can be a real turnoff to potential tenants. Be sure to clean and regrout the tile; completely caulk around all countertops and bathroom fixtures; and clean the single dirtiest spot in most rental properties: the shower-door track. For a final touch, install a new toilet seat, and place a paper sanitary ring around the toilet to indicate that it’s been sanitized. This last step in particularly important in a post-pandemic world!
Focus on smell. If a rental unit doesn’t smell clean, it won’t matter how diligently you’ve cleaned it. Rental property owners often overlook the importance of the sense of smell. Consequently, you can have a real advantage over the competition for an amazingly small investment by recognizing the value of this underappreciated sense. Here are a few ideas:Use pine-oil or lemon disinfectant and cleanser to neutralize any bad odors left by previous tenants.Place baking soda in the refrigerator and drains, and grind a lemon in the garbage disposal to suppress any odors.Put a cinnamon stick in a shallow pan of water, and place it in the oven on low heat.Go to your favorite big-box discount store to find affordable liquid potpourri, available in a variety of scents. Avoid using certain fragrances that may be offensive to your prospective tenants. Too much use of scents may be distracting; your prospect may think that you’re attempting to cover up a bad smell that will return. Remember that two of the most difficult scents to eradicate are cat urine and tobacco smoke, and because they permeate the carpet and wall and ceiling finishes, air fresheners will work only temporarily. Consult a professional for a better solution.In a short time, your rental unit will be filled with pleasant scents that remind your prospective tenants of Mom and apple pie. Why? Because this is a time when you want to go with something with mass appeal rather than your personal favorite scent: essence of yak.
Carpet or floor-covering cleaning
Cleaning the carpet or floor covering is the last step in preparing your rental unit for new tenants. You can clean most floor coverings, such as laminates, linoleum or sheet vinyl, during the final cleaning stage, but you should let contractors with professional truck-mounted steam cleaning equipment handle carpet cleaning. The cost of professional carpet cleaning is very competitive, and you can’t achieve the same results with the non-truck-mounted equipment that’s readily available for rent at your local grocery or hardware store.
If the carpets are too dated, severely worn, or badly stained and damaged, replace them. Carpeting is a decorator item, and you should take care to select colors and styles designed for use in a rental property. I recommend selecting a standard carpet style in a couple of basic colors for all your properties. Although sculptured carpet works well for some units, a nonsculptured carpet with short nap (fibers) in one or two neutral colors has the broadest appeal. If you own a lot of rental units and have proper storage space, purchasing your standard carpet by the roll can offer significant savings. You can use the extra carpeting to patch or even replace a full room if necessary. Be aware, however, that each roll of even the same carpet style and color can be different because the manufacturer’s dye lot may vary slightly each time the carpet is produced.
Using Outside Contractors
Determining how to handle the required turnover work in vacant rental units is one of the toughest decisions rental property owners have to make. Owners of large apartment buildings have maintenance personnel on staff and many contractors ready to assist them as needed. They routinely handle vacant units and just need to schedule the work. But owners of small rental properties are typically on their own to handle the work personally or locate contractors to prepare the vacant units quickly.
Even if you’re inclined to do your own turnover preparation work, understand that certain maintenance functions requiring specialized or licensed training are best handled by outside contractors. It would be unwise for you to act as an exterminator or a contractor dealing with environmental hazards, for example, or to attempt to recharge the coolant in an air conditioning unit. Specific regulations are in place, and unique knowledge and licensing is required in these areas.
Your skill level, time constraints, and opportunity cost may help determine whether you do some chores yourself or hire a pro. Cleaning, painting, and light maintenance may be items that you feel qualified to handle, that you can complete promptly, and that you believe won’t cause you to forgo significant income in other areas. When in doubt, let others do what they do best while you focus on what you do best: managing your rental property investment.
Regardless of how much work you choose to handle yourself, you need to have a list of competent, competitively priced service companies and suppliers on hand for those times when you need a quick response. Your state or local affiliate of the National Apartment Association (NAA), Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM), or National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM) can provide names of service companies. Carefully check references and the status of any bonds or licenses with the appropriate government agency, and ensure that the company has the proper insurance in place before commencing any work on your property. (See Chapter 17 for more on the ins and outs of working with contractors.) If services exceed $600 in a calendar year, and the vendor isn’t a corporation or limited liability company (LLC), you need to file Form 1099-NEC with the Internal Revenue Service.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или
