When you are preparing your home for the rental market, your goal is to attract the best tenants and maximize your rental income. Here are our top tips for prepping your home for the rental market!
Make Your Rental Property Attractive and Appealing
We strongly recommend that you spruce up your home before putting it on the market. Neutralize those paint colors, steam clean the carpets, replace all the carpets that are stained, have the home professionally cleaned, and have any necessary exterior landscaping completed. Making sure your home presents well in photographs and in video is so important for attracting great prospective tenants. These days tenants are looking at rental properties online before scheduling tours so by taking the time to make the property look great you are possibly decreasing your property’s time on the market!
In addition, by putting the time and work in now, you’ll make your home look as good as possible and, at move out, we can hold the tenants to a high standard. When you turn your property over to tenants in excellent condition, they are going to know that this is the way we expect to receive it back.
Keep Your Property Legally Compliant
Make sure your rental property is in compliance with all local laws and regulations. In Baltimore County and Howard County, you need a rental license for your rental home prior to the beginning of a lease. In order to get a rental license, you need to schedule and pass a rental inspection. You want your property to pass the first time, so it’s important to make sure everything is working properly. Look at plumbing, electrical and mechanical repairs that might be necessary. If you have been putting any repairs off, hire a licensed and insured contractor to do those repairs correctly. This will help you pass the inspection, but more importantly, it well help ensure that your tenants will be safe when they’re living in your property.
Make the Necessary Insurance Changes
It is important to contact your insurance company. You need to transfer your insurance policy from an owner occupant policy to a landlord policy. You also need to add liability coverage. Understand the limits of your policy and add any additional clauses that will protect you in the future. Your insurance company will be able to assist you with making these necessary changes.
Consider Your Tax Implications
Contact your tax advisor. You want to make sure you set up your records properly from the start so you can take as many deductions and as much depreciation from the start. Talk to your tax advisor about potentially selling in the future, and what the tax implications are. That way, you can work the calendar to your advantage.
Check Your Temperament
Make sure that you have the temperament to be a landlord. Not everyone is cut out to be a landlord and that is okay! If a tenant submits a repair request-are you going to get flustered every time? This may not be the path for you. We’re here to help you weigh the pros and cons of renting out your home, and if it’s not what you want to do, we can help you find the option that works best for you. We know how to manage the many relationships involved in property management as well as the day to day details.
If you have any questions about preparing your home for the rental market or about property management in general, please contact us at Chesapeake Property Management.
