How best to prioritize remodeling on a limited budget

[Jim1912]

I'm preparing a full-home 2-bedroom, 2-bath with an estimated monthly rent of $5,000 or more in the Los Angeles area and would like to optimize improvements to help lead to good reviews from the start. So far, I had the hardwood floors resurfaced, installed mini-splits, updated the plumbing and will have new vinyl windows installed soon.

It would be great to get suggestions for prioritizing the remaining improvements, to accommodate a limited budget, involving the kitchen, bathroom and landscaping: 

To avoid the costs of a full remodel, is it an option to leave the kitchen and bathroom cabinets as they are for now? If not, would you recommend replacing the cabinet doors and drawers and possibly the countertops?   

With new lawn watering restrictions, the front yard is turning into dirt. I believe artificial turf is a good option to enhance the appearance of the property and is common in the neighborhood, but it's expensive. Also, since we're able to provide a semi-private backyard to guests, I thought it would be worthwhile to create an attractive backyard by installing artificial turf.

I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Kitchen sink sideCabinets opposite side of the sinkside of kitchen with one spice cabinetBathroom

[Sybe]

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@Gillian166 wrote:

1) never apologise for an excellent pun. 

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@Gillian166 Completely agree. Never apologise for a good pun, always laugh at your own puns especially if no one else is laughing, and make that pun every opportunity you get. The best puns are sometimes the ones you didn't want to say!

[Huma0]

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@Sybe wrote:

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always laugh at your own puns especially if no one else is laughing

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Excellent advice. I will be doing more of that in future 🙂

[Gillian166]

@Huma0  yes i think those panes could be a cleaning issue. i'm thinking when you squeegee the screen it's not a smooth motion and you'll have endless water drips, and it'll take twice as long to dry it off. 

our average stay is 1.4 days so we do 3-4 cleans per week per listing. the shower is actually easy to clean because it's being cleaned so regularly. often we just spray, wait a few minutes, hose it down and then squeegee it dry. but 2 of our bathrooms have two walls of very tall glass. In future we are trying to avoid glass altogether. I'd rather have a few drips on the tiles than have to clean glass all the time, but as you pointed out, all our listings are ground level. 

[Huma0]

@Gillian166 

I really like that look. It turns the shower cubicle into a statement rather than purely a functional thing. However, I did immediately think, what about cleaning? Squeegying those panes would be a nightmare. I wouldn't be happy doing it and think my cleaner would quit! Or least charge more... I am still considering a black framed one without the panes though. I think it would look great with the black chandelier I have in that bathroom. 

Cleaning the regular glass screens is pretty easy (mine are a standard height). The cleaner does this thoroughly, but in between I also mist with distilled white wine vinegar and use a microfibre cloth for glass and, hey presto, the water marks are gone. The bathroom does smell like a fish and chip shop, but the smell disappears really quickly.

I leave squeegees in the showers in the hopes that guests will use them, which they don't, but also the shower shine sprays (you can buy eco friendly versions), which I think some guests use.