What Should Landlords Do When A Tenant Moves Out?

Three focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Home/Property Discussions. If you’re renting property, there are several moving parts. You must consider what happens when tenants move in, and also when they move out. The following contributed post is entitled, What Should Landlords Do When A Tenant Moves Out?

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Due to the nature of the private rented sector, no matter how great a tenant is, they will eventually want to move on. They may have saved up enough money for a deposit on their own home, or they may need a larger or smaller home. They could just desire a change. It doesn’t matter why they’re leaving; what matters is that it will happen. No landlord should assume a tenant to stay in their home indefinitely.

When this time comes, it’s critical to get the property ready for the next occupants as soon as possible to prevent losing rental money for an extended period of time. Here are some ideas on what you can do to guarantee that you can re-rent your home quickly while it is vacant.

Photo by Annushka Ahuja from Pexels

Inspect The Property

This is a job that you should complete before the current tenant leaves so that you can resolve any concerns with them. If you are unable to schedule things correctly, you will need to investigate the property as soon as possible after they depart. Alternatively, you could hire an inventory company to do the job for you. This is usually preferable since they will have an unbiased opinion and will provide you with a detailed report of any damage or trash left behind.

If there are any difficulties, you must discuss them with the tenant as soon as possible and come up with a way to deal with them. This might mean calling in experts such as The Patch Boys for repairs. If the tenants are unwilling or unable to fix the issues, you could demand their deposit to cover the cost of repairs, which can be handled via a dispute agency. Otherwise, you must repay the renter’s deposit within a set timeframe.

Clean It Up

Depending on how long the tenants lived in the house, you may have to repaint the walls, hang new wallpaper, or repair the carpeting. Due to regular wear and tear, this is usually not the responsibility of your previous renters. In an ideal world, they’d have cleaned up before they left, but if they didn’t, you will need to pay a cleaning company to come in.

Personalizing the property with your own furniture is another option. Even while it isn’t a requirement, showing prospective tenants how they could personalize a home helps speed up the rental process. Your letting agency should be able to tell you whether or not this is essential. This would be a waste of time and energy in certain locations where the rental market is robust. In other cases, it may be just what you need to have the house rented as fast as possible.

Change The Locks

Even if you have the most trustworthy and reliable renter, changing the locks after they go is a smart idea. You never know if there is a duplicate key or if copies have been made. Of course, a lease contract will normally demand any copies to be returned at the conclusion of the lease, but if they can’t be found, forgotten, or misplaced, you may never hear about them. By changing the locks, you can ensure that the residence is safe and that future tenants have exclusive access to the keys.

Author: anwaryusef

Anwar Y. Dunbar is a Regulatory Scientist. Being a naturally curious person, he is also a student of all things. He earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Michigan and his Bachelor’s Degree in General Biology from Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU). Prior to starting the Big Words Blog Site, Anwar published and contributed to numerous research articles in competitive scientific journals reporting on his research from graduate school and postdoctoral years. After falling in love with writing, he contributed to the now defunct Examiner.com, and the Edvocate where he regularly wrote about: Education-related stories/topics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Financial Literacy; as well as conducted interviews with notable individuals such as actor and author Hill Harper. Having many influences, one of his most notable heroes is author, intellectual and speaker, Malcolm Gladwell, author of books including Outliers and David and Goliath. Anwar has his hands in many, many activities. In addition to writing, Anwar actively mentors youth, works to spread awareness of STEM careers, serves on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the David M. Brown Arlington Planetarium, serves as Treasurer for the JCSU Washington, DC Alumni Chapter, and is active in the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Ministry at the Alfred Street Baptist Church. He also tutors in the subjects of biology, chemistry and physics. Along with his multi-talented older brother Amahl Dunbar (designer of the Big Words logos, inventor and a plethora of other things), Anwar is a “Fanboy” and really enjoys Science-Fiction and Superhero movies including but not restricted to Captain America Civil War, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Prometheus. He is a proud native of Buffalo, NY.

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