In this post-pandemic market, it’s more important than ever to uphold the highest level of sanitation and cleanliness in rental properties. With the COVID effects on real estate, tenants want to know landlords have taken every safety precaution so they can enjoy the property worry-free. Whether a property is a multi-family or single-family dwelling, there are ways that landlords and rental investors can ensure that sanitation measures are always in place.

One of the easiest ways for landlords and property investors to tackle the challenge of sanitation is to automate the process. There are several ways to automate the process, but the most efficient and simple way is to hire a property management company to do it for you. A property management company will schedule and manage the regular sanitation of your property without you ever having to think about it. If you’re interested in managing the sanitation measures yourself, here are some ways you can automate them in your property:

1. Multi-Family Property
2. Turning Over Property to New Tenants
3. Showing Property to Tenants

• Multi-Family Property

Multi-Family properties can be the most labor-intensive type of properties to sanitize since there are a higher number of common areas that multiple tenants will be using. It’s important to regularly clean and disinfects these common areas to prevent the spread of COVID and other viruses or bacteria.

If you own a multi-family property, chances are you have someone on staff responsible for maintenance of the property or you hire out to a cleaning company. In either case, a great way to automate the sanitation of your property and ensure that all precautions are being taken is to create a cleaning checklist. The checklist should include some of the following points:

• The types of cleaners that should be used
• The areas and surfaces that should be disinfected
• What frequency should things be wiped down

Compliance with the cleaning checklist is crucial to ensure the safety of your tenants, but tracking tasks completed by staff or a cleaning company can be difficult. Consider using project management or property management app that allows you to audit the completion of the cleaning checklist. Additionally, placing signs around the property with safety guidelines and social distancing reminders is an effective way to help with compliance from residents.

Another way to help automate the process is to offer your tenants the ability to sanitize common areas before and after use. Leaving hand sanitizer and alcohol wipes next to high trafficked doors and facilities like laundry rooms and trash chutes will encourage tenants to sanitize before and after use, reducing the chances of them contaminating surfaces with viruses and bacteria.

• Turning Over Property to New Tenants
  

Tenants expect a clean and sanitary property to move into, so it’s important to schedule a deep clean prior to them moving in. Landlords can choose to do the deep cleaning themselves or outsource it to a professional cleaning company. Opting to use a cleaning company would almost fully automate the process and save hours of hard labor. Hiring a cleaning company will get guaranteed results that tenants will appreciate, and the job will be done to a higher standard.

Check out the list of cleaning projects in rental properties to get them ready before new tenants move in:

• Wipe down cabinetry inside and out
• Vacuum and deep clean floors
• Clean appliances on both the inside and out
• Sanitize countertops and all fixtures (doorknobs, handles, locks, etc.)
• Deep clean and disinfect the toilets, shower, bathtub, sinks, and countertops
• Dust and wipe down light fixtures and ceiling fans
• Clean windows and dust and wipe down window treatments
• Remove marks and scuffs on walls, doors, ceilings, and trim
• Fill in holes on walls with spackle before applying touch up paint
• Clean the laundry area including any appliances and sinks

• Showing Property to Tenants
  

When showing rental property to potential tenants, there can be a lot of foot traffic coming through in a short amount of time. It’s imperative to disinfect all touched surfaces in between viewings to minimize the possibility of spreading COVID and other viruses. The good news is there are several ways landlords and rental investors have been able to reduce the amount of contact potential tenants have with the surfaces of their rental properties during viewings. Check out these preventative automated measures being taken during property viewings:

• Requiring potential tenants to wear a face covering for the duration of the showing (it’s a great idea to offer face coverings at the viewing in case visitors may have forgotten to bring one)
• Having viewers take off their shoes or providing shoe coverings that they can wear while viewing the property
• Providing hand sanitizer stations for viewers to disinfect before entering the property
• Having alcohol wipes available to disinfect surfaces and fixtures after touching

By implementing these measures with home viewings, the disinfecting of the property is largely done by the viewers visiting the property, making the process mostly automated. Of course, it’s still important to sanitize surfaces throughout the rental during the viewings to guarantee that they are in fact disinfected. The last step to complete for rental viewings is to have the property fully disinfected and potentially cleaned again (if needed) after a new tenant has been selected to ensure they are moving into a safe environment.

Final Thoughts

The real estate and rental markets have been drastically affected by COVID. During these challenging times, it’s imperative that tenant safety is the number one priority for landlords. Although these measures may be tedious and time-consuming, there are some effective ways to automate them.

If landlords and property investors hire out parts of the sanitation and disinfecting processes, they can save themselves a lot of time and labor that can be better spent on other tasks. They can also focus on empowering tenants to help with safety and sanitation measures that ease the need for around-the-clock management.

If you’re looking for help with managing your rental or investment property, consider hiring a property management company to oversee the property and all the required COVID protocols.

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