Preparing Your Property to Be Rent Ready

If we manage a home with an existing tenant and long-term lease, skip to Banking, Payment Info, and W-9 for Taxes.

The first step to preventing miscommunication is by downloading the Property Standards.

Preparing a property to rent includes many moving pieces, checks and balances, schedules, and much more in a short amount of time.

Coordinating schedules to keep downtime to a minimum is very important.

"The better we turn the home over, the better we can expect it back."

The nationwide industry average for preparing a home takes 10-14 business days. Some management companies take as long as three weeks or won't even advertise your home until it's "rent ready". Nestwell typically needs 5 Business Days! That's a savings of $450 in lost rent! (Average rent is $1500/30 Days = $50/Day)

The rent-ready process has been continually improved for over 30 years. We have good contractors that offer reasonable pricing and do good work lined up to complete the tasks in a set timeline.

One of the reasons we prefer homeowners are not involved in the "make ready" process is they can cause delays, overpay "their" contractors, have unclear expectations or scope of work required, hire people who are not licensed and insured, and frankly, the homeowners are busy with their full-time jobs, etc. So it's essential to leave the rent-ready process to the pros by letting Nestwell handle the property turn from start to finish to reduce the days the home doesn't show well, days on the market, minimize vacancy, and maximize rents.

Rent Ready Process

Day 1 (Usually on a Monday)

Complete Full Evaluation Of Property - We video the entire property to establish the condition of the property. This helps with settling future security deposit disputes or questioning of work required.
Create Punch List - The third-party evaluator will determine the necessary repairs and cleaning at the property.
Rekey Property - To protect the property and new tenants moving in, we require all door locks to be rekeyed between occupants. Sometimes occupants make extra copies of keys, fail to return them, etc. So for the safety of the new tenants (and almost state law as of 2019), we require the locks to be changed at the homeowners' expense.
Install Lockbox - If the home was previously vacant, there's already a lockbox installed. This is how our team accesses the property.

Day 2

Mechanical Turn - Complete or submit bids to ensure the property meets our Property Standards.

Day 3

Paint Touch-up - Painters have to match paint if there is no existing paint on-site, which is an art form. Patch, prime, and paint holes. If they're excessive, the painter will go corner-to-corner in order to make the house look nice and avoid the bullseye look.

Day 4

Full Clean or Hourly Clean - Depending on the evaluator's findings Nestwell will have the property professionally cleaned. (The cost for a full-clean averages ~0.20/SF.) If other cleaners have been in the home and maybe just missed a few things, our cleaners will take corrective action to finish the job.

Day 5

Carpet Cleaning - This is one of the last things done because we want the carpet to look nice for the new tenants and video of the property. Carpets need time to dry. If a home has pets, there's a required pet treatment assessed to all carpeted areas for an additional fee.
Pre-Move In Video - Establish the condition of the home right before the tenant takes occupancy. Pure gold.

Day 6 (Friday/Saturday)

New Tenant Moves In - We want this time to be a celebration for the tenants, so "we welcome them home" by meeting them at the home, preparing the house for them, giving them a gift bag, and celebrating.
Home Education - We educate the new resident on their responsibilities for maintaining and caring for the home.
Establish Condition - We give them electronically and paper copies of the Property Condition Form so that they get to document anything we've missed and bring it to our attention.
Sign For Keys & Other Paperwork - We give them keys and sign additional acknowledgments that cover the rules of the game and set them up for success.
Collect Final Funds - In rare cases, we will collect final certified funds.

Things to Note:

Not Our Circus, Not Our Monkey - If the property owner or former tenant insists on hiring their own third-party contractor, buddy, or does the work themselves, we will not chase down the contractor to make them return. We have spent years handpicking the best contractors, at the best rate, who understand that time is of the essence, and our system to reduce the time between tenants. We ensure that vendors we hire are held to a high standard of professionalism and scope of work. Our vendors will return until we are satisfied, free of charge. If it's our monkey, it's our circus.

Reasons For Delays - We do our best to keep to our timelines because frequently, we have a new tenant lined up who wants to move in as soon as the home is ready.

Major Repairs & Remodels
Major Painting & Complete Paint Out
Major Cleaning
New Flooring
Infestation or Pest Issues
Request For Multiple Bids
Holdover Occupants (This can be the homeowner moving out or the tenant who refuses to vacate)
Personal property left at the premises.

For any questions regarding the speed and way we prepare a property for rent, please contact us at Maintenance@nestwell.com or call 801-930-1309.

Go to PHASE 4 of 5: Banking, Payment Info, and W-9 for Taxes