If you’re thinking about letting your home or finding more tenants for your buy-to-let property, here are ten things you can do to make letting your property a lot easier:
1) Make a good first impression
Ensure your property looks good from the start with kerb appeal – get this right and you’ll already be ahead of many other landlords, and well on the way to getting the right tenants. Clear your front garden of any rubbish, garden debris, children’s toys, etc, and check that any net curtains look bright and white, not dingy and discoloured. Yes, people do notice!
2) Weed and reap (more rent)
Ensure both front and back gardens are neat, tidy and rubbish-free for maximum appeal. Keep lawns mowed, beds weeded and bushes trimmed during the growing season. Don’t forget to dig out those pesky weeds from paths too, it’s the small things that make a huge difference.
In the summer, if possible hang a basket or pot or two of flowers, but don’t forget to water them – dead flowers look worse than none at all!
3) Ensure decorations are in good condition
The good impression you created outside should continue when your prospective tenant comes through the front door. Walls and flooring are best if they are plain, light and neutral in colour. Paint the walls instead of papering them, it’s quicker and cheaper to re-paint when required than using wallpaper. Alternatively, in some rooms you could go for one wall papered making it a ‘feature’ but be careful of your choice of colour and pattern.
Create a feeling of space by taking away everything that you are not planning on leaving when renting it out.