OWNER’S HANDBOOK

FINAL CLEANING, MAINTENANCE, SNOW AND LAWN

What is expected for move-in ready cleaning, maintenance, snow removal, and lawn care?
A clean property is vital for setting a great first impression. One would think that dirt is dirt. But it’s not. In each of our minds, other people’s dirt is dirtier than our own dirt. Often we can’t even see our own dirt. We get used to it and overlook it. For this reason it is often best to have a professional cleaner do the final clean on your rental property. Also have the carpets professionally cleaned. We require that the resident professional clean the carpets when they move and it is common courtesy to do it before they move in. Even if you think the carpets are not dirty, there is still human hair and dead skin cells in the carpet that will gross out a resident if they know the carpets were not cleaned before they moved in. A clean property also smells great.

Make sure that all appliances, faucets, toilets, doors, windows, screens, blinds…everything is in good working condition. If it is not, fix it. If you don’t fix it before the resident moves in, you will get a call within the first week from the resident asking for the items to be fixed. You will still have to fix the items, but now you have missed an opportunity to set a great first impression.

A day before the start of the lease, make sure the snow is shoveled one final time, ice melt put down, or the lawn mowed and trimmed. Make sure all the weeds are pulled. Again, it cannot be overstated that these small things can make a huge impact on customer satisfaction.

We understand property management and property investments. With over thirty years’ experience in property management and more than 300 offices in the United States and Canada, we have become the largest property management franchise in North America.