If you are still exploring real estate investing you may be asking yourself – just what does it take to get a property to “top-of-market”? Does it mean adding lots of luxury extras? Is there any limit to the amount of spending you do to get it to the “top”?

This is a very good question because as I discuss in my post “Budget Your Top-of-Market Rehab To Win”, defining what you need for a top-of-market property is the basis of your rehab budget.

Are you giving the buyer top-of-the-line appliances – new windows and cabinets – fancy architecture and sophisticated color schemes? Happily the answer to that is – no, not usually!

If you are rehabbing a very-high-end property in the estates-and-mansions district of your city, some of those things might be customary in property listings. And you’ll be working with an ARV (after-repair value) stout enough to support the high-end features.

• Know the market segment you’ll target for your finished fix & flip or rental investment project. (Wholesalers: you’ll determine this as if you were the flipper.) As you research your comparables to determine the ARV, take note of what key features the sale price included and what it did not. If all or most have a microwave combined with the stove hood, then the selling price includes that feature. You need to do the same. If houses are selling without a refrigerator, yours doesn’t need to have one, either.

What are homebuyers and realtors seeing as they visit one listing after the other? Or renters, if you are a rental investor. From moldings to window coverings to bathrooms to appliances, that’s the benchmark for your flip or rental property when it goes on the market.

• Focus on doing an excellent job on the standard attractions homebuyers will see in 80% of the listings in the neighborhood, not the non-standard extra features. If a buyer wouldn’t buy a special feature for themselves, they are unlikely to pay more for a house just to have it.

• It’s a fallacy that super-cool extras – ones the other listings or rentals don’t have – sell or rent houses faster or for higher prices, in most cases. The living room sound system and new high-end bathroom cabinets may sound great to homebuyers, but they aren’t as important as the things that make the property move-in ready.

Budget your rehab to top-of-market condition for what you do need and skip what you don’t. The goal is not to make this house as extraordinary as possible, or to unleash your inner decorator. The goal is to do the best job in the market of appealing to the market segment that is buying the most homes, based on their income and expectations.

What property feature have you found to be the most important to homebuyers in your project area?

Want to earn money with little or no investment of your own? Keep an eye out for my upcoming ebook explaining wholesaling and how to make it work for you!