With summer a little over a month away and the school year drawing to an end, tenants are looking to move. Vacancies are on the horizon in the near future, as are the cleanups necessary to get the home rent ready and back on the market. Everyone remembers that tenants don’t want to rent a home that is dirty on the inside, but what not everyone recalls is that the outside of the property is almost just as important. The need to cultivate curb appeal is forgotten too often.
The outside of the Property is one of the first things noticed by a prospective tenant. Curb appeal attracts potential tenants and persuades them to look more closely at the home. It can also be that special thing that makes them remember your home. Most applicants look at many houses; they don’t remember each perfectly. A beautiful exterior can be that quality that impresses them and makes this property seem like a home.
Here at Empire, we’ve found that is helps to literally take a step back. Standing in the middle of the yard or in the driveway, you may not see anything, but if you move back to the street and try again… Now you look at it, and you ask yourself, what needs changing?
In most cases, the list is surprisingly small. There’s the normal “the lawn needs to be mowed”: easily remedied.
Others can be:
- Flowerbeds are empty
- Bushes need trimming
- Outside of the house needs painting
- The front door is dirty or banged up
- Flowerbeds need bark
- House needs pressure washing
Fancy flowerbeds that are filled with all sorts of lovely flowers are not a good idea. Neither are flowerbeds that are completely empty except for a few dying shrubs. Replacing the bark or mulch in the flowerbeds if needed and establishing a few attractive but resilient and low maintenance plants can go a long way towards improving the overall curb appeal.
There is no overstating the importance of keeping the landscaping up to date. An overgrown lawn and bushes that desperately stand in need of pruning speaks of more than a lack of care regarding the landscaping. It speaks of a landlord that doesn’t care about the tenancy or the home.
Keeping the outside of your rental clean and attractive isn’t difficult. Most of the secret lies in what we at Empire consider the golden rule of property management. “It’s easier to keep up than catch up.”
Happy Landlording!