Making sure your property to let is rented out for the majority of the time is obviously the target for any landlord. But there will inevitably be times when tenants move out, and you need to re-let and get your property ready for a quick turn around for a new tenant.
Just as you would when you sell, it’s a good idea to get your property in the best condition possible.
When you’ve had someone renting your property for some time there will probably be the odd few things that might need some attention.
But what about cleaning? How clean should your property be when you’re trying to attract the most suitable tenants?
Give it your best shot
Our advice would be to make sure you give your property the best chance to shine (literally) when it’s being viewed by a prospective tenant. Just like when you sell a house or second hand car, you stand more chance of selling if it looks in tip top condition.
Research shows that the most common tenant ‘turn-offs’ were: 43% – dirty bathroom, 40% – dirty kitchen, 30% – dirty internal decoration, and 29% – poor condition of external decoration.
The better the standard of the property, the easier and quicker it will be to get those next tenants in and have it earning your money for you.
Attract the best type of tenant
A clean and well-kept property will also help you to attract the right best type of tenant. You’ll want someone with high standards and someone who takes care of the property; it makes your life easier when they eventually move on. So attracting the best tenant in the first place with a shiny hob and sparkling bathroom is a must.
Set the right tone
By letting your property in a clean state you’re setting the tone for your expectations of how the tenants will leave it in future. “This is how you found it, now leave it like this!” It’s far easier for them to keep-on-top of the cleanliness than have to organise a deep clean.
In addition to this, a clear inventory with a detailed schedule of the condition – including any marks, chips, or scratches – will also demonstrate how the property has been prepared before handover and how it should be returned at the end of the tenancy too.
A really simple way to approach all this is to get a professional cleaner in. At The Letting People we can recommend a reliable local company to do this for our landlords. Anything to make your life easier!
Let’s face it, most of these are very common:
- Not having hoovered up to the edge of your carpets
- Cobwebs in corners which are thick with dust (they’re easy to overlook)
- Dreaded limescale on your grouting, taps and shower screen
- Grimy ovens as people don’t think to look inside. These are a big turn-off but easily sorted with the right chemicals and some elbow grease!
- Dirt and dust behind the sofa/bed/cooker/wardrobe and other hard-to-reach places.
That reminds us… here's a funny, but true story…
When going through our check-out inventory, a cleaning specialist found a large assortment of adult 'playthings' left in an ex-tenant's bedroom wardrobe!
We sent a carefully worded email to the ex-tenant asking them to collect their ‘items’ but surprisingly the email was never replied to and the items had to be carefully disposed of.
#Awkward! We’ve seen many things at The Letting People.
It’s always a good plan to set the standards high from the start…
If you’d like us to help with arranging deep cleaning for your property please do get in touch as we’d be happy to offer a recommendation of a local company to do this for you.
