How to prepare your home for the rental market

IT’S ON THE HOUSE
Insights and advice for property investors & home owners.

Good tenants are gold. They pay rent on time, every time, and treat your home as their own. To add to the peace of mind of knowing your home is being well looked after, good tenants usually mean fewer issues, lower maintenance costs, regular income and increased value growth. So while getting your home ready for the rental market, it makes sense to keep your ideal tenant in mind.

What do tenants look for?

Tenants are often choosy, and rightfully so. We all want to live somewhere comfortable and safe, somewhere that feels like ‘home’. Rod Stapleton, one of Quinovic’s Business Development Managers, believes that tenants want “a property that looks good, is uplifting and inspiring and that they feel happy to have guests visit”. How can you achieve this? Try these tips:

Top tips for preparing your home

• Clean absolutely everything – windows, carpets, curtains, mouldy walls, even the garbage bins. Having a spick and span home not only helps attract the best tenants, it sets the standard that you can then expect from them.
• Repair or replace any leaking taps, broken light fittings, rotten floor boards, loose door handles etc. Basically, if it’s broken, fix it. As well as keeping tenants happy, this helps avoid bigger problems in the future.
• Make sure all appliances are in good condition. If you’re taking some with you, it could be worth leaving anything that adds value to your home, such as the dishwasher.
• Kitchens are important to many tenants. Quality appliances could help sway their decision, and usually need less maintenance, which is a bonus for you. Generally, premium appliances tend to attract premium tenants.
• First impressions count. Remember to mow the lawns, do the gardening, wash the windows etc. so you don’t put tenants off before they step inside.
• Only paint areas that really need it; new paint makes areas unpainted look shabbier.
• Is your home warm and dry? Properties with heat pumps and fireplaces tend to get higher rents. Insulation is important too.
• Is your home safe? Make sure smoke alarms are working, fences are childproof, railings are secure etc.
• Think about having your carpets and curtains cleaned, especially if you have pets. Neither are expensive and both could make a big impact.
• When you’re showing tenants through your home, remember to open the curtains and blinds to let the sun and view inside. Nobody likes a dark house and the view will make the rooms feel bigger.

Time for a makeover?

If your home is in need of more than a little sprucing up, there are some other improvements you can make to increase its appeal – and hopefully secure more rent.

Here are Rod Stapleton’s tips for the lowest cost improvements that will make the most difference:

• Use white paint. Create inviting, uplifting spaces by going light and bright. White or light neutral colours also allow people to design their own look.

• Install tiles instead of lino. Tiles look good year after year – and everyone wants their home (whether they rent or own) to look good.

• Replace old lampshades. Old and tired shades look…old and tired, new and modern ones, on the other hand, can transform a room.

• Replace old benchtops and tapware.  At very little cost, new tops and taps can make a huge difference.

• Install new curtains. New curtains make a big impact, and you can pick up ready-made ones without breaking your budget.

Are you prepared to be a landlord?

If you’re planning on being a landlord, have you thought about how much time you’re prepared to devote to the job. As well as finding tenants and collecting rent, you’ll need to stay on top of repairs and maintenance. Are you happy to be on call day and night? If you’re lucky and get good tenants, being a landlord might not be too demanding. But it’s worth considering how you’ll cope if things don’t go so smoothly.

Leave it with the experts

The alternative to managing everything yourself is having someone take your property off your hands. Not only does this make the whole rental process easier, professional property managers, like Quinovic, can protect the value of your home by committing to working on it all the time.

Advertising your property, screening tenants, overseeing maintenance, managing all legal documents – we do it all. And because we’re experts at assessing market rentals, we can secure you the maximum rent for your home and area. Most importantly, thanks to our proven Care and Return systems, we can assure you that your home will be kept in the same condition you left it in.

If you want to find out more about leaving your property in our hands, be sure to talk to someone from your local Quinovic office. In the meantime, roll up your sleeves and start cleaning!

Experts in property care and return

Find out more about our proven Care and Return systems or get in touch now.

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