When one tenant moves out and another is waiting to move in, you have some work to do in preparing your Los Angeles rental property. Hopefully, your departing tenant left the property in reasonably good shape and there are only some minor issues to take care of before it’s ready for occupancy.
Attention to detail is important during this process, even though you want the turnover of your investment property to be quick. Deliver a great-looking home on day one of the new lease. It will show the tenant exactly how you expect to have the property returned when they move out.
Here are some checklist items that will help you get your property ready for a new tenant.
Conduct a Thorough Walk-Through
First, inspect the home thoroughly. You’ll need to do this anyway, to determine how much of the security deposit your previous tenant will get back. Check each room for anything that needs to be repaired, replaced, or cleaned. It’s especially important to look for deferred maintenance issues such as dripping sinks, mold, and evidence of pests. Test the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and look for any other potential safety or habitability issues.
Have your vendors and contractors prepared to get to work as soon as possible after your former tenant moves out. Time is of the essence to keep vacancy loss down.
Paint Your Los Angeles Investment Property
Skip the touch-up work and paint the whole wall when there’s chipping, scratching, fading, or stains. Hire professional painters who can work quickly to get the interior re-painted. The fresh paint will do a lot for you during the marketing and leasing period, and your new tenants will appreciate the home looking and feeling new. Check the condition of the exterior paint as well.
Consider Cost-Effective Upgrades
You want your income property to earn as much in rent as possible. The turnover period between tenants is an excellent time to make some upgrades and improvements. This can increase the property’s rental value and help you attract high quality tenants quickly. Some of the most cost-effective updates you can make include:
- Replace carpet with hard surface flooring
- Take out old, deteriorating appliances and install new, energy-efficient appliances
- Improve the lighting inside and outside your Los Angeles investment property
- Install new fixtures such as drawer pulls, cabinet hooks, and faucets
Most rental property owners find these things don’t cost a lot and don’t take much time, but they do increase ROI and tenant retention.
Thoroughly Clean the Rental Home
After all the repair work is done and the painting and cosmetic upgrades are complete, give the property a thorough and detailed cleaning. Hire professionals who are willing to do the hard stuff, such as pulling appliances away from the wall to clean around and behind them or scrub the baseboards and the ceiling fans.
Finally, change the locks. You’ll likely collect all the keys to the property from your former tenant, but you have no real way to know if other people have copies of those keys. For your new tenant’s security and peace of mind, provide new locks and keys.
These are a few of the most important things to take care of when you’re preparing your property for a new tenant. If you’re interested in the value that LA property management can provide, please contact us at EGL Properties or give us a call at (310) 481-0922.