Although there are so many landlord guides online, I struggled to find advice on actually preparing your home for rent. I’m soon to become a first-time landlady and luckily have a rental agent who was able to offer my plenty of advice on my property which I’ll share with you in this post. It’s important to consider your rental market when preparing your home for rent. My tenants are going to be a professional couple or family and so the house needs to reflect this.
Remove any wall stickers and neutralise any children’s rooms
The only advice that I could find online was around finance, insurance, screening, legalities etc. but what I was looking for was more of a check list to tick off on preparing your home for rent. Particularly since I didn’t want to be coming back to sort things out regularly and wanted to leave the house in a good way. So I’ve created my own checklist below! Let me know if it’s missing anything and I’ll add it in…
Preparing your home for rent checklist
1. Fix anything that is broken. Including windows, light fittings, leaking taps, fence panels, locks, cupboard doors, shelving etc.
2. Sort out any damp or potential damp problems. Clear gutters and repair any broken pipes or roof tiles. If an external wall is prone to damp and you have a lawn or plants growing up against the wall, consider removing them and putting down some gravel or stones to let the wall breathe. I recently spruced up the front of the house and noticed that the living room as far less damp now.
3. Make sure your flooring is clean and safe both inside and outside the property. Make sure there are no tripping hazards such as loose paving stones or floor boards. If you have carpet, make sure it is stain-free as there’s nothing worse then moving into a home with other people’s stains! If the carpet is clean and intact and has a slight bounce when you walk on it, then it shouldn’t need replacing.
If your home looks fresh and looked after, then your tenants are more likely to respect the house and keep it looking good
4. Paint your house inside and out. You should paint your house externally every 5-6 years and internally every 3-4 years. If your home looks fresh and looked after, then your tenants are more likely to respect the house and keep it looking good.
5. Fill any cracks and holes and remove any blu-tack or wall stickers.
6. Replace any children’s blinds or curtains to something more neutral.
7. Make sure the property is safe. Check smoke alarms, fit a Carbon Monoxide alarm, get the boiler certified and put a fire extinguisher and/or fire blanket in the kitchen.
Clean everything from top to bottom
8. Replace burnt out light bulbs and buy plenty of spares to put in a cupboard – most tenants will replace bulbs themselves if there are spares in the house.
9. Check the appliances are all working and are cleaned inside and out.
10. Make sure your windows and doors all open and close properly and have locks and keys available with spares just in case!
11. Cut back the shrubs in your garden, your new tenants may not be particularly green-fingered and the last thing you want at the end of a tenancy agreement is a jungle of a garden! Perhaps leave a lawnmower and some garden tools as a hint… ; )
Cut the garden right back – wine optional… but recommended!
And lastly…
12. Clean everything from top to bottom. A steam mop is fantastic for blitzing hard floors and carpets and good for killing any bacteria or other nasties.
And there you should have it – a house ready for rent! Inevitably, things can and will happen that you’ll need to sort out if your property isn’t being managed by a letting agent. But the more you prepare the property for rent, the less likely you are to have too many issues once the tenants move in.
Natalia xo
