How important is a rental property’s physical condition?
The importance is huge! The physical condition of a rental property says A LOT about the owner’s management philosophy; a well-maintained property tends to indicate a conscientious property manager and a financially responsible owner. Poor condition often indicates the owner is not willing or able to keep up the property.
With the market this competitive, a property owner has to keep their rental properties presentable if anything else. If it’s not being shown right now, it will be soon and a potential renter will ask the following questions:
- What kind of tenants did this property attract?
- Why was it allowed to get into a certain condition?
- Who is going to do the cleaning/repairs?
- When will the work be scheduled?
These questions are just a small hint of what a property owner will hear if he or she wasn’t keeping their rental property in shape and these will likely create a conversation that will confront issues that need a satisfactory resolution. How a potential renter is treated during this conversation will be a clue as to the kind of respect and customer service they can expect during their residency – and their expectations should be high.
If the property manager seemed to care about making you happy in your new home by performing the following, then you may have found yourself the perfect fit:
- Was a qualified rental application required? (Let’s hope so!)
- Was the lease fully explained?
- The procedure explanation was discussed for move-in and move-out inspection?
- The procedure explanation was discussed for maintenance, service/repair requests and emergency issues?
So make sure you do your homework when looking for a rental and pay attention to the property owner’s responses because if it’s clear that they don’t have any respect for the property, how can you?
