Preparing Your Rental Property For Your Next Tenant

By nature, tenants are more likely to care for a property if it is presented in a clean, neat, and tidy manner. The preparation you put into getting your property ready for rental will also result in making it more appealing to prospective tenants.

A well-presented rental property also gives the impression that they will have a landlord or property manager who cares about the property.  Someone they are able to approach if the tenant has problems or maintenance which needs to be dealt with quickly.

Here are some tips to ensure you get the best tenants possible, as quickly as possible:

Repair

Some tenants will report every minor problem during their tenancy while others will let things slide. See what needs some attention and before your next tenant moves in, make sure any required repairs are taken care of.

Check:

• Lights
• Smoke detectors
• Appliances
• Dripping taps
• Door knobs
• Sticking drawers
• Cracked window panes
• Screens (doors and windows)
• Paintwork on walls and ceilings

Clean

Sometimes you’ll get lucky and have great tenants who leave the place in better shape than it was when they got the keys, but even with great tenants there are always a few things to clean up upon move-out. The cleaner your property is when your new tenants move in, the cleaner it is likely to be when they leave.

Clean

• All floor surfaces, thoroughly
• Air conditioner filters
• Inside cupboards and drawers
• Windows
• Architraves
• Window coverings
• Exhaust vents and fans
• Paintwork
• Gardens and Outside Buildings (remove any rubbish left behind)

Update

Take advantage of any vacancy between tenants to update your property. Whether you just need to do something simple like cleaning up the yard and adding a fresh coat of paint, or something more complex like replacing a kitchen or bathroom, it is easiest to get any work done when the property is vacant. Use the downtime between tenants to your advantage and get any planned upgrades completed during this time when the work will not disturb your tenants.

With your property well maintained, clean, and fresh, you’ll be “rent ready” and make a good impression upon your next client. A little extra care applied to these simple things will help you start off your next landlord-tenant relationship on the right foot.

Contact us for a copy of the "Property Investor Guide".