How to Stage Your Home When Trying to Rent it Out

Have you ever considered home staging in order to get your home rented faster? Many choose to use staging as a way to get their home sold faster, but very few ever consider using staging in order to get their home rented out. You can arrange the home and organize it, in a way that would give prospective tenants more of an idea of how the home is going to look. Since the market has been pretty bad for those trying to sell their homes, many desperately need to get their home rented out to recoup some of their income. The ideas and suggestions listed below may prove to be helpful when it comes to staging your home to rent it out.

The first suggestion is to add a bit of color to the rental. Of course you don't want to go too bright, but nice neutral colors would be best. Most rental homes just have white walls. By adding just a little bit of color to the walls, you will make the rental home seem more appealing. The most popular colors are a tan, or even a light brown for the walls. Visit your local paint store and take a look at the different color options that they have available. You may be surprised at how many options you really have.

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Landlord Wrongfully Retained Your Security Deposit? Fight Back!

Do you think your landlord has unjustly retained some or all of your security deposit after you moved out of the rental? Before you write it off as a loss, consider composing a letter, or two if necessary, to your landlord disputing the retention of your security deposit.

The Clean Move-Out

A few years ago, I was moving out of a nice apartment building in the upscale Belltown neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, and into a more spacious and less expensive apartment in the cozy Nordic neighborhood of Ballard. Before returning the keys to my former apartment manager, I scrubbed, cleaned, and vacuumed so that the small studio apartment I had occupied would be at least as clean as when I had first stepped foot inside ten months before.

Despite my focused cleaning efforts, the apartment management decided to retain $50 for "carpet cleaning." I thought this was unfair. The only difference between the condition of the carpet from the time of move-in to move-out was ordinary wear and tear, and very little at that. I am a tidy person by nature.

Is it Worth Your Time?

Perhaps the amount in question, in my case $50, does not seem worth the trouble to fight for. Often it is not just the amount of money but the principal of unfairness that drives people to seek justice. Perhaps your efforts will result in a changed policy so that future renters will not have to incur the same injustice.

The following two letters detail what happened in my case. They also provide a template for how to go about writing letters if you find yourself in a similar situation.

The First Letter

[Name and address of landlord/management company]

Re: Security Deposit

Dear Mr. ________:

I am writing to you regarding my security deposit.

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Sun Oxygen Cleaner Vs. OxiClean

Since the original release of the fabulous all purpose stain remover, OxiClean, several knock-offs and competitors have surfaced. While these knock-offs may cost much less, the important question is: do other less expensive products work as well as OxiClean to fight laundry, carpet, pet, furniture, and other various stains?

The most recent OxiClean competitor that I have purchased is Sun Oxygen Cleaner All Purpose Stain Remover. This chlorine free product advertises many of the same stain-fighting benefits as that of OxiClean, including pet, coffee, food, wine, and ink stains. But just how well does this product actually work?

I have been a firm believer in both the powder and spray forms of OxiClean for years now. The product works just as well as advertised, and proves effective when cleaning many other off-label stains and surfaces. What I do not enjoy about OxiClean is its ever-increasing prices.

Having used OxiClean for several years, I feel that I have attained enough experience with the product to fairly compare its effectiveness with that Sun Oxygen Cleaner All Purpose Stain Remover.

Obviously, the first test for the Sun product was the removal of laundry stains. My husband works at a hardware store and frequently comes home with dirty and smelly clothes due to handling various rental equipment and paint products. His greasy and dirty jeans made for the perfect test. Removing the clean jeans from the dryer, I immediately noted that Sun Oxygen Cleaner thoroughly removed every bit of dirt and greasy grime from the denim.

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Five Essential Landlord Tools

Owning rental property is an excellent way to build wealth. Not only do you get wonderful tax benefits, you also get decent cash flow providing you manage your activities correctly. Whether you are a seasoned landlord or a newbie, chances are you lack one of my five essential maintenance assets. Whether you decide to invest in one or all five, you will save money and experience great payback.

A Pickup Truck

If you own rental property, you really need a pickup truck. I am not giving you permission to go out and buy a $50,000 Ford Super-Duty. A small used two wheel drive pickup truck will do just fine. All you need is something you don't mind getting a little dirty and that can haul landscaping equipment and appliances. If you don't own your own truck, you will have to rely on contractors and friends.

Landscaping Equipment

Landscaping equipment includes a lawnmower, weed eater, blower, hedge trimmers, and basic hand tools. If your rental property has a small lawn, I would just stick to a self-propelled push mower. You can get a decent push mower at Sears for under $400. If you do your own lawn maintenance, you can save quite a bit of money. I enjoy mowing the lawn and doing light landscaping at my rental property - it's great exercise and a great way to make your presence known to your tenants. Nothing looks better than a well landscaped rental unit.

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How to Clean Your Carpets and Save Money

While it may be unquestionably convenient to call a carpet cleaning service, the average home carpet can be cleaned by the owners themselves. Intimidated? There is no reason to feel that way.

