People don’t give much importance to home staging before renting their property, as they believe it is only needed before selling it. However, rental houses can also be staged to attract potential tenants.
Staging is as if you are ‘setting up the stage’: your property is prepared to look more presentable and appealing.
The importance of staging remains the same whether it is for a house for rent in Islamabad or any other major city.
Graana.com, Pakistan’s smartest property portal, has compiled a list of smart staging hacks to help rent your property faster.
Importance of Staging Your Rental Unit
Staging a rental property is beneficial due to the following reasons:
- You can take better photos of your place, which can help you market it better.
- As most people do not bother staging their rentals, it can help your listing stand out.
- You can charge a higher (and fittingly appropriate) amount of rent that reflects the well-maintained state of your property.
A list of easy staging hacks have been compiled below to help you set up your rental place:
Work on the Selling Points of Your Property
Staging your house mostly revolves around its selling points. Instead of making more elaborate (and expensive) changes, just enhance the focal areas of the property.
For instance, if your rental comes with a well-spaced dining area, your aim should be to bring attention to it. You can use lights or lamps to illuminate the area, or if there is a built-in shelf in the room, you can place some books and other small accents on its shelves.
The key is to do it strategically; you would want the tenants to think about the possibilities, and not focus on the accessories themselves.
Clean the Rental Property Thoroughly
It goes without saying that you should first thoroughly clean the house before showing it to potential renters. It is the bare minimum that you can do to raise the value of your property.
A clean house would give the renters an impression that the property had been taken care of. If it is an old property, cleanliness should be given even more importance.
Make sure that you clean every inch and corner of the house, including the ceiling, floor, kitchen cabinets, sink, etc.
Patch and Repair
Put yourself in the tenants’ shoes, and think about what you would think of a property that has damp walls, leaky faucets, or broken windows.
No tenant would be willing to live in a place that requires a lot of maintenance, as it signals neglect. So, before you put your property on the market for rent, try to repair all the necessary damages that have been caused.
You can also do small touch-ups. For example, you can paint the walls to give it a new and fresh look or change the old light bulbs with new lamps etc. The purpose is to make the tenants feel that the property has been taken care of so that they feel obliged to do the same when they move in.
Remove Odours and Mould
A rental property that has been empty for a long time can develop a musty and damp smell. If your last tenant was a smoker, there is a high chance that your house has accumulated a terrible odour because of the cigarette smoke.
To avoid this issue, you would have to regularly air out the property, and make sure that your space is also exposed to as much sunlight as possible. This is because dark and enclosed places are prone to developing mould, which can lead to a nasty odour.
If your property has already developed mould, take care of that first, and paint the walls afterwards. This would help get rid of the damp smell in the house.
You can also go one step further by lighting some scented candles before showing the property to the potential tenant.
Improve the Exterior
The exterior of the property should be given as much importance, if not more, than its interior. When potential tenants visit a property, the first thing they notice is its exterior, and that decides their first impression of the place.
If your property has a car porch/garage or lawn attached, you can upgrade it. For example, you can mow the lawn, pull out the weeds, and clean the garage tiles to remove any grease marks. You can also paint the outer walls if needed.
Staging a property does not require heavy work. You just need to make sure that the house is liveable. The top priority should be to make it stand out in the rental market so that you attract more potential tenants.
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