves a little more strength. 

Change Your Wall Color

Most apartments come with plain, white walls. While you might want to keep some of those walls the way they are, most people want to add a pop of color or design to their walls to make their rental feel like home. Some landlords allow you to paint as long as you paint the walls back when you move out. Other landlords don’t let you paint at all, and you can risk breaking your lease if they find out you’ve made any change to your walls. 

Instead of risking your relationship with your landlord or having to paint your walls again when you move out, consider getting peel and stick wallpaper. You can find the wallpaper in a variety of colors and designs so you can make any wall a feature wall. The best part about peel-and-stick wallpaper is that it easily comes off and doesn’t damage the paint. 

Update Light Fixtures

You won’t be able to do any construction to your rental, such as adding lights to the ceiling, but you can bring your light fixtures to make your lighting unique. Make sure you purchase lamps that match your style so you can make your place feel more like home. 

Luckily, many rentals don’t come with many light fixtures. You may find one in the dining area, kitchen, and bathroom, but you can do whatever you want with the living room and bedroom.

Get Curtains

Some landlords won’t allow you to take down your blinds because they want their property to look at a certain way from the outside. However, they may allow you to put up curtains as long as the side facing outside is white. The good news is you can find curtains that have a design or color on one side and are white on the other. While your home may not look like yours from the outside, it will as soon as you step inside. 

Add Mirrors

Use one large mirror to make any small space feel larger. Mirrors work best in living rooms, but they can be added just about anywhere to give your home more dimension. 

Purchase a New Mattress and Linens

While you may be renting your home, it doesn’t mean you cannot find ways to make it feel like your personal space. By purchasing a new mattress that molds best to your body, you can feel more relaxed and comfortable in your space. Take it a step further by replacing old, boring comforters and linens with those that match your unique design aesthetic. 

Get New Furniture

Your furniture is one thing you have absolute control over when you’re a renter, so make sure you get furniture that matches and is comfortable. If you can’t add any paint to your walls, you can still put color throughout your home by getting sofas with a pop of color or blankets and throw pillows that make your space feel like yours. 

Learn How to Camouflage 

Your apartment may come with eyesores that can be quite annoying, such as small cracks in the paint or ugly light switches. You can learn to camouflage these ugly aspects of your home. For example, you can touch up any paint that’s cracked or peeling by telling your landlord about it and asking what color the paint should be. Many landlords will be happy to tell you since it means one less crack in the paint to fix when you finally move out. 

An ugly light switch can be decorated with peel and stick wall decals, while ugly tile and carpet can be covered up with beautiful rugs.

Add Art

If you don’t have any wall decals, but you do want to hang some art, check your lease. Most landlords won’t allow you to put holes in the walls, but some might, depending on the number of holes. You can also use command strips to hang your art, which won’t peel off the paint and can hold different weights, depending on which strips you buy. 

If, for some reason, you absolutely must put a hole in your wall, make sure you fill that hole when you move out so you won’t be charged for any “repairs.”

Divide Spaces

Many rentals are just one open space, making decorating difficult. However, you can divide the space by grouping your furniture well. For example, if you have a large living room but no dining room, you can put one sofa between the two spaces to give you a more defined living area. Then, you can add a small dining table to break up the spaces even more. 

Your rental space comes with a few sets of rules, so make sure you never make any design decisions that can impact whether or not you get your deposit back. Luckily, most of the ways you design your apartment depends on your creativity. 

Marné Amoguis

Marné Amoguis holds a B.A. in International Business from UC San Diego. She is a contributing writer at 365businesstips.com where she loves sharing her passion for digital marketing. Outside of writing, she loves traveling, playing music, and hiking.

Discover How to Buy An Apartment In Turkey

Turkey is a dream location for people from various countries. Some of its attractions include the remarkable culture, history, climate, and nature. The real estate industry attracts significant investment in the country and is among the fastest-growing. There are various investment areas including Istanbul, Bodrum, Antalya, Trabzon, and Bursa. Let’s dig deeper into how you can buy an apartment in Turkey.

Apartment buying process

Turkey is the 37th largest country in the world. It has thousands of destinations for real estate developers. For anyone looking forward to investing here, there are a few things to keep in mind. The bigger cities in the western part of the country are the most attractive to foreign real estate investors. Some of the most prominent real estate locations include Istanbul, the coast of the Mediterranean, and the Aegean region.

Preparing your budget is the first thing to do when looking forward to buying property in Turkey. Afterward, you have to find a suitable location with properties that match your preferences and budget. An apartment in Istanbul is suitable for those who enjoy vibrant city life. Bodrum and Bursa are ideal for those who want to escape from the daily hustle and bustle of the city.

Buying an apartment in Istanbul

You can find apartments for sale in Istanbul  in various neighborhoods. The city is a combination of rich history and culture. It links Europe and Asia. About 15 million people live in this city and it is the 20th city in the world to attract the most visitors. Investing in an apartment here is the best way to enjoy city life with friendly people, low living costs, and beautiful scenery.

Investors in real estate have various properties to choose from including:

  • Apartments
  • Sea views
  • Luxury homes
  • First view villas

These come at a reasonable price and offer investors a high return on their investment. With such incentives, the real estate market in the city is very appealing to foreign investors.

Buying an apartment in Antalya

Away from Istanbul, this is the second city in Turkey that receives the most visitors. Antalya is filled with beautiful beaches and resorts. The real estate market here is very appealing to investors from all over the world. This vibrant city is full of world-class hotels, endless dining options, immense hospitality, and an active nightlife.

