Great advice from others. Here's some actual input to help you decide what to do and not do. I am a new landlord. We've bought 2 duplexes this year. One did not need much work and came with renters and the other was empty and needed some work. When we got the keys for the second unit, I did a walk through with my PM asking about a variety of possible fixes and changes, here was his input for you to consider. We are in the Puget Sound area so I could see that in other markets these answers might not apply.
W/D hookup is key, and if you have basement or garage hookups do not bother to supply the appliances, if the hookups are up in the unit where you DONT want to risk any issues and water leaks, provide high quality W/D appliances. It's the hook up that is the rentable factor. the appliance decision is more a factor for your own sanity:)
Counter tops. both of our units had formica, I asked if we should consider updating or not. One unit had very light old formica but it was neutral in color and in good shape. The other unit had been updated more recently, and was also formica. PM said both are perfect rental material and color, no change. I was inclined to redo the old white formica...followed PM recommendation and left it. I asked specifically about granite because we are good at installing tile. I was thinking the 12" squared would be great. PM says nope it will be high maintenance and won't be enough to change the rent. Since this unit has hardwood floors I was considering upgrading to tile in kitchen and bath with the granite. All was given the thumbs down.
Pantry in 2b had 3/4" plywood shelving they were in the back of the long deep pantry, you would never see whats in the back of the pantry. The worse plywood I've ever seen, I could see splinters in fingers in my landlording future. PM gave a thumbs up to buying the wire shelves. I put in shallow long shelving 6' x 12" x 4 shelves now its a true walk in where you can actually see everything. the 3b already had nice mdf white shelves in it so we left it.
The 2bed unit has an 18" dishwasher. We really wanted to cut into the cabinet and replace with a full size. PM said not worth it, the smaller one is white and works. Left it. This unit does have a white fridge and white D/W but a fancy black digital stove/oven. I was really bothered by the mismatch, all appliances are in great shape, PM said not to worry... we left it.
One unit has low counters, 1925 height with a rollaway dishwasher. The rollaway is newer, white with butcherblock top. PM said no need to change. We are still bothered by the low height and rollaway, but followed our PMs lead. We have plans to redo the cabinets after 5 years and will replace a bank of drawers with an in cabinet dishwasher, we will then replace the rollaway with another storage solution. This kitchen is huge with great character as is so we will milk it first.
One unit had very old wiring, were talking fuse boxes exposed on the posts/walls down in the garage. My husband is a licensed electrician. He confirmed these were no longer in use and removed them. PM requested all old wiring/fuses removed. DONE. Use a licensed electrician for this work.
We noticed daylight between the two units basement garage spaces. PM agreed to fill with insulation and sheetrock/board up each tight. It made those spaces look so light and clean.
Bedrooms, the basement bedroom in the 2bed side has dated floral wainscot height band of trim. someone then sponged dark green on the floor and ceiling moulding. I really, really wanted to remove the wall paper trim and repaint the green to white. PM said no need its just fine... that was tough for me to leave, but I did. Next vacancy Im going to neutralize that room. the rest of the unit is really nice and updated.
2b Bathroom has TINY sink 18" on an oak cabinet. the wood trim in the bathroom is nice all matches, its just the small size of the vanity. PM recommendations.. add a shelf over the toilet. $5 fix. Ah another trick was how the over toilet cabinet opened, we flipped the door hinges so each side opens right to left, there is no door opening in front of the mirror and sink area... very clever solutions for little cost.
Since you are renting your own home, here's a tip. Check all the screens. We missed 2 screens in the 3b unit and my husband got to learn how to make them. You buy the materials at the DIY store, very inexpensive. Now he is all set to fix our old screen sliding door in the back of our own home...its just been a pain to work on them with renters in the unit, best to get it done before rented.
Both units rented quickly, in fact we finished up the larger unit a week after the smaller and the PM didn't even have to list the 3bed. he used the 2b callers to fill it. "Sorry the 2b is filled, but the 3b unit which is over 1550 sf just came up and is available the first of the month" bam, done deal. So when I got the call, expecting to be told the 2b was rented, I was told BOTH were rented.
A funny thing about this duplex, the garages are huge but the space for a car is quite small not very high or wide. My DH mows the large back shared space and reported to me that BOTH renters own Minis... which of course fit perfectly in the tiny car spaces. who'dve thunk it.