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Hey everyone! Spencer Sutton here with Evernest, and today I want to walk through some tips and tricks on how to rent your house fast.
As a homeowner, it seems like you can never rent your house fast enough. After all, the longer your home sits empty, the more cash you are losing. While prioritizing finding a renter is essential, keep in mind certain factors can help contribute to the amount of time your home sits vacant.
If you are anxious and trying to figure out how to rent your house fast, you’ve come to the right place. There are several different techniques you can try out, so keep reading to figure out which works best for your situation.
To rent your house fast, you need to look at all of the factors making up the rental appeal of your home, including:
Keeping these things in mind, you will want to do your best to take charge of the factors you can control, especially if you find yourself in a situation with many white elephants.
When it comes to renting your house quickly, it can be broken into two main categories: the things that you can control and the things you may not be able to control. As a rental property owner, you already know that things pop up all the time, so it’s best to be as prepared as you possibly can for anything.
There are a handful of items within your control that can help to get your house rented quickly. Here are a few of our top picks.
Typically the first thing people see is the outside of your house. Whether they pull up a picture on the internet or drive by the actual property, landscaping can make or break the way people view your property. So, landscaping is essential. In the summer, this means cutting the grass regularly. In the winter months, it entails keeping the yard clear of leaves, etc.
It’s also good to plant flowers if you can. These flowers should be native to the area so that a prospective tenant doesn’t think that they will have to keep up some tropical plants or anything like that. Remember, the easier to keep up with, the better.
If you have trash outside of your house, pick it up. It might sound strange, but debris in the yard or front porch can make your home look messy. Remember, renting your house quickly is all about making good first impressions.
Ground covering such as mulch or pine straw is a great added feature. It will help keep weeds down to a minimum and is easy to take care of. When tenants see ground cover, they understand that they won’t have to do a ton of yard work, which is often a positive because, in a typical lease, the tenants are responsible for that lawn care.
Another added nice touch is hanging an American flag. That always shows your patriotism, and people will tend to respond positively to that.
Moving to the inside of the house, most of these are very obvious, but not always something homeowners think about. An excellent perspective to have is to consider how you would want to move into a house. Say you bought or are renting a brand new home for your family. How would you like the place to look and feel upon your arrival?
You want a clean coat of paint on the walls. Walls get scuffed up a lot because of all the moving that takes place in rentals. A fresh coat of paint can go a long way in hiding scuff marks.
Along with a new coat of paint comes clean carpets, which are equally as important. If you need to replace the carpet, you should be sure to do that. It will ultimately depend on how long you have had your carpet, but remember, clean carpets make a huge impression.
The tenants are typically expecting to come in and find a refrigerator, stove, and a built-in microwave. A washer and dryer are not expected from tenants. They usually will bring their own. Either way, the appliances you do provide you don’t want them to be old leftovers. It’s better to throw those out, take them with you, and then buy some new ones for your rental property.
Bathroom fixtures, and other lighting fixtures, say a lot about how old the house is, and when it was last updated. New, modern fixtures show the tenant you care about making sure the property is not outdated. If your house was built in the ’80s or early ’90s and you have the same fixtures you did in the ’80s, you probably want to upgrade.
Lastly, you always want to make sure to have your home professionally cleaned before you start showing the property. First impressions are essential, and the goal is to get as many people as possible to see the house, and then you will start taking applications.
On the other side of things are the white elephants, or things that are not within your control. These factors might keep your property from renting quickly. While it can be frustrating, it’s essential to keep these things in mind and focus on those within your control to better your chances.
If the neighborhood scene where your property was located was not great, it might make it difficult to rent. Some quick examples might be a lot of trash on the streets, loitering, or other things like that. Essentially, if it doesn’t seem like a friendly and receptive neighborhood from that standpoint, it will always be a little bit of a red flag to prospective tenants as they pull up.
Remember that tenants want a warm and fuzzy feeling, and with this atmosphere, they won’t get that. Unfortunately, this is something beyond your control.
It may sound strange, but steep driveways can keep people from renting your house. An odd layout can have the same effect. Your home will still rent, but it will just take longer than you may expect. It explains why these national home builders, these multi-million-dollar home builders, essentially have the same floor-plan for all their homes.
So, if your house has a funky layout, you may love it, but that doesn’t mean a tenant or a prospective tenant will love it.
A busy street will take away from a prospective tenant’s desire to rent, especially if they have small children. Similarly, if you live near train tracks or near power lines, this too may keep your house from renting very quickly. Again, you don’t have any kind of control over those.
In addition to these controllable and uncontrollable factors, there are a few other things you can do to help better your chances of renting your property quickly. Some tips for renting quick include:
If you have been wondering how to rent your house fast, hopefully, we’ve helped to lead you in the right direction. Understanding that there are factors within your control and outside of your control is the first step in identifying potential opportunities for improvements around your home.
Spencer is the VP of Marketing at Evernest. He wakes up with Google and Facebook on his mind. Having bought and sold over 150 homes in Birmingham, Spencer gets a kick out of helping new and seasoned investors navigate the mistakes he made as an investor. Spencer is also passionate about his love for Michael Jordan and does his best to explain to the Millennials (who never saw him play live) how much better he was than LeBron. He loves to hang out with his wife, kids, and the world’s best black lab, Jett.