As a landlord, it is up to you to take care of your property and make it as pleasant as possible for current and potential tenants. You need to pay attention to every detail to attract and keep tenants. And what constitutes as proper property maintenance and what is it exactly that you have to do? Well, to sum it up in two points: 1) treat your tenant’s home as you would treat your own and give him or her anything that is available to yourself, and 2) not much, actually. Continue reading and you will get the perfect guide to being the best landlord whose tenants’ moving vans will start piling up before you know it.

• Pre-tenancy cleaning
  Of course, your tenants will want a clean sheet. Always present them with clean flats or houses, just as you would want your own new home to look like. How good you did with the pre-tenancy cleaning will reflect on how well you will do if your tenants need you at a later date, so impress them as soon as possible and gain their respect.
• Constant maintenance
  Always make sure that everything in a property for rent is working properly. Check every light switch, make sure every single appliance is well-maintained and in working order. No tenant will bother with a relocation to a place where nothing works, and if you did a sloppy job on repairing something, you will not be considered a reliable landlord. So unless your rent rates are low enough, don’t >expect too many removal vans to come dropping off tenants. Repair, renovate, remodel, do everything you can to provide an excellent and functional abode.
• List of services
  You want to have a list of reliable services you can immediately call on if your tenant needs something. An electrician, a plumber, an internet provider, TV repairman – whatever you would want in your own home. This way you will be ready with an answer for any issue that your tenant might bring up in the future.
• Inspect your property
  And even if everything is fine, you should still make time to do inspections. Arrange inspection dates with your tenants to both see if something is wearing down and if the tenants are taking care of your property just as you are taking care of them. Trust is a nice word, but it first has to be earned, so in the first few months at least you should do your own check-ups.
• Property manager
  Of course, you could decide that you don’t want to deal with your tenants and leave the handling of their problems to somebody else. That means that you want to hire a reliable property manager who will be just as hands-on as your tenant deserves. That means having a budget for the manager’s salary and eventual services, of course. This might come at a steeper price, but you get more time to yourself and to deal with your own life.

With these guidelines, you will be a preferable landlord over anybody who is used to neglecting their tenants. The moving companies will be busy taking customers to your property, so as soon as you prove yourself as a reliable landlord, you will see their moving vans appearing on the horizon, carrying your new tenants.