LANDLORDING 102 – PREPARING THE PROPERTY FOR A TENANT KAREN RITTENHOUSE
and that all locks and door handles are functioning. A loose or broken lock gives a bad impression before
prospects even enter your home. And, if you don’t appear interested in taking care of it, they won’t feel they
need to, either.
3.
Light. You want your home to look spacious and light. Make sure all bulbs in the house work. When the
house is being shown, have ALL lights on, even closet lights and the one over the stove. Light and bright
makes your home much more desirable.
4.
Windows. Open blinds to let in as much natural light as possible. Take down all worn, or broken blinds.
Bare windows look far better than windows with torn or broken treatments.
5.
Clean. Have the home clean. If you don’t plan to paint the entire interior and replace all the carpets, make
sure what is there is clean.
Spending $300 to get your property clean and ready for market is a much
better investment than leaving it as-is and making another mortgage payment
6.
Smell/fragrance/odor. This will be the first thing prospects notice when they walk in. You certainly don’t
want the house to smell musty (could indicate mold) or like the last tenant’s pets. Consider lemon scented
cleaning products or vanilla scented candles. If having trouble removing pet odors, the carpets may need to
be replaced. Make sure all air filters have been changed. You may need to purchase an Ionizer and let it run
until the odor is removed. After one of our tenants vacated the property, there was so much damage and
odor from pets that we even had professionals come out to clean the ductwork.