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How to Perfect a Move Out
11 Plays1 month ago
🎧 Welcome to Thoughts For Rent — the podcast where real estate gets real (and local)!
Hosted by Jenni McKenna, a Las Vegas born and raised seasoned broker, and Owner of McKenna Property Management, this show is your inside look at what’s really happening in the Vegas property management and real estate world. With over 20 years of experience herself - Jenni brings not just knowledge, but heart to the conversation.
Whether we’re talking market trends, property tips, community happenings, or just the everyday quirks of Vegas living, this podcast is all about keeping you in the know.
💬 Real talk. Local stories. Professional insight – provided from a company who has their boots on the ground and hearts in the community.
In this episode, we’re covering some of our tips and tricks on how to make your move out process the smoothest for you as possible.
McKenna Property Management, proudly managing Las Vegas homes since 2005 (and loving every minute of it).
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Phone: 702-434-HOME (4663)
Owner/Broker: Jenni McKenna B.29819
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Transcript
Introduction and Moving Context
00:00:20
Irelynn Zurflueh
Hi everyone, welcome back to Thoughts for Rent, Realtors Keeping It Real. I am Ireland. And I am Jenny McKenna, owner broker of McKenna Property Management.
00:00:30
Irelynn Zurflueh
And we have a fun topic today. We have a very fun topic because I am moving. I got a new place. And also when we had realtors keeping it real, we're going to keep it real people.
00:00:46
Irelynn Zurflueh
We're going to get the nitty gritty stuff. You're going to get curtains are opening up and you're seeing the wizard because we're going to tell you all the ins and outs about closeouts and Ireland's going to talk about her move out and some of the things to be aware of and some things that property management companies might ding you for.
Overlapping Leases: Strategy and Benefits
00:01:06
Irelynn Zurflueh
So we're going give you some good information today. Yeah, I'm still ah a renter and I found a new rental. So I had the chance to kind of get settled into that one. I did an overlap of 15 days. So I got the new place on the 15th and then I don't have to return my old place until the 1st, which let's go.
00:01:26
Irelynn Zurflueh
Topic number one. Um, Ireland doesn't like me to touch her. So i have to make sure not to touch her leg. I'm a touchy person. So I have to be, I have to stay back here. Not, not touch her. Um, the first topic is that's a smart idea.
00:01:40
Irelynn Zurflueh
When you are getting a lease that is being signed, a lot of property management companies will only keep the property off the market for the two weeks before you move in. But my recommendation is, is always overlap where you're living to where you're going minimum seven days, minimum.
00:01:58
Irelynn Zurflueh
I know that sounds like it's money, it's extra utilities. You know, you want to just save, save, save. But the truth of the matter is you cannot move out of an old rental and into a new rental in a 24, 48 hour timeframe.
00:02:12
Irelynn Zurflueh
There's just too much. And in doing so, you're probably going to end up hurting yourself on the leaving the old rental by not getting everything done that should have been done.
00:02:23
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yeah. I like it because To me, it feels like I just don't have to rush. And every time you move a piece of furniture, i have dog i have a dog. So I'm seeing dust and dirt that I never saw before because it was under my bed or it was under my couch or this, that, whatever. And so if I had to deal with moving everything out and then turn around and have to clean everything all within 24 hours, it's just not possible.
00:02:47
Irelynn Zurflueh
So i like i I enjoyed the two-week overlap and i also made sure I gave proper notice to my um current property manager and my current owner. So my lease states I need to give at least a 30 days notice. That could vary per lease, so make sure you read your contract.
00:03:03
Irelynn Zurflueh
But um I was required to give notice that I wouldn't be staying between the first and the fifth of the month.
Notifying Landlords: Avoid Extra Rent
00:03:09
Irelynn Zurflueh
So I had to make sure I put that in. So that's, I think, a good key to success is we actually have people who will say,
00:03:15
Irelynn Zurflueh
Oh, I like didn't know I had to give notice. I've been out for like four days. And we're like, what? You didn't had to give notice? So because their lease expires and let's just, let's just use a month. So my lease expires July 31st and they get out of their property on July 31st.
00:03:31
Irelynn Zurflueh
but didn't tell us they were planning on leaving and not renewing the lease. And we'd been sending out an email or a text or a phone call and we never got any information back because in their mind, their contract was done July 31st. They honored it and they have moved out.
00:03:47
Irelynn Zurflueh
But don't do that. Don't do that because... There is a requirement. Now, we're just going to speak of kind of property management. Other management companies are different. Ours are 30 days notice. So even if your lease expires on July 31st, there better be a written notice to the management company on or before July 1st saying, I am not renewing the lease and I will be moving out at the end of the term of my lease.
00:04:14
Irelynn Zurflueh
Because if they don't do that, they're going to get really mad at me. Because come August, they're responsible for that month's rent. Yeah. It's like they gave notice on July 31st, so they still owe August's rent.
