Getting your property ready to rent
Making sure your property is ready for letting
While letting out your property can be a good investment, making sure your property is presentable can help increase the money made from it. Renting out a run down or poorly decorated / maintained property is much harder than renting out a nice fresh well maintained property. It can also affect the bottom line, as people are more willing to pay a higher rent for a well kept house.
The first step is to decide what sort of tenant you want, and what sort of tenants typically live in the local area. This may seem pointless and research you can't be bothered to do, but it's key. After all, if the local area is all starter families and you're your property is aimed at students then letting it could be a chore.
Overall, the simplest approach could be to just keep everything fresh and neutral. Use light non offensive colours, make sure flooring, curtains and blinds are of a good solid quality.
White Goods?
If you are renting out the property with white goods (washing machine, dishwasher, fridge, freezer and so on) then you need to make sure these are all up to standard, in fully working order and safe. If not then replace them immediately. Photocopies of the manuals could also be useful. We would not advise leaving the originals just in case they go missing.
Health and Safety
Once all the visual steps have been taken care of you really need to focus on health and safety.
Make sure your gas central heating and all gas appliances have been checked and given a clean bill of health from a certified Corgi engineer.
Make sure that you have plenty of smoke alarms fitted and that all furnishings are fire retardant.
Make sure all electrical wiring and appliances are up to scratch, Its advised that you get an independent company to check over the appliances and certify them as safe if you can afford it.
Curb Appeal
A last word, make sure you don't forget the exterior of your house, make sure the front and back of the house, windows, and gardens are all clean and well maintained.
delicious
digg
blinklist
furl
stumbleupon