In previous posts we’ve talked about advertising your rental property and screening the potential tenants that contact you. But how can you, as a landlord, efficiently handle the actual appointments? Here’s a checklist of items to consider when getting ready to show your property to prospective tenants:

1. Try to schedule all of your appointments during blocks of time rather than individually. For efficiency and to promote competition for your property, tell all prospective tenants that you will be showing the property at a specific date and time. This accomplishes two main objectives. First, you’re not wasting your time, energy and money running back and forth to the property many, many times to meet each prospective tenant (who may not even show up). Second, when multiple tenants show up around the same time it creates a sense of urgency amongst them. Tell all tenants that applications are verified on a “first come-first serve” basis. So, if they are interested, they should get their application in as soon as they can. Remember, you don’t want to make ten separate appointment times, if you can instead, make two appointments and show it to ten applicants at the same time.
2. Make sure the outside of the property looks well kept. Pull up weeds and brush overgrowing the steps. Paint areas that need to be touched up. Make sure the lawn is mowed and trash is picked up. You don’t want junk (other tenant’s bikes, lawn chairs, etc.) blocking the unit that you are showing. You don’t need a complete overhaul if you take relatively good care of your properties. It’s amazing what sweeping, a pint of porch paint, a couple of flower pots and a freshly cut and edged lawn can do for aesthetics.
3. Reasonably clean the bathroom and kitchen. It doesn’t have to be “white glove” clean, but make sure the bathroom and kitchen are reasonably clean (tub, caulk, toilets, sinks, inside of cabinets). A faint smell of bleach or lemon indicates to the tenant that all is sanitary in those rooms. Some landlords will bake a pie or cookies to have that aroma throughout the house… some will use air fresheners. If you decide to use air fresheners, just make sure that it’s a scent the average person doesn’t find too strong or disagreeable.
4. Make sure the other rooms also look nice. Replace broken or dirty window treatments, clean carpets, touch up areas that need paint. If there are small cracks or nail holes in the walls, patch them with lightweight spackle. For an easy window treatment makeover, you can get new white, light filtering, horizontal window blinds for about $4 each. If you need to get a few small stains out of the carpets or couches, a great stain remover that I use all the time is FOLEX.
5. Lighting and temperature. Make sure all the lights are on and window treatments are positioned to see some of the outside. This allows natural light comes in and/or the rooms not to feel closed in. You want prospective tenants feel like the rooms are open, airy and bright. Adjust the temperature according to the season. In the winter, provide a nice temperature so they aren’t seeing their own steam as they walk through the unit. During the summer, turn on the A/C or if you don’t have A/C open the windows and turn on any ceiling fans.
6. Bring copies of your rental criteria, your lease/rental agreement and your application. The last thing you want is an interested applicant and no application to give them. You also want to appear impartial should an applicant not meet your criteria, so bring a copy of it for them to look over! This may help you getting applications from those who don’t meet your rental criteria. Bring a copy of the lease/rental agreement. Some applicants are bound to have questions about it and being able to have them look it over could avoid some misunderstandings later.
7. Know the specifics about the property, process and location, including the rent you are going to charge, how much the security deposit is going to be, whether you take pets or smokers, the amount of money they would need prior to move in, when the unit will be ready for occupancy and what happens after they submit an application. Also, know the selling points of both the property and the area in general, such as information about the schools, parks, shopping, restaurants, public transportation, etc.

Your goal as a landlord and property manager is to have a presentable property with as many qualified applicants seeing it in as few appointments as possible. When they get there, the property needs to look like something worth the rent you are charging, so that they submit an application. The more efficiently and effectively you operate your landlord business, the less your landlord activities will run you.

Steven Boorstein

Landlord/Author

https://www.managerentalproperty.com/

http://www.howtobuyrentalproperty.com/