Anytime you lease as many houses as me you have made a lot of mistakes. Hopefully we have learned from these mistakes and can help our clients keep from making the same ones.
Here are just some of the hard lesions we have learned.
1. “Let’ set the rent high and look for an offer
Tenants make decisions on what to preview based on digital photos, property descriptions and asking rent. They look at 5 to 8 homes before they complete an application. They are comparative shoppers and know when the asking rent is too high. Setting the rent high, and waiting for an offer, will guarantee you a longer vacancy. Tenants are typically not good at negotiating. Filling out an application and paying a fee, “just to see what the owner might take”, is costly and time consuming. They won’t do it!
Price it right from the start!
2. “I’ll paint that blue bedroom when we get an offer”.
Tenants notice unpainted walls, trash, dirty tubs, stained carpets, outdated wallpaper and blue walls. “If the owner will not make it ‘market ready,’ how do I know they will have it ready for me to move in?” None of us like to sit on a vacant house. Waiting is expensive. Resist the temptation of putting it on the market until it is ready, and paint the blue room. Don’t put the property on the market until it is “market ready.” Paint the walls, remove the personal property, and empty the crawlspace, garage and attic before you start marketing it!
3. “Utilities cost too much on a vacant house; leave them off”.
Tenants preview houses after work, after dark, and on cloudy days. They want to “see” what it looks like. Bathrooms, closets, basements and laundry rooms don’t show well in the dark. Agents don’t like walking through a dark house with strangers. It is also important to have utilities on to facilitate repairs and cleaning during vacancy. Tenants need to “feel at home” when viewing a property. If it’s too hot in the summer, or too cold in the winter, they won’t like what they “feel” when they view the property. Lastly, a dark house invites vandalism.
We require the utilities on before we start marketing the property!
4. “Call me when the lawn needs mowing”.
No. The lawn needs mowing every 10 days while it is on the market for rent (every 15 days in the winter months). If you want the home to show well, either put it on your calendar to mow it every 10 days, or give us the money and we’ll do it. Street appeal is the first impression they get of the property. Make it a good one. Mow the lawn regularly. Don’t wait for a call from us.
5. “I’ll clean the house prior to move-in”.
If the house shows badly tenants think, “if they won’t clean it before marketing, I doubt they’ll clean it before move-in, or keep the house up after move-in.” Right or wrong, they are suspicious of dirty houses. Note: Houses never stay clean. Bugs die, kids track in dirt and leaves, dust gathers and it will need cleaning more than once during the marketing period, and just before move-in.
Clean it before we start marketing and keep it clean.
6. “I’m going to leave the paint cans in the basement/garage.
They will be useful to the tenant to touch up the walls when they leave”. Wrong! Tenants do not touch up the walls. Paint cans are “someone else’s stuff” and tenants don’t want to see it. Besides, if you don’t remove it, we have to … to an expensive hazardous waste dump … at your expense. It is very expensive for us to remove because it is considered “hazardous material”.
Get rid of paint cans and other stuff before we start marketing the property!
7. “I’ll consider pets when I see an application”.
Tenants with pets will only preview houses where owners/managers make it clear in the advertising that “pets are welcome”. You won’t get tenants with pets previewing your property unless you advertise that pets are welcome. Seventy-five percent of our applicants admit to having pets. You are shutting out a big portion of your market to say “no pets”. Better to allow pets and get more deposit to cover the potential damages. They won’t look if you’re not clear in the marketing about pets!
Conclusion:
Putting a property in “rent ready” condition, with utilities on, is critical to getting an application quickly. Don’t wait!!!!
DL Morton Realty, Inc., is a full service real estate company offering sells and management. Call today for all you real estate needs!
Clean it before we start marketing and keep it clean.
6. “I’m going to leave the paint cans in the basement/garage. They will be useful to the tenant to touch up the walls when they leave”. Wrong! Tenants do not touch up the walls. Paint cans are “someone else’s stuff” and tenants don’t want to see it. Besides, if you don’t remove it, we have to … to an expensive hazardous waste dump … at your expense. It is very expensive for us to remove because it is considered “hazardous material”. Get rid of paint cans and other stuff before we start marketing the property!
7. “I’ll consider pets when I see an application”.
Tenants with pets will only preview houses where owners/managers make it clear in the advertising that “pets are welcome”. You won’t get tenants with pets previewing your property unless you advertise that pets are welcome. Seventy-five percent of our applicants admit to having pets. You are shutting out a big portion of your market to say “no pets”. Better to allow pets and get more deposit to cover the potential damages. They won’t look if you’re not clear in the marketing about pets!
Conclusion:
Putting a property in “rent ready” condition, with utilities on, is critical to getting an
application quickly. Don’t wait!!!!
DL Morton Realty, Inc., is a full service real estate company offering sells and management. Call today for all you real estate needs!
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