00:04:27
Irelynn Zurflueh
And that doesn't make anybody happy. Yeah. And a little bit of... So you want to make sure that you give the notice prior to the contract ending. But the other big thing that we see is people don't tell us when they've actually left.
00:04:40
Irelynn Zurflueh
So someone might leave on the 31st as planned, but we don't get that confirmation email until the 3rd or the 4th. So for us, we have no proof that they actually weren't out on the 3rd or the 4th. So that can also get you a little tricky.
00:04:56
Irelynn Zurflueh
because you might be held responsible for that proration of rent. So really make sure that you send that confirmation email or however you're landlord is telling you to confirm that text, phone call, picture, whatever, make sure that you do that.
Ensuring Security Deposit Returns
00:05:10
Irelynn Zurflueh
So then that way it can be documented the exact day that you left the place. And, you know, the law is very specific that we don't get possession of the property being a property management company.
00:05:20
Irelynn Zurflueh
We don't get possession of the property until the resident tells us they're out. So we get these conversations where like, well, i told you we I was going to be out on July 31st. And then we're tracking them down on June 3rd, June 4th, sorry, August 3rd or August 4th.
00:05:36
Irelynn Zurflueh
And they're like, oh yeah, we've been out since July 31st, like we told you. And we're like, we couldn't just walk into the property on August 1st. We needed to know that you gave up possession.
00:05:48
Irelynn Zurflueh
That is under Nevada law. So it's a normal rollover. if you don't tell us that you are out of the property. So always, always dot your I's, cross your T's.
00:05:59
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yes, you have given notice to be out by July 31st. Yes, you're out July 31st, but then there should be either a phone call. i would do a text. I would do something in writing an email or a text that says, i am out of the property. Keys are here or I'm dropping off keys or whatever it is because until the possession is given back,
00:06:22
Irelynn Zurflueh
You as a resident, you owe that daily ah rental prorate. Yeah, I think one of the other keys to success is that when you do send that message saying that you've returned the keys, also make sure you include your forwarding address because that's the only way that your landlord or your property manager can get your security deposit sent over to you.
00:06:43
Irelynn Zurflueh
If they don't have your current address on file, then that's going to be a lot harder for them to track you down to give you your money back. So that's also really important too is even if you don't, maybe you don't know your next address or maybe it's not 100% confirmed, provide them a foreign address that could be a family friend or or a parent or something that,
00:07:04
Irelynn Zurflueh
has is a reliable address. So they can send you mail. And that's funny because I just went to court a couple weeks ago and it was over a security spot ah deposit dispute.
00:07:15
Irelynn Zurflueh
And the past resident said she had to wait 90 days to get her refund. Yeah. And that's what she was really mad about. So she was bringing it ah before the judge and saying that we were, you know, breaking the law because you can only hold the security deposit for 30 days before you disperse any monies left over or make the accounting of it.
00:07:37
Irelynn Zurflueh
And when I went before the judge, of course, She was suing us. So I was the defendant. She was the plaintiff. Plaintiff starts the court hearing and she's saying, oh yeah, they, I didn't get my money until this day. And they deducted this and they deducted that and blah, blah, blah.
00:07:54
Irelynn Zurflueh
And then it was my turn. And I said, your honor, never got a forwarding address. I sent this to the last known address, which was the rental address and it came back.
00:08:05
Irelynn Zurflueh
So we waited for this resident to reach out to us. And as soon as she did, we canceled the first check and we rewrote the second check. We ended up winning that case because the forwarding address is very, very important. You cannot expect the property manager to just know where you're going, put it in writing and do it when you surrender keys.
00:08:26
Irelynn Zurflueh
Absolutely.
DIY vs Professional: Handling Move-Out Tasks
00:08:27
Irelynn Zurflueh
I know a lot of people, um sometimes I feel like when people move out, they suddenly think that they're construction workers or handymen. Oh, no. And yes I think one of the biggest things that people tend to catch themselves hurting themselves more is by trying to do their own DIY paint jobs. Oh, yeah. um Don't do it.
00:08:46
Irelynn Zurflueh
Don't be fooled. Don't be tricked. Don't be fooled by the paint cans that were in your garage upon moving because even if they were the correct color, The walls could have been painted five years ago. So that paint is sitting there.
00:08:59
Irelynn Zurflueh
And if you don't shake it up first and if you don't test the color first, you're – and even finishes. They have matte finishes, semi-gloss finishes, full-gloss finishes. So you don't – some people I think painting is fun and people go to like Color Me Mine or Pinot's Palette and they're like, oh, I can paint a house.
00:09:18
Irelynn Zurflueh
But it is – do You like to call it cheetah print or cheetah paint something? looks like somebody just did a cheetah wall. I mean, there's like these little marks, little specks all over the wall, little cheetah marks.
