As a Fire Island real estate broker, I hear some of the comments prospective tenants make about your houses. It is my job to bring you responsible tenants who will pay top dollar for your rental property. You can make my job easier and your Fire Island prospects substantially better, if you improve your Fire Island house in ways that are not terribly expensive.

You want to make you house more attractive than the other houses in my inventory. Clearly if you have ocean or bay views, you already have an advantage. If you happen not to be one of the most fortunate Fire Island property owners to have those views, then every other house without water views is your competition for the best tenants.

If you are willing to make improvements in your property it is critically important that they are completed well in advance of the season. Over the years I have learned that it is best to have all of the work done on you property here on Fire Island NO LATER THAN April 15 th every year. As you hurtle towards tax day each year, try also to plan for the completion of the projects at you Fire Island house and garden.

There is nothing worse than showing your house to prospective tenants when the house is under construction. Get it done early and open the house early.

What follows are some of the things you should do to create a rental property that will be attractive to the tenants who you want to attract. If you want the most amount of money and the fewest number of people to occupy your house, these are the things I recommend you do to make your house more attractive to tenants.

1. Clean up the property. With fears about West Nile Virus and the seeming proliferation of mosquitoes and ticks, families are fearful for the safety of their children. An unkempt yard fuels those fears. An unkempt yard also sends a message that the house is not well maintained and it sends that message before I can even get them in the door. At a minimum have the foliage in the yard cut back "hard" in the Fall. In the Spring you will only have to do maintenance.
   
2. Clean out the clutter in your house. This includes all those charming shells that you collected and were painted by your nieces, nephews and neighbors. They are charming only to you.

Everyone loves their stuff. No one loves their stuff more than I do. However, if you want a good rental income, get rid of it, pack it away, send it home to your other house. Tenants do not want it and it makes your house show poorly.

3. Buy new mattresses and pillows and tell your rental agent about it. No one wants to spend their vacation sleeping on soggy, old mattresses and pillows. A smart prospect will know about mattresses and will ask. If you have new ones, it makes it far easier for me to demonstrate that your property is the right one.
   
4. You need a TV with satellite service and at least a VCR or DVD. It is quaint and we can all agree that people should have their children outside to play and engaged in Fire Island activities. However, I have not had a family looking for a house where the TV, satellite, DVD and VCR are not as important as the number of beds. In fact, the realistic parent would probably tell you that they are more important than the number of beds. If you do not have these items, get them today.
   
5. Wall to wall carpeting is the equivalent of the kiss of death for a rental house. Anything is better than wall to wall carpeting. When the humidity hits in the summer months, the smell is awful. Inexpensive vinyl tile flooring is an affordable alternative to carpeting. Talk to your Fire Island contractor or contact me to recommend a main land flooring company who can do the work for you.
   
6. Bad lamps are an eyesore and the single most important accessory in a house. Good looking, functional lamps and lighting are available through many catalogs. Simple lamps are best. The most expensive lighting will deteriorate. The harps and hardware on them will rust in no time. If you do not want to replace your lamps, plan on new lamp shades. Simply take the ones you have when you leave the beach so you have the correct size. Or measure the depth and the diameter of the top and bottom of the shade and use those measurements when you are buying replacements. Target has terrific, good looking, inexpensive lamp shades.
   
7. Your deck space is very important to prospective tenants. You want to treat you deck like another room in your house because that is how the tenants perceive it. If you have the land to expand your deck, seriously consider that as an improvement. Do not, however, think about adding a deck unless you get a building permit. People come to Fire Island to be outside. They want to relax in the shade and the sun. If your house affords both shade and sun on the deck, it makes your property an attractive one.
   
8. Get a new grill. In addition to the deck, tenants always want to know about grilling. Grilling and outdoor living go hand and hand in the summer. If you need to buy a new one, be sure to have the grill assembled before you have it sent over to the beach.
   
9. You need to provide at least two decent bicycles to your tenants. I know that many homeowners balk at this recommendation. However, if you want the best rents and you want to maximize the appeal of your property, decent, working bicycles are a necessity.
   
10. Get your property listed as early as you can. Be clear on the time frame you want to rent and provide your broker with complete information about your house so they can market and promote it for you.

Should you have comments or questions about improving the "rentability" of your property, give us a call and we would be happy to make an appointment to do an assessment for you.

Reprinted The Fire Island News, Volume 48, No. 10, August 27 - September 9, 2004.