The kitchen is one of the most noticable features of any rental unit. It is usually the first room entered and it is also a good place for a first impression. What people look at in a kitchen are the kitchen cabinets. Yes renters look at the appliances, but the most noticeable part of a kitchen are the cabinets. As with a home buyer, the next more noticable feature that stands out is the bathroom or bathrooms. But let's start with how I saved money on the kitchen.

I had found RTA (ready to assemble) cabinets in a local supply store. I thought it was a good product; and it was less expensive that the traditional assembled cabinet that I was used to buying. However, not all the RTA (ready to assemble kitchen cabinet) products were of good material. All of the cabinets that I found had solid wood fronts, but some had particle board sides rather than solid wood or plywood. I found solid wood fronts and paneled side cabinets but at that point, the RTA brand was only saving me a little bit of money. With all of the products coming out of China, my next move was to see if I could go direct to the source and save even more money.

Finding a good RTA kitchen cabinet was easy, but at the same time, I had to make sure it was actually what the website claimed it was going to be. I found that the good RTA kitchen cabinet sites and the RTA bathroom vanity sites will send you samples of their product, and maintained a 2-4 month supply of their products. Again, through trial and error I dealt with several sites that claimed to import directly but actually bought their product from other distributors.

By finding the actual importers and buying direct, I was able to reduce my overall spend by 30-40% per unit. For the novice rental property owner to the big-time property management company, a savings of that size can result in thousands of dollars back into your pocket. If are ready to stop paying high retail prices, then it is time to start looking into RTA Cabinets on-line.