Renting out your home is a great source to generate some extra income. However, if not handled professionally, you may have to face extensive vacancy cycles and loss of rents. Thus, it is important that you understand a few basic points that will help you prepare your rental home for potential tenants.

• Inspect Carefully: You must thoroughly inspect each part of the house to look for any repair work that may be required. Make sure there are no signs of leaky pipes or fixtures, clogged drains, roof leaks, burnt out electrical equipment, driveway cracks, mold or broken furniture.
• Ensure Safety: Tenants desire to live in a house that is safe, secure and installed with proper safety measures. You can install smoke alarms and firefighting equipment at each floor of the property and especially in the kitchen. You should check and replace all the doorknobs, locks and security codes to avoid any problems.
• Clean Up: Messy and unorganized homes are big turn offs for most potential tenants. If you have arranged a visit to your property, ensure that it is clean and appealing. All the rugs, windows, doors, blinds and carpets should be rinsed to remove any stains. You can also consider repainting the walls to give a fresh look to your home.
• Check Furnishings: If your rental home also includes electronic appliances, make sure they are in proper working order. However you must keep in mind that leasing a semi-furnished apartment may increase your monthly rent but you may have to bear the frequent repair costs of the appliances.
• Determine Rental Value: Once you have completed the above tasks, determine the appropriate rental value of your home. This may be evaluated according to the current real estate trends as well the rent quoted for other similar properties in your area.
• Screen The Applicants: This is the most important aspect of the entire renting process, as the tenant you select will be living in your home. A potential tenant with a criminal background, poor credit history or past of vandalizing properties should be avoided. You can consider hiring a professional property management company that has all the necessary tools to screen potential tenants and avoid any hassles in future.

We, at REAL Star Property Management, LLC, can help you effectively rent your property to reliable and long-term tenants. For more information on how to prepare your home for rent in Killeen, you can call at (254) 935 – 2392.