First-Time Landlords: Make your Property rental ready

It can be exciting preparing your first rental property and making it ready for tenants to move into. But, aside from giving it a lick of paint and general refresh, what can you do to make your property attractive to tenants?

Make Repairs

Landlords have a legal obligation to their tenants. This includes ensuring the property they hope to live in is in good repair. This includes dealing with issues such as:

  • Visible mould
  • Heating/boiler issues and repairs & Gas Safe certificates
  • The number of occupants residing in the property
  • Electrical PAT Testing
  • Plumbing checks
  • Broken locks
  • Pests and ensuring protection against infestations
You need to ensure clear deck so that tenants have a property handed to them with no outstanding matters. That helps to smooth the path of responsibility for any issues at the return handover when the tenancy finishes

When you (or an inventory clerk) and the tenant conduct an inventory of the property at the start and end of a tenancy, this is a free property check for the tenant. It's your responsibility to cover the cost of this.

Research the Competition

Go online and look at images of other rental properties in the area. Make a list of the most common features tenants like, such as a good bathroom, modern fixtures and fittings and contemporary kitchen countertops.

For example, you may be able to command higher rent if you upgrade your bathroom or kitchen, light fittings, and overall decor. This doesn’t mean you have to spend massive amounts, simply offer tenants a better deal for their money.

Hire an Inventory Clerk

While you may want to deal with the overall management of the property yourself, hiring a third-party inventory service is advisable to conduct check-in, check-out, mid-tenancy, and inventory reports.

An experienced inventory clerk often uses free property software to compile these reports. Sometimes, they or you can access free property inventory software such as the Report2Go free property inventory software app. It is downloadable from Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. It is simple to use to create transparent and fair reports.

Market Your Property

It’s no use having a beautiful rental property on the market if no one knows about it. Instead, you may want to advertise it on social media or use a property rental site. Alternatively, you might engage a property management company to take this on and manage the entire process, from marketing the rental to sourcing and vetting tenants. They can also subsequently address any repairs and maintenance issues.

Find out more about Reports2Go's property inventory service.

Gary, 28 October 2022
First-Time Landlords: Make your Property rental ready

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