Tops Tips to Efficient Rental Make-Ready: Residential Property Management
With decades of experience in the residential property management industry of Austin, Texas, Crosstown Properties boasts a highly efficient tenant turnover process that consistently minimizes vacancy.
Our tried and true method not only applies after the tenants have moved out, but actually starts before tenants move out.
After the tenants moves out:
We are detail oriented:
Walk-Through
Once the tenant has vacated and surrendered the property by bringing us the keys, we do a walk-through of the property. We literally do a physical walk-through of the property and take pictures and notes to document the condition of the yard, landscaping, trees, every room, surfaces, window blinds, and more. The detail of the walk-through helps us decide what needs to be deducted from the tenants security deposit to return the property to the excellent condition it was in prior to their occupancy of the property.
Make-Readies
We establish an order for our vendors to do the makeready for each property based on the order in which they have leased.
Our make-ready turnover process uses a 150 point maintenance checklist including cleaning, painting, yard work, maintenance, and updating if needed. For example, as carpet ages it serves the investment to replace the carpet with vinyl plank flooring.
Maintenance
Once the makeready is complete and the property is on the market, we maintain the condition until the property leases. This includes cutting the grass every two weeks, cleaning as needed, and keeping utilities on and paying utility bills.
We are thorough:
Utilities
For our owners’ benefit, we switch utility accounts to our name while properties are vacant – something our management agreement allows us to do. The utility bills come to us, we examine and make sure they are correct (link to article), and pay them as an expense to the owners ledger. This way the owners are not saddled with the hassle of paying utilities – in fact, this service is an excellent example of why you should hire a property manager.
We are due diligent:
Security Deposits
Once a new lease is signed by the tenant, we require the security deposit (one month’s rent) before we execute the lease on our end.
We also require the first full months rent in exchange for keys. Once a tenant has keys to the property, they have possession. We don’t want to give possession unless we have the full months rent.
Both the security deposit and the first full months rent must be in certified funds. We accept personal checks for the rent after the tenant has possession but we don’t let the upfront money be personal checks. If the tenant has possession and their first months rent check bounces, we are stuck in the position of having to evict them if they don’t make the check good. We utilize an excellent tenant screening process so bounced checks almost never happen, but we want to make sure it never happens at occupancy so we take all the upfront money in certified funds.
Consistently applying these top tips during the makeready process contributes significantly to the efficiency with which we manage our clients’ properties. We are detail-oriented and extremely thorough, operating with a high level of due diligence to ensure your property is expertly maintained and your rental income is maximized by minimizing vacancy.
People often find us by searching “property management Austin,” “rental home management austin, tx,” “property manager near me,” and “property management companies austin, tx.” We’d love to hear how you found us!
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