00:09:31
Irelynn Zurflueh
And it kills me because when we reach out to them and say, oh, my gosh, we have to paint the whole wall now because there's 27 marks all over this wall, they go, well, we used the can of paint that was in the garage. Yeah.
00:09:44
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I said, it gets to be 115 degrees like outside. I can't even imagine what it would be in a garage. No paint is going to be able to withstand that.
00:09:55
Irelynn Zurflueh
The paint is there more for the code. so that when somebody, ah a professional painter comes in, he could actually start with that code and then make adjustments, and he knows how to make the adjustments, what kind of sheen it is, if he needs to add a little bit more white, a little bit more beige, or whatever.
00:10:16
Irelynn Zurflueh
So you know what? This is your rule for success. Do not DIY any of your touch-up paint, just know, hey, I lived in this great rental and I put up 17 things on the wall because I love the print the the paintings or I put a TV with ah a big old mount.
00:10:37
Irelynn Zurflueh
Leave the holes. We will have a touch-up person come in and do a beautiful job. Yes, it will come out of your security, but I promise you it's a lot cheaper to do that, to pay for that,
00:10:50
Irelynn Zurflueh
then when you try and do it and they have to paint walls at that point. But yeah, they like to come back and say, well, we did it. We covered it up. But if you covered it up with the wrong paint, then all you really did was damage the wall. So now it's damage.
00:11:06
Irelynn Zurflueh
So be careful about that. That is the number one thing that really makes um past residents mad when we have to collect that touch-up paint. Absolutely. And I've learned that lesson.
00:11:19
Irelynn Zurflueh
I've never tried to do my own paint touch up because I've even seen some vendors not necessarily do a good job. So even people who are trained professionals can sometimes get it wrong, especially in a house that's 30, 40 years old and that paint itself can be 30, 40 years old It's a very complex art, so leave it to the professionals.
Avoiding Charges: Cleaning and Maintenance Tips
00:11:40
Irelynn Zurflueh
But the things that you can do as a resident, obviously, is do a good clean. But more importantly, make sure that there are no burnt out light bulbs and make sure that your smoke alarms are all good. Those are really easy, simple things that you can do for success because the cost of labor for the handyman to go out and replace a light bulb is always going to be more expensive than just you purchasing a light bulb at Lowe's or Home Depot or even your grocery store and replacing it.
00:12:10
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I think a lot of people in Nevada and most states, they have to itemize every single charge on a deposit. They'll sit there and question, well, why is this light bulb replacement so expensive?
00:12:21
Irelynn Zurflueh
It's just a light bulb. You're right. It is just a light bulb, but it's a vendor who had to drive and spend time and gain access to the property. So they are tacking on labor And that labor is what's causing it to be really expensive. So batteries and light bulbs, just save yourself that money and just do a quick walkthrough of your house and check it and make sure everything looks good before you leave. And do not put in a Curly Q light bulb if all the other light bulbs are not Curly qe They've got to match.
00:12:53
Irelynn Zurflueh
When a resident moves into a property, all the light bulbs are matching and all of them are working. That's how you have to give the property back to the property manager in order for you not to get, um i call it dinged for that expense.
00:13:08
Irelynn Zurflueh
So just that's an easy one. And then when you were talking about the janitorial or the cleaning, bear in mind that even if you submit a receipt from a professional cleaning company, Ireland, if they did a crappy job, you're still going to get charged.
00:13:24
Irelynn Zurflueh
So don't think that you can go on to you know, Google and find like the absolute cheapest um cleaning company, have them come in and do a terrible job. And because you submit a receipt, you're in the clear. yeah I mean, it's a good start. Don't get me wrong. And that might help you not get a full charge against you.
00:13:44
Irelynn Zurflueh
But if we have to clean the property, because it's not in rentable cleanliness condition from industry standards, we're charging. Yeah. And I have seen some people where they will pay for the janitorial, but then live in the house still for two weeks.
00:14:00
Irelynn Zurflueh
And then they'll pay for the janitorial, but four days later, they have the movers come in and move everything. So if you do have a company that you think is very reliable, even if that company is a great company, time it
Sequence of Move-Out Tasks for Optimal Results
00:14:14
Irelynn Zurflueh
out right. Make sure that you're doing it in the correct order of operations.
00:14:18
Irelynn Zurflueh
Don't pay for the janitorial and have that receipt. But then five days later, have 10 people in your house moving furniture because your house is going to get dirty again. So do the move first, clean second.
00:14:32
Irelynn Zurflueh
Well, and then this is the other thing to remember too. Carpet cleaning should always be the very last thing. So if you let the movers move everything out, have the property be vacant. If you do have a reliable cleaning company, have them come in. And then at that point, then the next day, have the carpet cleaners come in. You always want the carpet cleaning to be the absolute last thing.
