One of the things that rental property owners and small landlords always think is that the tenant automatically KNOWS what to do when they are moving from their rental property. This is not the case. Property managers know that you can NOT reinforce the process too often.
About 2 months before the lease ends, confirm the move-out date AND time....a DAY is 24 hours so the EXACT time that they keys need to be returned is important. My leases end at NOON on the last day of the lease.
About 3 weeks before the lease ends, send out a confirming move-out letter with ANOTHER copy of your move-out cleaning instructions AND a list of approved house and carpet cleaners and yard services. Instructing residents what to do with their trash helps keep the neighbors from calling you that their toter can is on the street or overflowing.
5 days before their scheduled move out date, I transfer the property utilities into my company name so there is no interruption of service. I keep AC on in the summer and there is water in case cleaning or painting needs to be done.
My leases end on the 3rd Friday of the month so if the tenants clean as they should, have their trash removed on schedule and return their keys to my office by noon on the day their lease expires, I have a week or so to prep the property for the next residents......replace carpet, repaint walls, power wash the exterior.
Once the house is fully prepared for the next residents, I RETAKE my marketing photos to show the bright new paint, new carpet and shiny new exterior.
The day before the new residents are scheduled to move in, I install new toilet paper in the bathrooms, put a NEW front door mat at the front door and place the property keys under the mat for the next residents’ arrival!!!
Wallace S. Gibson, CPM * GIBSON MANAGEMENT GROUP, Ltd.
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Wallace....
Your post has meaning and experience all over it. Just another good reason to hire a professional if you want things to flow along....Thank you
I agree with Richie. You clearly have proven experience with all this. Thank you for sharing it with us!