Learn all about the Real Estate Mod and how it can profoundly change the rental & homeownership landscape for your Sims! Landlords? Vacation homes? House flipping? It’s all housed in this mod!
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In a recent post we shared about modding The Sims 4 we mentioned Zerbu’s Mod Constructor utility for more advanced creators. Today we’re going to see that utility in action, as it was used to create our current feature: the Real Estate Mod by SimRealist.
The Real Estate Mod (also known as R|E) is a huge, comprehensive mod that’s perfect for players who want a more involved and realistic experience owning & renting property in The Sims 4, including owning multiple properties that can be used as second homes or rentals. Sims can now rent houses in addition to the vanilla apartments, become landlords themselves to earn extra income, and hire a Realtor to help them through the process. The mod is chock-full of so much content, you could consider it the CC equivalent to a Game Pack!
Getting Started with the Real Estate Mod
In order to make the Real Estate Mod function properly you will first need to download the SNB – Bills mod, also by SimRealist. This mod breaks up your sim’s bills into separate utility charges and is required to make the rental payment system work. Once you have both mods installed, you’re ready to start playing!
[laci_related_post_content id=”453838″ title=”Tear Over Bills Mod : Add a Touch of Real Emotion After Paying Bills!”]When you first launch the game you’ll move your sim into their first home via the game’s vanilla system, as the mod itself is accessed through your sim’s phone. If they already have somewhere to live you can skip this step. Once you’ve loaded into the household of the sim you want to play with, you’ll begin by Hiring a Realtor through the R|E phone menu. A picker will pop up with a variety of Realtors to choose from, with different ratings, commission fees, and years of experience. Better Realtors are more expensive but they can also get you a better deal, so pick your Realtor wisely.
Once you’ve chosen your Realtor, schedule an appointment with them through the same phone menu and they will visit your lot shortly after (you’ll get a pop up notification when they arrive). If other sims in the home are away at work you will be prompted to bring them home early to meet with the Realtor but you don’t need to do this, as long as one sim is there to meet with them.
Using the Real Estate Mod as a Renter
To rent a property you will need to Set a House Wish List with your Realtor during the appointment, where your sim will be asked what range of lot value (not rent amount) they’re looking for, along with optional information like what worlds they want to live in and/or Lot Traits they’re seeking. Per SimRealistic it’s best to put a broad range for the lot value if you want to get a wide pool of potential options.
Learn more about Lot Traits here.
Your Realtor will notify you when they have listings ready after a day or two, which you can peruse by going to the Real Estate Mod menu and selecting “Rent A Property.” A list will open with available rentals which can be sorted by Apartments, Empty Houses, and Empty lots. Once you’ve chosen a place that you’re interested in renting, the Realtor for the property will reach out to schedule a meeting between your sim and the Landlord to see if it’s a good fit.
Once you meet your new potential landlord, it’s up to your sim to impress them enough to be accepted as tenants. If all goes well you can move into your new home, just don’t forget to pay your bills and rent on time!
Using the Real Estate Mod as a Homebuyer
Buying a new property begins similarly to the rental process in that you will first need to find & meet with a Realtor and Set your House Wish List. Your Realtor will get back to you within 1-2 days with available properties that fit your criteria if there are any; if they can’t find anything you’ll have to have another appointment to readjust your House Wish List and start the process again.
From here you will select “Check House Listings” to view the places that fit your needs, which can be sorted by occupied, unoccupied, and unbuilt lots. You and your Realtor will then be able to visit each lot you’re curious about and choose which ones are worth pursuing by adding them to your Short List. Though not necessary, your sim can appraise items on the property and ask your Realtor about the lot’s appraisal cost to better get an idea of what you can expect to pay for the property.
After you’ve chosen a property you want to attempt to buy, you will need to enter into a Negotiation Battle minigame with the seller via the “Check House Listings” menu. This involves meeting the seller and their Realtor at the property, where the two parties will go back & forth trying to haggle a price they agree on. It’s possible to fail this battle, so it’s smart to have more than one property that you’re interested in. The Negotiation Battle is where your Realtor’s skills really make a difference, as you can consult them for advice throughout the negotiation process to get the best deal possible.
One your sim has successfully negotiated the sale for their new property, it’s time to start the Closing process. In the “Check House Listings” menu you can start the process which involves paying for the property, paying closing costs, and paying the Realtor’s fee. At this point you can Exchange your current home towards the costs of the new house if you don’t plan on using it as a rental.
If you’re purchased a property with a sim currently living in it, they will move out once the sale is complete. If you want to keep the place as a rental you can do that through the R|E menu.
Using the Real Estate Mod as a Landlord
Once your sim owns more than one property they can convert their extra homes into rentals via the “Manage Properties” tab of the Real Estate Mod phone menu. You can choose the weekly rent amount, with higher amounts bringing in fewer potential applicants. When you receive an application for a tenant(s) you will have to meet with them before deciding whether to rent them the space or not. Like the appraisal process, your sim will have some optional tasks to perform when meeting the prospective tenants but ultimately you can decide whenever you want whether to accept them or not.
Tenants will pay the weekly rent for 4 weeks before it’s time for a lease renewal at which point you can change the rent or evict the tenants if you so wish. If your tenants do not pay rent on time they will be charged a late fee, and you will be given the opportunity to evict them.
If evicted before they’ve paid up you lose out on those missed payments, so your best chances of recouping your losses is to offer your tenants patience.
Other Ways to use Secondary properties
If you don’t want to deal with the hassle of being a landlord, your sims can still benefit from having multiple properties. The most hands-off option is to just keep an additional property as a second home for your sims. They can use it for vacations or go back & forth between locations as the weather changes to suit them. Another popular option is to “flip” homes, meaning you buy a place, fix it up and add upgrades, then sell it for higher than you paid. If you can balance out the sale price increase with how much your sim invests in the property, they can turn a tidy profit!
This is a nice option for sims with high Handiness Skill as it won’t cost them more than time to upgrade existing fixtures in the home if they don’t want to invest in new ones, while still fetching a higher price. Handiness isn’t the only skill that can help your sims out here, though! If they are creative or crafty sims, you can adorn the property with furniture, artwork, and other things your sims have made with their own hands. Anything to make the place nicer will affect the value of the property, so it’s a great way to boost your profits while using skills you already have!
You can also do any of the aforementioned upgrades to your rental properties between tenants, and have an excuse to boost your rent costs.
Learn how to cheat your Handiness Skill Level here!
In Closing
If you like the idea of a more robust property management system than what comes with the vanilla Sims 4 game, the Real Estate Mod will change everything. Whether you want a simple tweak to the rental system so your sims can rent more than just apartments, a full-fledged house flipping experience, or the power and money that comes with being a landlord, this mod will make it happen. If you fully utilize everything the mod has to offer, you’re essentially getting an unofficial Game Pack for your game—how cool is that? Give it a try, have fun, and happy simming!