Advice on Preparing your Property

It is important for landlords to prepare their property for tenants. The first is to think of what type of person are you looking to attract. Trying to attract Professional people and achieve maximum rent is not going to work if your property is not looking its best!

In Bournemouth And Poole the majority of properties are unfurnished where as in London they are predominantly furnished. I am often asked if it makes a difference with what you can achieve rent wise – and it doesn’t make any difference. If anything, furnishing a property will restrict your enquiries dramatically. If you can be flexible with furniture then you are reaching the whole market. Students are obviously the exception as they do expect a furnished environment.

Décor is best being kept to whites and neutral colours. Skimmed walls are easy to maintain than wallpaper. It is a good idea to implement into your budget a repaint throughout your property every 3-5 years in order to keep your property looking fresh. Most people expect modern kitchens and bathrooms these days. If these rooms are more than 10 years of age it might be worth thinking of updating these. The Majority of kitchens now include a cooker, washing machine and a fridge/freezer. At the end of the day it is an investment and the return will come back by attracting good tenants, good rents as well as the saleable value at the end.

The better the handover with the tenant the better the handover will be back. It is really hard to insist on a carpet clean at the end of a Tenancy when at the commencement it was clearly not cleaned. Here are a couple of tips;
Clean carpets throughout
Clean windows inside and out
Make sure oven and hob are clean
Garden is in good order (no weeds or long grass)

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