InThe Sims 4: For Rent, you’re able to build your own rental buildings. With the new Residential Rental lot type, any lot can become up to six individually rented units. These can be separate houses, townhouses, or apartments. The choice is yours.
If your Sim owns the lot, you may also choose to live on a second plot or reside within one of the units as a live-in landlord. No matter which direction you choose, here are some tips that will help you build the perfect rental homes.
10Know The Differences Between Rental And Residential Rental
General rental units already exist, but these areholiday rentals, designed to be visited for short periods of time.They generally contain limited facilities and Sims canonly visit them if they already have an existing home lotelsewhere.
Residential Rentals areoccupied by Sims over a longer period of timeand players canset the rent, add rulesfor tenants to follow, andcustomise the entire building.
A Residential Rental building can beowned by any Sim, and they willbecome the landlord and collect rentfrom any units occupied by other Sims.Landlords are also responsible for fixing issuesin the units, such as broken items or electricity outages. If you do not purchase the building, a Sim landlord will be assigned by the game.
9Look At Different Building Types
Theunits on Residential Rentals are completely customisable,so you can choose from many types of houses. Here are a few ideas:
Whichever idea suits you best,the lots in Tomarang are flexible enough to allow different combinations, and for a truly unique multi-occupancy world, Newcrest is ideal.
8Consider The World And Its Lots
Each world in the game has a different style. You can use the existing lots as well as the non-functional scenic lots to get some ideas for styles to follow. Alllivable pre-built regular residential lots can also be editedand turned into multiple-occupancy homes.
If you go into build buy mode from the world map you canchange the lot type of any empty residential lotand designate it as a rental. You just need to mark out the units and shared spaces as required.
Even scenery is generally crafted with items available in the build buy catalogue, especially if youenable environmental and hidden items cheats. Use these to create something that perfectly blends in.
7Remove The Six Unit Cap On Residential Rental Lots
If you want toremove the current limit of six units per Residential Rental lot,then afterenabling testing cheats, you can use the following cheat code:
bb.increaserentalunitcap on
This will allow you to designate more than six units per lot.If you want to reverse this, just replace the word on with off to remove the increase.However, it should be noted thatseparating out rental units can make the frame rate and performance of your game take a huge hit,so do this at your own risk.
The 99 rental units per save file hard limit will still apply regardless of if the unit cap is removed.
6Use Floor Plans To Help Layout Your Build
There are a huge number offloorplans and floorplan websitesonline and these can be incredibly helpful for working out house plans. They offer ideas on how to arrange different sizes houses, and also provide inspiration for exteriors.
Searching for house plans is a great way to learn to build,as they provide a good frame work for a basic home layout which you’re able to easily customise if you wish.
5Keep In Mind The Unit Rating Criteria
When building, it’s also worth taking note of theUnit Rating criteria.You’ll need to use theparameters of unit size, number of amenities, and decor itemsto help boost the unit rating of your build.
You can find out how to improve your unit rating in our handy guide.
The furniture you add is as important as the build, since any non-player Sims who move in will not bring furniture. You’ll need to provide for all their needs if you are to see them thrive. This will help keep them happy and keep your rental cap high. It’s a win all round.
4Try To Keep The Lot Size Above 75 Tiles
If a unit is76 tiles to 150 tiles in size it is classed as a medium sizeand this helps it gain a higher rating. Unless you are looking at having a home that rents out small rooms, there’s no good reason to take the hit of going below 76 tiles.
This is especially true sincea home smaller than this is difficult to fit the essentials into.When it comes to renting, tiny homes are best left alone.A 76 tile unit is still small in terms of space it takes up on a lot,especially if you build on more than one storey, but it’s much more flexible and profitable than going smaller.
3Plan For Separate Rooms When Possible
Even in small houses keeping the bathroom and bedroom seperate helps a lot with both house value and also how easy it is to play in. Sims get very embarassed constantly if bathrooms are left open, and studio apartments may be fine for a solo Sim, they can also lead to some negative debuffs pretty easily.
Neither space has to be huge but the separation will od wonders for the health and wellbeing of the occupants, something they will thank you for.
2Consider Adding Shared Areas
A huge part of the experience of rentals is theshared community experiences the game has added.You can have a pool party and a community pot luck social event, but you’ll needa place to host them. Building a shared space able to host these events is a fantastic way to facilitate good Sim relationships.
For those with less wholesome interests,shared areas can also allow your evil and mischievious Sims easier accessto places where they can spy on their neighbours and uncover some juicy gossip.
1Don’t Seperate Out Units Until You Are Done Building
Youdon’t have to seperate out units until you’ve finished your entire build, and I recommend that you don’t. Adding the separation markers can make the game stutter, so it’s much easier to build without them on. They alsoleave visible lines across the build when in build mode, which again is something you can live without when building.
After the build is done units can be assigned by simply clicking each room and choosing if it’s shared space or which unit it belongs to. you’re able to alsochoose any lot trait or challenges at this time.
