Rental Cleanliness and Curb Appeal
Offering a rental that is cleaner, with more eye appeal than your competition, will often be the edge you need to find quality tenants. This image begins with what is referred to in the industry as curb appeal. Simply stated, curb appeal is how the property looks from the street.
Outside. To achieve good curb appeal, I highly recommend spending a little extra preparation time on the front of the house. Start with the yard. Cut back low-lying branches. Trim the bushes. Put in some hostas or easy to manage seasonal bushes. Edge them out and spread a little mulch around. Pick up loose trash and pull the weeds, especially in the cracks of the driveway and sidewalks. Take time to grow grass in the bare spots in the yard. Mow the lawn.
On the house itself, start by washing down the exterior. If the house looks drab, splash on some color by adding shutters to the facade. The easy-to-install shutters sold at most discount/hardware stores are inexpensive and will change the look of your rental with a minimal amount of effort. If, after you add shutters, you still wish to add more pizzazz to the dwelling, paint the front door the same color as the shutters. To finish off the look of the house, add a decorative flag or classy lawn ornament to give the place a little character.
When you are done, step to the curb and look at your property as a whole. What you see is what the tenants will see. The very first thing they will see. Will they be impressed, or will they walk away?
Inside. Cleanliness inside the home is also extremely important. Nobody wants to begin living in their new home surrounded by someone else's filth. For this reason, everything needs to look, smell, and feel clean. Begin by making sure all walls, ceilings, and trim work is freshly painted, void of holes, and free of cobwebs. Non-carpeted floors should be swept, mopped, and polished.
Carpeted areas should be professionally cleaned between each and every tenant, no matter how short their tenancy was. Carpets hold dust mites, odors, and about every other germ imaginable. Parents hate the thought of their kids rolling around on someone else's germ-infested carpet.
I know that many landlords have their own carpet cleaning machines and prefer to take on this task themselves, therefore pocketing the savings. I tried this too but was very unhappy with the results. It was a lot of work and I never seemed to get out the stains and dirt like the pros could. I mean, let's face it: they have better equipment and superior knowledge to attack stains and other problems. For these reasons, I recommend you use professional carpet cleaners.
.As you can probably guess, in addition to cleaning carpet, walls, and trims, extra effort should be used in preparation of the kitchen and bathrooms. These rooms can make or break how your house rates on someone's clean-o-meter. Dirty kitchens and baths give tenant prospects illusions of germ infested environments and unhealthy living. Substandard cleanliness in these two areas is the surest way to lose potential quality tenants. Thoroughly clean the kitchen and baths and if you have any doubts that they are clean enough, clean them again. If the thought of cleaning other people's messes repulses you, hire it out.
While you are cleaning the house for display, don't forget those often overlooked, neglected areas: ceiling fan blades and lights, fingerprints around doorknobs and light switches, all vents and grills, behind and underneath appliances, mirrors, windows, window sills, and any other place you would normally forget to clean.
Another thought to remember is when landlords prepare their dwellings for rent, they generally concentrate on the visual aspect of the task. Most people fail to remember that the sense of smell is a very powerful sense, especially in women. I recommend you remove all possible sources of unpleasant odors days in advance of the first showing. It would probably be worth the effort of placing a couple of air fresheners around the dwelling. Try using the kind you plug into an outlet, which slowly release an attractive smell for up to a month at a time. The key to success is to have the place smell nice before a single tenant prospect walks though the door.
I know that cleaning a rental to the standards I recommend can be a lot of work. Personally, I dislike it so much I hire it out. Even so, I know for a fact that I consistently rent my dwellings for above market rents, to quality tenants, and I'm sure it is because they always have superb curb appeal and are extra clean. Please, take my advice; Go Clean!
Related Tags: property, rental, desire, search, properties, appeal, want, landlord, landlords, rentals, tenant, find, cleanliness, curb
Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles
Recent articles in this category:
- 5 Reasons to Buy Jasper Real Estate
Jasper is a small town in North Georgia and it is growing rapidly. Since North Georgia Foreclosures - Ellijay Real Estate
Ellijay Georgia has always been known for it's outdoor activities and seasonal festivals. Downtown E - How to Deal With Blocked Drains
A blocked drain is an occurrence that happens eventually to all households. You may have experienced - The Benefits of Hiring a Plumbing Consultant
Your dream home may not always be brand new, with fresh paint and home essentials. There are certain - The Worst Mistake You Can Make When You Apply to Rent a Home
A whole new class of people has become renters and potential renters in America during the last thre - State of Individual Real Estate Markets
Everybody is well aware of the hit that the real estate market has taken over the past three years. - Thoughts on Avoiding the Landlord Trap
I've heard several people say they would never invest in a multifamily rental property because they - An Idea to Increase the Bottom Line of Your Investment Property
Are you pretty sure that you've already maximized the income coming from your property? If you've cl - Finding the Value of a Piece of Investment Real Estate
There is a lot of confusion about how much investment property is really worth. We'll look at three - Arkansas Land For Sale - Search Engine Optimization and Your Website
If you have Arkansas land for sale and are interested in advertising it on your website I have a few
Most viewed articles in this category:
- How High Did Home Prices Really Go
The U.S. Census Bureau released data on Tuesday that revealed where the nation's hottest markets wer - New Homeowners Tips for Household Safety
With so many items on their ¡°buying a home¡± checklist, few homeowners take into considerati - Truth About VA Foreclosures
Many people now days are finding themselves out of work and not being able to make the mortgage paym - Avoid Rookie Real Estate Investing Mistakes
When Robert Kiyosaki, author of the Rich Dad book series, bought his first property he was, of cours - Finding The Perfect Roommate On Craigslist
Craigslist, Roommates, and The Concerns Craigslist is "great" when it comes to looking for housing - The Forgotten Secret To Selling Property - Simple, Quick And Cheap
Why spend big dollars trying to get people to drive a long way to see your house, when your best pro - Get Amazing Results Selling Real Estate Online
This is the age of the internet. Why not take advantage of the widespread use of the internet to ad - Dallas Real Estate Information
In the United States, Dallas is considered as the second leading state according to the area. If any - The Largest Private Equity Indian Real Estate Deal
In the largest private equity deal won by the real estate sector, Morgan Stanley Real Estate has inv - Fractional Real Estate Ownership
Fractional ownership of vacation ski condos is growing in popularity. Park City Utah a popular ski t