Antalya is a great shopping destination with some of the best shopping centers in the country. Here, people indulge in shopping international and local brands in the weekly markets and shopping malls. The best beaches in Turkey namely Lara Beach and Konyalti Beach are in Antalya.

Buying an apartment in Bursa

Located in the northern part of the country, Bursa is a great real estate investment location for investors from the Middle East. This is because of the similarity in culture. Some of the local attractions here include:

  • Ulu Mosque
  • Uludag Mountain
  • Green Mosque

Real estate here is affordable with the potential to make good money from holidaymakers for long and short-stay rentals. Bursa has properties constructed with the latest designs and technologies. This city has recent developments and all its infrastructures are well maintained. Some of the amenities that make life here easier and better include health care, education, and transport.

Bodrum

This city is another hotbed for real estate investment in Turkey. Properties here come with a modern transport system, local attractions, beautiful architecture, and sparkling nightlife. One of the most significant attractions for foreign investors in Bodrum is the ease of communication. Locals here speak mainly English to eliminate the problem of the language barrier that might exist in some locations.

Understanding foreign ownership of property in Turkey

The government of Turkey allows foreign investors to buy apartments without restrictions. Some of the top foreign investors in Turkish real estate are from Iran, the USA, the UK, Iraq, Russia, China, and Saudi Arabia. The government’s decision to grant Turkish citizenship to real estate investors who commit about $250,000 has attracted various foreign investors.

Another significant factor that has attracted foreign investment in the real estate sector is the immense development in various sectors including transport, health, and entertainment. This has made real estate prices go up making investing in the sector highly profitable.

Buying an apartment in Turkey is one of the best decisions to make for any smart real estate investor. This country has various beautiful locations backed by a rich culture and a wonderful natural environment. Istanbul is among the most lucrative locations where to buy an apartment with the potential to make a high return on your investment.

Author: Eernesto T Felder

Are you interested to buy an apartment in Turkey for less than 50k? Check out our latest listings!

8 Perks That Come With Buying A Home

Buying a home requires spending on upfront costs. However, various long-term perks might not always be obvious. Apart from getting a home, buying a home builds equity, plan housing payments, and other perks as you’re about to discover below.

Stabilized housing costs

Investing in buying a home comes with various upfront expenses such as the down payment and closing fees. You also have to budget for ongoing maintenance down the road. However, homeownership becomes consistent with a fixed-rate loan for paying your monthly mortgage.

Although homeowner insurance and property taxes increase with time, the housing payments are usually stable throughout the year. Keep in mind that the price of renting keeps on increasing whenever you renew the lease or go into a new apartment.

Growing investment

General home prices grow over time although this can depend on local real estate trends. The appreciating value is a major benefit of considering homes for sale in Wareham Ma. The appreciation value for a home in 25 years is an average of 3.9 percent annually according to Black Knight.

The value of homes varies widely across the US and it fluctuates in some places more than in others. However, you can use a price calculator to predict the current value of the home according to the purchase price and closing date.

Tax benefits

You benefit from some taxes when you own a home. These include capital gains tax and mortgage interest deductions that help save you a tremendous amount annually. There’s also a chance to deduct money you paid for mortgage insurance premiums on the federal income tax returns.

Additionally, there’s a chance to deduct property tax payments, sales taxes, and local income taxes paid to the local government and state. For those who make a profit on selling their home, you might get exempted from paying taxes on your earnings. However, you’ll need proof that you have occupied the home for about two to five years before you sell it.

Building equity

The home’s equity makes up a portion of the property that you own. Determining this is by subtracting the mortgage balance from the market value of the home.

You can build equity by making monthly mortgage payments and tracking the appreciation of your home over time. When you sell your home, you receive equity in the form of cash. Alternatively, renters don’t recoup any housing expenses spent while occupying the house.

Source of earnings

Another wonderful benefit of buying a home is a chance to tap into the equity to finance improving your home or paying off personal loans. Having such options allows borrowing money and using your home as security. Although it puts your home at risk in case you default on payment, the options are more affordable than some alternatives to get money.

Building credit

Getting a mortgage has a positive impact on your credit score. This is very good for your financial health. Monthly timely payments help boost your credit scores. And, having a mortgage helps diversify the credit mix while increasing your credit history.

Using credit also lowers your loan balance to positively impact your credit scores. On the flip side, late payments hurt your credit and a fault leads to a foreclosure putting your credit score in jeopardy. The rule of thumb is to prioritize timely payments for your home mortgage. This allows building credit over time to finance future purchases favorably.

Allows personalization

Another benefit of owning a home is having complete control regarding how you want it to look. You just have to abide by local regulations regarding home renovations and improvements. Doing this allows owning a home that matches your taste and preferences.

When you rent, your landlord is the one with authority over renovating the property. However, when the home is yours, nothing can stop you from working on it to become your dream home. You have the freedom to invest in renovations that boost the value of your home.

Living security

When renting, your stability in the property depends on the landlord’s decision. You might wake up one day and the landlord wants to give out the property to another tenant.

Keep in mind that shifting is expensive, inconvenient, and quite emotional when you have to shift at short notice. If you bought the home, you will always sleep soundly without anyone having to give orders regarding the property.

There’s no hesitation to invest in a home today. There are various properties to buy in Wareham Ma. You just have to find a reputable real estate agent to guide you through the whole process. Owning a home comes with various perks including boosting your credit, securing a home for your family, and enjoying tax benefits.

Author: Eernesto T Felder

Are you interested in buying a home for less than 50k? Check out our latest listings!