At Invest West Management, we manage rental properties and homeowner associations in Washington and Oregon. We’ve asked our leasing specialist to talk a little bit about what owners need to know when they’re getting their properties ready for the rental market.
Where to Start: Rental Property Walls and Floors
If you’re an owner who is ready to rent out a property, the best place to start is with the paint color inside of your home. Take a look at your walls and paint everything a neutral shade. You might like certain colors in the living room and in the bedrooms, but not everyone is looking for what you like. So, we recommend a light pale grey color throughout the home. Then, if it’s in your budget, you should touch up the trim and the doors with a fresh coat of white paint. That’s really going to make the light shade on your walls pop.
The flooring you provide is also important. If you have carpet and it’s in good condition, you want to professionally shampoo it before you rent out your property. Don’t do it yourself; hire a professional company that can really give the carpet a deep clean. If you think the carpet needs to be replaced, go ahead and do that now before you show the home. Try a darker neutral color throughout the home. We also love luxury vinyl tile (or LVT) flooring. This is durable and makes an excellent surface for rental properties. Your tenants’ pets cannot scratch it and when they’re moving furniture, they won’t damage it. Usually it comes with a warranty, so consider putting in some LVT floors when you’re renting out your home.
Provide a Clean Rental Property
Cleaning the property is perhaps the most important thing you’ll do when you’re preparing to show it to tenants. We want a thorough, deep clean that hits all the details. We’re talking about baseboards that are dusted and scrubbed and window tracks without dust and cobwebs. Make sure you clean out all the closets and pull out the appliances to sweep and clean around them. The idea is to make prospective tenants feel like they’re moving into an attractive, clean home.
Marketing Your Rental Property
Marketing once meant running an ad in the newspaper. Things have changed, and now we have Facebook and Craigslist and a lot of free platforms to get some exposure for your rental property. The first thing you’ll want to do is make a personalized flyer for these sites with some great photos. It’s okay to use your cell phone when you’re taking pictures, just make sure you get the perfect shot. You want the home to look its best.
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Upload your photos and your flyer to social media sites and to online rental websites. You also want to put a sign in the yard in case someone is walking or driving by the property. Someone might see your sign or your post and even if they aren’t looking for a rental home themselves, they might know someone who is.
These are just a few of the things you can do to prepare your property for the rental market. If you have any questions about how to lease a property in Portland, Oregon, we hope you’ll contact us at Invest West Management.
