Real estate is one of the most popular investment strategies right now, especially residential real estate. Rising house prices mean that more people than ever are renting, so if you own a residential property, you can command a high price for it and you should be able to find tenants fairly easily. However, an influx of real estate investors does mean that tenants have a lot of choices and that means you need to do something special to impress them. If you find that you’re struggling to rent your property out, it may be because you’re not setting it up properly before viewings and you’re making a few mistakes that put people off. If you do these simple things before showing your property to tenants, you should have a lot more success.
Give It A Deep Clean
If people come into the house and it appears dirty or it smells bad, they’re not going to be likely to rent it out. Even though it’s a problem that is easily fixed, it creates a negative environment and their overall impression of the place will be bad, so you need to give the whole place a deep clean before showing any tenants. That doesn’t mean just cleaning it like you would your own home, you need to scrub the place from top to bottom and, most importantly, remove any odors. The soft furnishings like carpets and curtains often hold bad smells so it’s worth getting a Steamaster and giving the carpets a good steam clean. It will make the place look brand new and remove any bad smells. You need to make sure that you get in and clean all of the hidden areas as well because tenants are going to be looking in every single corner of the property when they view it.
Finish Maintenance Jobs
Showing a house that still needs a bit of work is a bad idea. If you bring people in and you keep telling them that this will be fixed soon or that will be replaced before you move in, it gives them a bad impression of you. Being organized and handling maintenance jobs efficiently are both important qualities that people look for in a landlord. If you start showing the house and there are lots of problems that need fixing, people will assume that you’re a disorganized landlord that can’t stay on top of the maintenance.
Check Fixtures And Appliances
The last thing you want is for a tenant to try a light switch or a tap only to find that it doesn’t work. The same goes for any appliances that are in the house if they’re included with the tenancy. You never know when something might stop working so you need to go around and check the plumbing, light switches, sockets, and all of the appliances well in advance. That way, you have plenty of time to fix any problems before the tenants arrive.
As long as you make sure that the house is spotless and everything is in good working order, you’ll have a much better chance of renting the place.
