With rents declining 10-20% and everyone tightening their belts how does a Property Owner get their home rented without loss of income for 30-60 days?
First Impressions Count - Realtors know this. That is why they like to stage a home for sale.
Upon seeing the home for the first time it should be neat, clean, well manicured, and cute!
In most cases it is the woman who makes the decision about whether to rent a property or not. So, make it appealing. Put some nice flowers in front of the property, or in the kitchen. Make sure the paint job on the front of the house looks good - touch up if necessary. Lawn if there is one, should be green and mowed.
Windows clean, house clean on the inside, and walls painted or touched up. Prospective tenants will view the property as, What you See is What you Get.
Also, the place should be aired out and no funky smells. Carpets should be professionally cleaned, all faucets should sparkle and all lights should work - no dead bulbs.
It is better to wait until the house is clean and ready than to try to advertise it to rent when it isn’t ready.
These small things, that don’t cost much money will have an impact on the first impression.
A quick personal story. I bought my first home from my inlaws. It was Grandma’s house. Well, I had been to the house a million times and after a while you just don’t see things. When I got the appraisal back and saw the photos I was stunned. The place looked drab and the green house was one with the green lawn. I wanted to change the look of the house so the first impression would be - Cute to prospective tenants but I didn’t want to paint the house - it didn’t need it and I didn’t want the added expense. So I made a couple awnings over the front windows that were striped and incorporated the green but also had off white and burgundy stripes. Wow, what a difference and it didn’t cost much money.
So get creative. I have always been able to rent all the properties I manage within 60 days and most times within 30 days. If this is a home you live in and now want to rent try to look at the home with fresh eyes. Have someone come over and give you input on the property. Take photos so you can see yourself what is out of place. We often live with little things that a tenant would never live with (electrical coverplate missing or cracked), front door steps that are cracked or wiggle, etc. Prospective tenants will be paying good rent to you and they expect their home to be in working order, clean, and safe.
If you follow these simple tips and the property is priced competitively you will get it rented in a short amount of time.