I’m starting this Blog as a service to both Homeowners/Investors AND Tenants. My hope is that Owners will understand how a home should be given to a Tenant. And that Tenants will know what is expected of them during their Lease to ensure a smooth move-out.
Homes that are sparkling clean with neutral paint are going to rent fast and for top dollar! These days… many Tenants are former Homeowners who have faced Foreclosed, Short Sale or Bankruptcy. Yes… it’s a clear sign of the economic times! They’re looking for a home to rent as if they were looking for a home to buy. They don’t want homes with a lot of wear and tear…. and they need a home that they can move their furniture that will match their decor.
Neutral paint on walls is best. When we take over an Investor property that needs to be “spruced up”, we go in with a tan paint, like Glidden’s Dapper Tan or Desert Floor. Eggshell or Semi-gloss finish is the best because it’s easy to clean! We have baseboards, door casings and doors painted in high-gloss white. Again, ease of clean-up and it sets off the tan color. If an Owner’s home has colors in the brown/tan family, it’s usually OK to leave them that way. Even a deep burgundy is OK. But other colors like greens and blues might be a negative to potential Tenants. As for bedrooms and bathrooms, pinks and blues for boys and girls’ rooms should also be painted. No one knows if a family with all boys is looking for a home and distracted from a pink room or vice versa for a family with girls and dark blue rooms. Rooms may have been decorated with an Owner’s belongings to match a particular color but it just doesn’t work for everyone else.
I like to use our daughter’s bedroom as an example to make my point. She is 15. We painted the room when she was 12. It has a bright blue wall on one side of the room. On the other side are wide stripes… white, blue, pink and black! Her comforter and accessories are zebra! A wild room??? YES! It looks cute when it’s all together. But if we took everything out and someone saw a vacant room like that, they’d think we were nuts! And nothing of theirs would match the room! So, if we were to sell or rent, that room would be painted a neutral color.
Cleanliness is the next priority to having a home ready to rent! Everyone has their own level of cleanliness. I understand that. But when we give a home to a Tenant, we want it to be immaculate! I believe it sends a message to the Tenant: “We give it to you clean, we want it back in the same condition.” We want Tenants to take good care of homes. When we do inspections, we can tell if a Tenant quickly cleaned the house in the last 24 hours or if they live that way. Luckily, we have great Tenants and most are taking great care of the homes they’re renting. Owners need to understand that cleaning a vacant home takes a lot more work than when they’re living in it. Baseboards around the entire home should be cleaned… if they’re not being painted. Blinds dusted. Ceiling fans cleaned. Every drawer and cupboard wiped out. Refrigerator/Freezer should be sparkling and sanitized. Door handles, door trims outside of cupboards… all must be free of smudges and grime. Inside of the window and the window ledges need to be clean. Sometimes it’s things you might not tend to every week when you’re living in the home but neglect over time makes it harder to clean these areas when you move out.
I suggest Owners have a professional cleaner come in after they move out for a couple of reasons. One… you’ve just moved. You are exhausted and trying to get your new home set up. You may not spend the time cleaning the house as it deserves. Second, you may think it’s clean because that’s how you’ve lived in the home but it may not be clean enough for Tenants. Again, everyone has a different level of cleanliness. A professional cleaner will not be judgmental. They will just scrub down every nook and cranny!
Carpet cleaning is a MUST when an Owner moves out. And then, when a Tenant moves out they are required to have carpets professionally cleaned. If they don’t, we take it out of their deposit. If the carpet has bad stains or discoloration, it may even have to be replaced. I know many Owners who do not want to put money into replacing carpet but if you don’t, it may not get rented. You may have to do one room and not the whole house. Just be open to it. And realize, it might cost a little more to have a vacant home cleaned because there’s no furniture.
As for having everything in the home Operational… I mean, EVERYTHING should be working. You may have lived in the home with a couple of small things not working or loose or jammed or tight. But a Tenant will call us for every little thing not working when they move in. Many times, they make a list after they’ve been in a home for 10 days and we have to send a handyman to work things out. But why not save that cost for the handyman and just take care of it when you leave?
For example… light bulbs. I can’t tell you how many times a Tenant has moved into a home and 3, 4, 5, even 8 light bulbs are out on ceiling fans, bathrooms, closets or can lights in a kitchen with a tall ceiling. We don’t want Tenants vacating a house with a dozen light bulbs out so we shouldn’t give them the house that way.
Here are several other areas to consider:
- Sliding doors. Many of them stick and are hard to open. That is a simple cleaning of the rollers on the bottom.
- Keys that stick. A little bit if graphite will do the trick.
- Sometimes a bedroom door is tight to open or close. That’s a simple shaving of the door on top usually…or a hinge adjustment.
- If a window doesn’t open, especially in a bedroom, that needs to be addressed. What if there were a fire and someone had to get out?
- An exhaust fan in a bathroom should be working. It’s an inexpensive repair if it is not.
- The same goes for a running toilet. Again… you may have lived with it but for about $10 for the inside of a toilet, it can be fixed.
- A broken sprinkler head or automatic sprinkler system is an easy repair. If something isn’t watering properly, plants and shrubs will die while the Tenant is there.
- Balancing a ceiling fan so it doesn’t sound like an airplane ready to take off when it’s put on high speed.
- Broken or cracked windows are another issue, especially for dual pane windows. If one is broken, have it repaired. It will improve A/C efficiency and no one will cut themselves.
- If something is missing in the home, replace it… like close doors or handles.
- Carpets may need stretching to avoid anyone tripping.
- Sharp edges of tile need to be repaired.
Overall, make the home the best it can be when it’s ready to Rent. If we take on a property, we will do a walk-thru and tell you exactly what needs to be done. We don’t do it to hurt your feelings or to criticize how you live. We are simply evaluating the home as for it’s rentability. And remember… everyone has their own level of cleanliness!
Whether you are a Tenant or a Landlord, it is important you know your rights under the state laws in which you live. In Arizona, we have the Residential Landlord Tenant Act. This dictates the Rules and Regulations you must follow to avoid legal ramifications.
In the situation we are in now, the Tenant will be forced out before the end of the month. That will allow us time to get the property ready for another tenant and back on the market in about a week. That means at least a week vacancy for the Owner, and possibly an additional week or two, depending on how long it takes to get the home rented.
