If you’ve just happened to buy your first property (or investment property), then chances are you’re now considering how to prepare that new asset for the rental market. But contrary to popular belief, there is more involved in the process of becoming a landlord than just partnering with a property management agency.
In Australia, all landlords must ensure that their rental properties meet minimal standards for rentals as outlined by their relevant state body. Although the government agencies that provide and enforce these minimum requirements differ from state to state, their expectations for rental properties in Australia are all relatively similar.
To break it down for new landlords today, we’ll be sharing some of our top tried and tested tips for preparing your property to make a great first impression in its debut rental listing, and to enjoy long and satisfied tenancies.
Read on to learn all you need to know about preparing your investment property for the rental market as a first-time landlord.
Conduct plumbing and electrical inspections
First on the list of things to do is ensuring that all your plumbing and electrical fixtures are in good working order.
This means enlisting the services of blocked drain plumbers to address identified concerns like flooding basins and showers, as well as pipe inspections to reduce any risks of leaks, burst pipes, or backflow that may affect your property’s water supply quality.
Alongside ensuring that your plumbing fixtures and network are in good working order, it’s also essential for landlords to plan an electrical safety inspection that assesses all the outlet points as well as wiring, fixtures, and fittings that make up your property’s electrical network.
Qualified residential electricians should also be able to ensure that your property’s fuse box and switchboard adhere to industry standards.
Not only will these safety inspections help ensure that your property’s plumbing and electrical fixtures are in good working order for your tenants, but they’ll also help safeguard you as the landlord in the event that your property may require repairs or an insurance claim during a tenancy.
A failure to conduct both these plumbing and electrical inspections may result in you being liable to bear the costs of any damages that may occur once the property has been tenanted.
Conduct a pest inspection
Alongside completing plumbing and electrical safety inspections, you should also make sure that your new investment property is free from any vermin or other pests. This is naturally best done prior to listing it on the rental market and scheduling open inspections for prospective tenants.
Pest inspections are thankfully pretty easy, thankfully. All you really need to do is find a pest control specialist that comes highly reviewed and recommended in your local area, and then just enlist their services to complete the inspection.
If you do find pests on your property (or evidence of pests) independently, then it’s definitely worth sharing this information with your pest control specialist prior to your formal pest inspection. That way, a targeted treatment plan can be developed for addressing existing pest issues before identifying any signs of additional pests or pest damage.
For instance, if you’ve found evidence of termite damage around your property’s stumps, then scheduling a subterranean termite nest removal and subsequent termite treatments will be paramount to making sure your home is pest-free.
And once you and your pest control specialist are confident that the termite issue has been addressed, you can continue on with your wider pest inspection.
Schedule a professional cleaning appointment
Once you know your property is totally pest-free and all fixtures and fittings are in good working condition, the next step to help prepare your property for the rental market is to schedule a full clean. And we don’t just mean renting out a carpet steamer and DIY-ing it either – we’re talking about a full, bond-level clean to help ensure that your property is spotless from its condition report.
This is actually a vital step, as your tenants are required to clean the property in alignment with their original condition report, of course minus reasonable wear and tear that may have occurred during their tenancy.
So long as your property is cleaned immaculately prior to your tenants moving in, you should be able to expect an equal standard of cleanliness upon the end of their lease agreement.
Consider renovating kitchen or bathroom spaces
Whenever you inspect a property either as a prospective tenant or even a buyer, there are guaranteed to be two interiors that make or break your interest in that home.
We are of course, talking about the kitchen and bathroom spaces – and perhaps by extension, the laundry facilities as well.
As the most functional rooms in the home, you want to make sure that your rental property boasts a well-designed and well-fitted kitchen and bathroom space. This means updating any old or outdated fixtures or appliances, and perhaps even renovating these spaces to boost their usability even further.
Some really quick wins in this step include retiling bathrooms and kitchens, and regrouting bathrooms or shower spaces. You’d be surprised by just how much of an impact some new tiling can have in these functional and ‘wet’ spaces in the home.
Clear up the property’s garden
Tenants are expected to perform basic maintenance tasks around your property during their tenancy.
This can include mowing lawns and nature strips (for standalone rental properties), cleaning ovens and range hoods, and keeping windows, shower screens, and mirrors clean between routine property inspections.
One task that most tenants aren’t expected to take on, however, is garden maintenance.
Overgrown trees and shrubs can become a disturbance to neighbours, which may result in your body corporate receiving complaints regarding your property.
If you’re able to trim or even remove any overgrown trees and shrubs prior to your tenants moving in, you’ll be able to reduce the risks of finding an email from your body corporate or even from your fellow lot owners once your property has been tenanted.
Cleaning up your property’s garden prior to listing your property on the market will likely also attract more interested lease applicants.
A low maintenance rental property is in high-demand year-round, so make sure that your rental property looks easy to maintain from the get-go.
Swap out curtains for sturdy blinds
This next one is just a pro tip from a long-time renter: the best window coverings from rental properties are blockout blinds without any content.
Unlike flimsy venetian curtains or overly delicate curtains, blockout blinds provide exceptional light control and privacy alongside advanced durability. This makes them the perfect choice for tenants of all ages.
Of course, tenants still have the option of swapping out your provided window coverings for their own. But rest assured, if your rental is fitted with high-quality blockout blinds on every window, it will undoubtedly boost the comfortability of your property’s interiors in a major way.
It’s all about ensuring that your property possesses practical interior design elements. So if your investment sadly doesn’t have a built-in wardrobe in every room, balance it out by at least making sure that your provided window coverings are easy to use and actually provide superb light control capabilities.
Secure landlord insurance
Our last and arguably most practical tip for first-time landlords is to secure a comprehensive landlord insurance policy. Unlike home insurance for owner occupiers, landlord insurance is specially designed to provide building cover for rental properties that are leased out to third party tenants.
Renters insurance will ensure that your tenants’ belongings are covered in the event of damage or a burglary or break-in attempt made at your property, but landlord insurance will help provide cover if your property and its permanent fixtures (i.e. doors, windows, pipes, light fittings, etc.) is damaged during an insured event.
Just as the onus falls on tenants to secure their own renters insurance, landlords are expected to take out their own landlord insurance policy. So be sure to shop around and compare the policies available to you so you can find the right product for your property.
Preparing a property for the rental market naturally takes a little due diligence. But for most responsible property investors, the bulk of this due diligence would be considered when purchasing your rental property.
If your property is a bit of a fixer-upper, then chances are that following all the items we’ve outlined in this guide will help get your rental to the minimum standards it needs to reach.
But if your newly purchased property is an off the plan unit or townhouse that’s already pristinely presented, then chances are that preparing your rental for the market will be a lot less of an exhaustive process.
So long as you complete this process responsibly and with consideration towards your prospective tenants, then your property will undoubtedly be very well-received by lease applicants in the years to come!
