Your tenants gave you a 30-day notice to vacate the property. Now you must get the property rent ready for the next tenants. But where do you start?
Advertise the Property
If you already have pictures of the home prior to the current tenants moving in, use them to advertise the property. Conduct a new market survey to ensure your rental rate is in line with the market. Then start advertising it ASAP. Be certain to mention in the ad when the property will be available for occupancy again. The last thing you want to do is advertise the home for rent at the end of the month only to not have it ready for another three weeks. This will do two things, it will reduce the number of days your home is vacant and give you a deadline to get the projects done.
Move Out Inspection
Conduct a preliminary move out inspection. Often tenants are resistant to this inspection. But let them know the purpose is to only look at things that will need attention and that tenant can address prior to relinquishing possession. This way they can receive the maximum security deposit back. This initial walk-through will provide you with a possible list of items that must be addressed if tenants don’t take care of them. At this inspection, schedule the final move out inspection when you take possession of the property from the tenant.
Prepare for Maintenance
Start a list of items that you will need to purchase to get the unit rent ready. There is no sense in waiting until after the tenants move out to purchase the screen material for rescreening the doors and windows. Alternately, you can schedule a company take care of this while tenants are still in possession of the home. If tenants are not responsible for the landscaping, then assess all that needs to be done in the yard. Pruning overgrown trees to keep them off the house, trimming bushes, cleaning gutters and replacing bushes/ flowers can all be done while the tenants are still in the home provided you let them know the work will be completed. If you plan on doing some renovation or updating consider scheduling the contractors. Most contractors are busy and schedule their workload a few weeks in advance.
Secure Access to Property
Regardless of who the previous tenants were or how long they lived there, always rekey the doors and change the remote codes. Collect all keys, remote controls, mailbox keys, pool gate keys, etc when taking possession of the property.
Hire Contractors
If tenants leave the property in less than desired condition, consider bringing in the pros. Hire a contractor to patch and paint the walls and make any necessary repairs, a cleaning crew to clean the entire house and finally the carpets cleaners. Always make certain that carpets are done last and enough time is allotted so they can dry.
With planning, the rental turnover can be manageable, and your rental won’t sit vacant for long. If you have questions or need help managing your property, please contact us at New Bridge Management.
