How to make the most out of an empty apartment

Being a property owner comes with a great deal of responsibilities. Keeping up with those responsibilities and resolving issues in a timely manner will make your life much easier. Also, it will help you boost your real estate business. Procrastination and postponing necessary fixes will only temporary set your mind at ease. In the long run, it will result in less income and more problems.

The worst nightmare for every property owner is the moving out period when tenants are leaving the apartment. You probably just want to sleep through that stage. Yet, that is the time when you should keep your eyes open and spot the potential issues.

Here is a list of the major key points you should pay attention to. Looking after the damage will make this stressful period as painless as possible.

Be there when tenants are moving out

Moving out is an important period in property leasing so it's natural that you should be there when it happens. That is a great time to discuss necessary fixes, damages, and costs. With you being there it will be much easier to discuss which part of damage control is your responsibility and which part is up to tenants to pay. If you don't have that conversation straight away, it will be much harder to sort those issues later on. Plus, it is important to part ways on friendly terms. This is also the best time to take back the keys and ask for all the copies tenants probably made.

Check out the utility bills and receipts

Don't just assume that everyone pays their bills on time. This is especially important for those landlords who didn't ask for monthly bills receipts. If the lease agreement is completed at the end of a month, you will end up with unpaid utility bills for the previous month. Your tenants will probably leave money for the bills, but if they don't there's always the security deposit which you can use to pay off the bills. To be extra cautious, you should check out the account balance and activity. It's not that often that tenants make international phone calls and talk for hours, but you can never be too careful.

Tidy up the place

Take some time to do the detailed cleaning and make sure to clean every room in the apartment. This is more important than you might think. If new tenants find the apartment untidy and dirty, they will leave with the impression that hygiene is not very important to you. If they end up living there, they might treat the place in the same manner. Also, big cleaning will help you to spot irregularities and to identify what needs fixing.

Make a detailed to-do list for the big cleaning and make another one for apartment for rent renovation. On this list, you should include shopping for cleaning products, changing the light bulbs, carpet washing, cleaning and annually air conditioning checkup.

Do a total check-up

When you're done with tidying, bills, and paperwork, take some time to go through some spots again. Start from the kitchen and dining room, since people can get very irritable when they find these areas dirty. Some are particularly sensitive to a dirty kitchen. Don't let this be a deal breaker. Then, take a good look at the bathroom and check plumbing and sewage systems, potential leaks, and mold. Thoroughly clean every single corner, and make sure that the bathroom is spotless.

Paint the walls and woodwork

If you need to paint the walls, the in-between period is an ideal time to grab the paint rollers. Nobody feels at home in a dirty apartment, so potential tenants will have a hard time getting cozy in a place with dirty walls. Also, over the course of year or so, the walls will just keep on getting dirty. If you don't do regular paint jobs your apartment will not look nice and it will lose its commercial value.

So, keep in mind that painting the walls and woodwork is the most efficient and most affordable way of keeping your property nice and attractive.

If you are only dealing with short-term lease arrangements like Short Term Rentals, these rules are not far too different. Painting and other major works don't need to be done after every guest, but good hygiene still remains the crucial imperative. Many landlords opt for professional cleaning services as they do the best and most efficient job of keeping the property clean.

It doesn't matter how much experience you've got, leasing apartments and making sure that everything is clean and ready for new tenants is a challenging job. In order to make these tasks easier try to implement some of our professional tips. Or, try to find some other way to make these things easier for you. Just bear in mind that slacking off is never a good option. Real estate requires a lot of work but that work certainly pays off.