One of the first rules of residential property management is that you never show a prospective resident the property until it is rent ready. Doing so invites all sort of issues with residents wanting you to make decorating choices to fit their desires and, more importantly, discourages many potential residents who just can’t envision what the property will be like when it is ready for occupancy.

Leasing a house is not at all like selling one. While marketing for lease can take 2-8 weeks or more on average, when it leases, it happens fast. Sales can take 30-60 days or more to close once an agreement is in place. It usually only takes us 72 hours to qualify a resident. residents typically don’t begin their search in earnest until 2-3 weeks in advance of the date they want to move in. Additionally, most potential residents won’t finally choose a property and put down a deposit until 3-7 days in advance of the date they want to move in.

Ideally, you will want to have the wall colors and decorating of the house in a mostly neutral color scheme. If you have customized the property to fit your tastes and you do not neutralize it, then you will be narrowing the market of potential residents only to those with decorating tastes like yours. That is not necessarily a bad thing; however, you would want to appeal to the largest cross section of the rental market place. The last thing you want to do is to let a gallon or two of paint stand in the way of finding the best possible resident in the shortest period at the best rental price possible. Those who elect to lease their principal residence are now making the family home into the family business. Running a family business requires making choices unemotionally that will give you the greatest benefit and market advantage possible as vacancy costs are extremely high compared to the cost to cure.

In addition, several other things may need to be addressed; they can include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Removing all of your possessions and personal property
  • Making sure that all kitchen appliances are present and working properly for their age
  • We do recommend that you have a refrigerator, cooking range, dishwasher and if possible a built in microwave
  • We don’t recommend leaving a washer and dryer except in the case of the need for a stackable unit
  • All operating systems in the house are in a normal working condition
  • We do recommend garage door openers, gas logs in fireplaces (where applicable), and blinds on all windows for many reasons to do with marketing and risk management
  • A complete & thorough interior and exterior cleaning of the property is mandatory
  • Curing any odors from pets or other sources is mandatory
  • Complete Pest Control for all interior pests such as fleas, roaches, ants, spiders, etc.
  • We recommend a termite bond with a minimum of a once a year inspection by a state licensed pest control provider of your choosing. There are only two types of houses in Georgia – those that had termites and those about to get them!
  • All lawn maintenance must be completed and the yard made as simple as possible for residents to maintain
  • You should keep all utilities on (except for phone & cable) until the house is leased