Even before you have access to your property, much can be achieved by planning ahead and making advance preparations. Once you do gain entry to your property there are many tasks to be done:

• checking your property’s safety
• decorating
• supplying furnishings
• organising the garden, the garage and the outbuildings.

Planning Ahead

Effective planning can save money, effort and time. As well as making lists of work to be done, items to acquire and people to contact, you will have to estimate timescales.

This can be difficult but is necessary in setting the date of the start of your tenancy. This is the date towards which all your planning must aim.

Setting the start date of your tenancy

Factors which will influence the start date of your tenancy are:

• when your property becomes free of the previous occupant
• the amount of preparation required to ready your property for tenancy
• your own availability
• the availability of your market (e.g. for students avoid exam time)
• seasonal events (e.g. Christmas).

Allowing for preparation time

Lost time = lost income
A property lying empty of tenants is a property not generating rental income.

Poor preparation = reduced profit
A property not prepared properly may be a property that will be difficult to let or will require increased levels of maintenance in the future.

Good, efficient preparation = minimum loss to downtime/future maintenance
Well planned, carefully executed preparations will achieve all the work necessary to maximise letting potential and minimise future maintenance, in the shortest possible time.

Making advance preparations

There are many ways of making progress even before the property is available to you:

Know what work needs to be done: 
• Know what items need to be acquired.

• Organise your personal life to make time for preparing your property.

• Arrange for tradesmen to be available if necessary.

• Consider your obligations towards safety.

• Shop around to take advantage of any bargains or special offers.

• Monitor secondhand sources of furniture.

• Gather together the smaller items you need - and the larger items, too, if you have storage.

• Have ready any cleaning or decorating materials you may need.

With these advance preparations made, you are now in a position to be able to make the most efficient use of your property and to minimise its downtime.