By following only ten easy tips, carpet cleaning and maintenance is a snap:

If you've ever wondered how to clean carpets, start with good daily habits. The first part of keeping carpet cleaning is routine maintenance. Before you consider machine rental or purchase, consider the way you treat your carpets daily. To keep them in the best possible condition, make sure that shoes are removed before stepping on the carpet.

Make sure excess dirt is not dragged into the house and you'll save time and money on carpet cleaning. Doormats and interior mats will help pick up most debris. Spot cleaning can also prevent stains from getting out of hand.

Secondly, be cautious about using carpet sprays and deodorizers. Don't go for the quick fix, short term solution and think that substitutes for carpet cleaning. Think of these products as similar to hair spray. Like hair with too much spray,deodorizers may smell clean but masking odor doesn't get rid of germs or allergens.

The third step? Don't get the job only halfway done by using liquid shampoos to clean carpets without a reliable machine. Again, think of the carpet and hair cleaning analogy. Would you use a shampoo, lather up your hair and then fail to rinse with water? Similarly, liquid carpet cleaners can be difficult to remove and leave behind soap residue that turns out to be a problem. Instead, consider renting or buying a professional quality home carpet cleaning machine. Many are very reasonably priced and pay for themselves in short order (compared to paying for a carpet cleaning service).

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Homemade Cat Urine and Stain Remover

Make your own homemade cat urine odor and stain remover. You will receive better results than any product available on the market. Your home will finally be free of cat urine smell and stains. You will need a large box of baking soda and a large bottle of household 3% hydrogen peroxide. You should be able to find both for less than a dollar each. Cat urine and stain remover is essential for any home with indoor cats.

Removing Cat Urine Odor and Stains From Carpet

Use a towel to soak up any remaining cat urine before you get started by placing the towel over the cat urine and standing on it. The weight of your body will help the towel to soak up cat urine that is deep down in the carpet.

Next, pour generous amounts of baking soda onto the stain. Using a scrub brush, scrub the baking soda deep down into the carpet. No other urine and stain remover will remove the smell as effectively.

**Note** If you have not used hydrogen peroxide on your carpet successfully before, try testing the color fast ability of your carpet by pouring a small amount of hydrogen peroxide on a piece of carpet that is hidden in a closet or another spot that cannot be seen. If the hydrogen peroxide changes the color of your carpet, do not use it, only use the baking soda.

Next, pour 3% hydrogen peroxide onto the stain, completely covering it. The hydrogen peroxide should work quickly to remove the stain. You can scrub more if you think it is necessary or you can begin soaking up the mixture with a dry clean towel. This is the best cat and urine stain remover I have ever used.

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Caring for your Carpet

Professional Carpet Cleaning

Have your carpet professionally cleaned periodically, every third or fourth time. Or you may find it more convenient to have it done professionally each time special cleaning is needed, rather than doing it yourself. Professional cleaners use similar methods to home cleaning, but they should have the knowledge, equipment, and experience necessary to do a more thorough job of removing embedded soil. Room size rugs and some wall-to-wall carpets can be sent to the rug cleaning plant. Professional cleaners can also handle spot removal, re-dyeing, rebinding, and repairs. Always alert the cleaner to the location and cause, if known, of spots and stains that require attention. When selecting a cleaning service, the main factor to consider is the operator`s skill and ability. Ask reputable carpet dealers in your area whom they recommend. Satisfied customers may also suggest a cleaner to contact. They cannot provide guarantees, however, because of the range of quality and wear they face in the carpets and rugs they clean. Professional cleaners offering truck-mounted hot water extraction, will have more power to remove soil and water than in a smaller, self-contained unit - like the ones you rent.

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the Perfect Cleaner for Just About Anything

My boyfriend's Mom first introduced me to "Awesome" when we moved back to Michigan after having lived in Texas for a time. In all honesty, our rental house was filthy and needed a lot of deep cleaning and TLC. She purchased "Awesome" at a local dollar store and was impressed with the wide variety of surfaces and messes it could tackle. Normally, I don't put much stock in cleaning recommendations, but I decided to give it a try. I was more than pleasantly surprised!

Since purchasing "Awesome" in 2005, I've used it to clean stains in the carpet, marks on walls and furniture, grease on the stove, as well as blinds. I've also used it as a laundry stain remover and a sanitizer/cleaner for my cat's litter-box (it sanitizes as well as deodorizes). Quite honestly, the only task that it didn't do extremely well was work as a laundry stain remover. If you have a fresh laundry stain, it works well, but if it is deep-seated, you need something stronger.

At $1 a bottle and widely available at discount stores, it is a bargain! You couldn't ask for a better cleaner for the price. In addition, it comes in three different ways: as a simple capped bottle, as a trigger sprayer bottle, or in a pump sprayer bottle. If you originally purchase five trigger sprayer bottles, you can simply buy the capped bottles once you need more. In that way, you reduce the number of sprayers that end up in the landfill. I use "Awesome" in the concentrated form most of the time, but you can also dilute it; it is just as effective. As a result, once you buy the refills, you can pour half into the sprayer bottles and add water. In that way, you conserve even more.

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