Hi, there! Joe White here from Grow Property Management, your trusted property management company in Philadelphia.
I want to quickly talk about making a property "tenant-ready." So, let me show you this one real quick. We’re standing here in what you could call a C-class neighbourhood - nothing too fancy, but you can see there's some new construction popping up, and a local distillery nearby. It's a mixed area with modest homes, and honestly, being on the street doesn't really give you the best feel of the neighborhood’s true condition. But that’s not really the point. Let me take you inside.
We’re up on the roof deck now, and as you can see, the property is in decent shape. The owners left the place fairly clean; they took good care of it, and it was clearly built well when it was first constructed. However, when you look closely, there are a few marks here and there that need attention. It’s not perfect, and my point is, we need this property to be tenant-ready—not just clean, but in the best possible condition for a new tenant to move in.
Now, the property is vacant, and the owners, who are new to the property management game, actually contacted us before, asking if we could take care of getting it tenant-ready. They knew the property needed some work, and of course, we can handle that. But what we want to make clear is that just because the property is relatively clean doesn’t mean it’s in perfect condition.
When I walk you through this, it might look alright on video, but trust me, there are areas—like this one here—that aren't quite up to the standard a tenant should expect. Tenants expect a property to be pristine when they move in. And while this property is marketable as-is, and we could definitely find tenants to take it as it stands, we wouldn’t be getting top dollar for it. A higher-quality tenant, who’s willing to pay a bit more in rent, would expect everything to be in excellent condition. And let's be honest, it's just smart financially to invest the time and money now to make the property truly ready.
If we give the property to a tenant with marks on the walls and some areas that aren’t perfectly clean, we’re setting a poor tone. They're not going to respect the property as much as if we hand it over in perfect condition. The tenants we place typically stay around three years, and for that small, one-time cost of getting the property in top shape, we set the standard. When they move out, we expect it to be in tenant-ready condition again, and if it's not, we charge them for the cleaning.
The condition we hand the property over in really matters, because it sets the tone for how the tenant will treat the property. If it's clean and well-maintained when they move in, they’re more likely to keep it that way. It's also about the quality of tenant we attract. A clean, well-maintained property gets better tenants, and those tenants are more likely to take better care of the property over time. In fact, they’re also more likely to stay longer.
Now, I’m not saying we can charge tenants for every little scuff on the walls - normal wear and tear is expected, especially over a three-year period. But the walls should be well-painted and the place should be spotless when they move in, because when the time comes for them to move out, we want it to be just as clean, and we can charge them for any necessary cleaning.
At the end of the day, the goal is simple: If you want high-quality tenants, give them a high-quality property. The investment in making it tenant-ready is well worth it, especially when it comes to maintaining the property over the long term. So that’s it for today! As a property management company owner in Philadelphia, I’m just here doing my best to help answer your real estate investing questions.
And as always, happy real estate investing!
