Hard Value Adding
Hard value adding is simply the garden variety paint job or cosmetic improvements to the Real Estate in question. "Soft renovations" are just as effective but without the hard work. Examples of "soft re-habs" includes paper improvements to the asset. For example something as simple as identifying that the exisiting owner has let the exisiting renters live in his house for a very long time and the actual market value of the rents is double what is being currently taken. So, in this example a rent rise is simple to implement however to a savvy investor (who you plan to sell this property to) this increase in rent represents value. First they can get a bigger loan because the rents are higher, therefore paying a bigger slice of their debt each week. This of course means you can ask more for the property. A rent rise immediately looks better on the balance sheet which is what a majority of investors look at ignoring all else.