Reforms that most often improve the income of a tourist housing are those that are seen in the photos of the announcement and those that solve a recurring complaint in the reviews: bathroom, kitchen, air conditioning and bed and light. The purely aesthetic reforms of his own taste - with no relation to what your type guest wants - rarely recover with price rise. Before reforming anything, look at your reviews and your employment information: there's a sign of what's really stopping your housing.
Before Reforms: What Do Your Review and Data Say
The first step isn't to get the catalogue from a furniture tent, to read the latest reviews and to look at your rental and price data. A repeated complaint - "lt was so hot," "The mattress was uncomfortable," "I was missing decent wifi" - tells you exactly where the problem was, without guessing. If however the reviews are good but the occupation does not rise, it's most likely that the problem isn't physical housing but how the announcement's put up: you can check with our Airbnb announcement audit before spending on work.
Reforms that rise price per night
What most often moves the price a guest's willing to pay is what's seen in photos and what's solving a basic need: a renewed bathroom, a well-equipped and functional kitchen, real functioning air conditioning and heating, and good quality bedding and lighting. They are relatively contained changes that are noted in every photo of the announcement and at every stay and so they are often amortised faster than a structural reform that the guest never sees.
Reforms that are under-occupied
Other improvements don't get as high as the price per night but they do make the house more and more days a year: better wifi and stable speed (determining for remote jobs), acoustic isolation if your recurring complaint is noise, and efficient air conditioning in summers or hard winters, that prevents direct discards in search of guests that filter through that comfort. To declare these comforts well in the announcement matters as much as to have them: check how you do them at frequent errors in the tourist rental announcement.
What doesn't come back
Reforms of personal taste - design finishes that you love but do not coincide with what your guest looks for, structural works that aren't seen in any photo of the announcement, or up far above the standard of your housing category at an average price area - rarely recover with a proportional price rise. Before ordering any big work, compare your housing with photos of similar ads that best work in your area: if the difference isn't about something that appears in those photos, that reform will probably not be paid by the guest.
Work license and tourist license requirements
If the reform affects the structure, distribution or housing, check if your town hall requires a work license before starting - independent of a tourist license. In addition, each autonomous community lays down minimum equipment requirements for operation as a tourist housing (air conditioning, kit, demand sheet, sometimes elevator or accessibility according to the building): that part of the reform isn't an optional improvement, it's a condition for being legally advertised. See the details in your community's guide within VUT regulations in Spain.
How we planned with the owner
When we manage a housing, we always start with an audit of the announcement and of the reviews before recommending any work: often the margin is at the price or photos, not an expensive reform. When we have to invest, we prioritize what resolves a real complaint or directly up what the guest sees in photos, and we leave for later what's aesthetic improvement with no clear impact on income.
Reforms by phases instead of all at once
The whole reform does not have to be undertaken before the first reservation. A reasonable sequence is: first what your community's regulations require to be put into operation, then what resolves the most repeated complaint in reviews if you already have a record, and finally the most cost-effective improvements (complete kitchen, integral bathroom reform) that you can plan with the housing's own income once it's functioning. Reform by phase reduces initial disbursement and allows you to check the actual effect of each improvement on prices and reviews before performing the following.
Furnish for tourist use, and not to live with
A regular mistake is to have the house furnished as if for its own use: delicate sofas, light textiles with difficult cleaning and fragile décor. The furniture of a tourist housing has to endure a guest rotation far more than a regular home, so the priority should be durability and ease of cleanliness about pure decorative taste, without giving up that it looks good in photos.
FAQ
What reform gives more back to a tourist apartment?
It's up to your starting point, but generally the bathroom and air conditioning - if you didn't have them - are the ones with the most impact in price and discount, followed by the kitchen if your housing points to several day or group stays.
Is it worth reforming before we get our tourist license?
If your autonomous community requires minimum equipment requirements for the license (air conditioning, kit, demand sheet, some finishes), that part isn't optional and should be solved before operation. The rest of the reform can be expected and put into phases once housing is already generating income.
Do Professional Photos count as Reformation?
They are not a reform, but they often give more return than a small reform: a well-photographed housing can greatly increase the price that a guest accepts without touching a brick. Always check the photos before deciding a play.
How do I know if my housing needs reform or just better management?
Look at your reviews from the last few months: if they repeat the same complaint (mattress, noise, heat and wifi), it's a clear sign of reform or tiptual change. If the reviews are good but the jobs are low, the problem usually lies with prices, photos or positioning of the announcement, but with the physical status of the housing.
What reforms are often recouped?
Those that responded to the personal taste of the owner with no relation to what the guest's type of area appreciates: high-end housing with an average price, structural works that aren't visible at the announcement, or design changes that do not match what photos are looking for with more interaction in your housing and area category.
Do we talk about your place?
We give you an estimate with information about real housing that we already manage, not an invented number. Free and free.