When moving out of a house (to sell it or rent to other tenants), there’s several things that should be done if you want to make it desirable on the market. Preparing the home you’re leaving for the next tenants is one of the most important tasks. Even if you’re moving out because your lease has ended, you should leave the home as you found it – perfectly clean and undamaged. However, if you want to rent/sell after you move, you’ll probably want to go one step further and make that property look as good as new.
Before you move out and leave your home for someone else, you need to roll up your sleeves and do some serious work. Here are some things you need to do before you move out that will help you to successfully attract new tenants.
Decluttering
Decluttering and tidying up are the first steps towards a clean and desirable home. First, make sure that your garden looks nice – cut the bushes and grass, clean the patio and make sure that your home looks nice from the outside. This doesn’t cost money, but it will raise the value of your home after just a couple of hours of work. Then, declutter the interior of your home. Free all surfaces of excess things that are lying around and take out all bulky appliances that you won’t leave behind.
Painting and Fixing
Before you leave your home, you’ll want to give it a fresh coat of paint. Before you do so, make sure that you patch all tiny holes in the wall after you take your paintings and mirrors down. You can patch holes with a bit of sparkling paste and sand each of them smooth. After patching, you can start painting – repaint all dark walls, having in mind that neutral and light shades will make the interior look bigger. When your walls are as good as new, you can move on to minor repairs and renewing the doors, knobs and window frames.
Thorough Cleaning
When your home is finally decluttered and renewed, you can roll up your sleeves and clean your home from floor to ceiling until it sparkles. Even the loveliest and newest home will look shabby if it’s not properly cleaned. Pay special attention to floors, tiles and bathroom ceramics. Getting rid of the limescale and grout is a must, as well as polishing all wooden surfaces. If the home is too spacious, too dirty or you simply don’t have time to bother with cleaning, you may want to make it easy for yourself and call professional services – especially if you need your carpets cleaned as well.
Decorating
If you won’t be renting an empty apartment, you’ll probably want to attract new tenants with beautiful decorations. Even the small and non-expensive additions will make your home more appealing. Equip your home with nice curtains, rugs and plants and your future tenants will easier imagine themselves living in your apartment. You don’t even need to purchase new things – you can try with DYI decorations, lamps and reupholstering, which will give your old furniture a brand new life.
