Should you or shouldn’t you fix up the basement in a rental house?
There are few considerations but in general you would just clean up the basement if it isn’t going to make the rents higher and/or make it rent out faster.
Normally you will not see an ROI by fixing up basements in rentals.
In this case the house is a good size on the main floor and the basement is more of a bonus with it being finished by the previous owner. Since it will not raise the rent amount, we recommend that you just clean it up well and not spend much money on the basement.
If the house was smaller and the basement added a lot of function to the rental or possibly more bedrooms or baths that would raise the rent amount then you would have to strongly consider fixing it up.
Always remember with a rental house it is a business and you are looking at the bottom line. Does it make sense on paper to spend more? Will it bring in more rents? Will it make it rent faster or keep tenants longer?