How to Prepare Your Home for Renting

Selling a home and moving into a new one is one process - but if you plan on keeping your old home and turning it into a rental after you move, well, that’s a whole other process.

Here’s a few tips on how to shift seamlessly from occupant to landlord status for your old home.

Declutter the Home

Whether you are renting a large home or a tiny modern prefab adus you need to ensure that the home has been completely decluttered and it's free of any type of personal items. Go through the house and box up any of your items that will not be beneficial to the new tenant. 

You may want to consider getting storage space if you don't know where to place your items. You should also go through the house and find items that can be donated to charity if you no longer need them. 

Whatever you do, just make sure the home is properly decluttered beforehand so that the new tenant can have all the space they will need.

Conduct Repairs

If there are currently repairs that need to be done then you will need to go ahead and do them. Remember that you will be solely responsible for the repairs anyway. 

If your roof is leaking, get it fixed. If there are electrical problems you need to call an electrician. Anywhere a problem exists you need to try and fix it before your tenant comes in. 

Make sure that you do a deep clean of the premises and the interior of the home before the tenant arrives as well. You might want to consider hiring a home cleaning service to do the deep cleaning for you. 

This way you can ensure that it is properly done if you do not have the time or resources to do it yourself.

Do The Upgrades

In addition to doing repairs, you might want to consider doing some upgrades. For example, if your kitchen appliances are outdated you might want to consider upgrading them. 

Installing new kitchen cupboards or new bathroom fixtures if necessary is also a good idea. The better your home looks, the more you can charge to rent it.

Hire A Manager

While we love the idea of being our own managers for the first little while, as it’s a great way to learn about the dynamic and parameters of having a renter, it’s not always the most sustainable option. Hiring a manager will help keep a buffer between you and the tenants, protect you from liability issues for things that may have otherwise gone unnoticed, and will make your life a million times easier - not to mention keep your tenants happier.

Doing all these little things might feel like a lot after you’ve lived with a lot of the issues yourself. But when it comes to having a tenant, providing this level of comfort and convenience will help you keep the good tenants and prevent high rates of tenant turnover.