00:14:54
Irelynn Zurflueh
So that's the that's another important thing. Yeah. And I think most companies, like we send checklists out and a lot of companies I think want – success. I know that I can't speak to for every single company out there, so I'll only speak for McKenna, but we want our residents to get their full security deposit back.
Property Management Fees: Myths and Realities
00:15:13
Irelynn Zurflueh
We want them to you know leave the property the same way that they found it and not have to worry about all these unnecessary charges. So we make a checklist and we try to send out reminders as best as we can.
00:15:25
Irelynn Zurflueh
We try to encourage people to use that checklist because that's for the cleaning and the light bulbs and all of the above. um because we really do try to aim for full return because that's just going to make everyone happy. It's going to make all parties satisfied. Well, and then let's talk about this too, because um residents will claim that we wanted to charge things to them because we make money off of that vendor or we make ah what's called an upcharge of whatever it is that that vendor charged.
00:15:54
Irelynn Zurflueh
At least at McKenna Property Management, that is not true. like Ireland said, we want to turn around that property as quickly as possible. So if that past resident left that property in the state and how they rented it, that is wonderful. We are going to celebrate that. We are going to get that security deposit back to that past resident as quickly as possible and be extremely happy.
00:16:20
Irelynn Zurflueh
But if we have to do a bunch of cleanup that takes two or three weeks, and then we have to worry about invoices, and we don't get an extra penny for any of that, there is no profit being made at McKenna Property Management when and a past resident moves out and we have to ding their security to deposit.
00:16:40
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yeah. So set them up for success. Take a little bit of these things and make sure that you're preparing for the move out. Moving is stressful. You could probably attest to that since that's happening to you right now. yeah Don't make it any more stressful by not doing the items on the checklist.
00:16:59
Irelynn Zurflueh
Because it will come back. They will be dinged against your security deposit. And it is just what it is. One thing I want to do before we we end our podcast about this. In Nevada, there's no hard written rule about when an owner has to go in and recarpet or repaint, like do a full repaint.
00:17:20
Irelynn Zurflueh
But I've sat in on a lot of court cases because I've been doing this for 30 years. And I will tell you that overall, the rule of thumb is seven years. So if you've lived in the property for seven years, you can pretty much anticipate that the property management company is not going to charge you for the new flooring or a fresh paint.
00:17:41
Irelynn Zurflueh
Because at that point, you've lived there long enough that now it's just time for the owner to do those things. Now, if there's a hole in a door, hole in a wall, those things will be attached to your security deposit for fixes. Is the seven-year flooring thing, does that also stand true for laminate and tile, or is that a much longer?
00:18:00
Irelynn Zurflueh
That's much longer. it is about carpet. ah So the seven years is more about fresh paint and the fresh carpet, because carpet really doesn't last much longer than seven years. Even if you're taking extremely good care, there's going to be too much wear and tear. Okay.
00:18:14
Irelynn Zurflueh
So that being said, if you're living in a property that is, you've been there for six years, just know that there should be some compensation because you have been there for so long.
00:18:25
Irelynn Zurflueh
But if you've only been in the property for one, two, maybe three years, then yeah, it should be left in pretty much the same condition of how you rented it. And the last thing, make sure your landscaping is looking good.
00:18:40
Irelynn Zurflueh
Get those weeds out of there. Make sure that you pick up any of the the garbage that might have blown in in Las Vegas. There's always wind that blows in the garbage. If the landscaping doesn't look good, you will be charged for one-time landscape cleanup.
00:18:55
Irelynn Zurflueh
And what I've noticed since COVID, landscaping has wrong. high in the pricing. For them to go out there, this is one of those services that they are able to just keep raising those prices.
00:19:08
Irelynn Zurflueh
So I'm thinking everybody was probably used to about 150 for a one-time cleanup. It's closer to 300 right now for a one-time cleanup. Absolutely. And i'm sure I'm sure there's even summer influx pricing because it's hot.
00:19:23
Irelynn Zurflueh
yeah These guys are out there 115 degree heat pulling weeds so Do it yourself. Get up at 7 in the morning when it's colder out and then go back in your house and take a shower afterwards and save the money. So there was ah a past resident. I thought this was a great idea. He yeah set up a lemonade stand and on a Saturday and it was free. And any of the kids can come in and get lemonade as long as they pulled the weeds in the front row. That's a good idea, actually. And it was just rock, you know, so they were just little weeds. And they have little hands, so it's really easy for them to pull those weeds.
00:19:56
Irelynn Zurflueh
And then um he did something like, if you filled this up, you got a big lemonade. if you If you only did this amount, then you got the smaller lemonade. And let me tell you, his front yard looked good when he moved out. so I believe it.
00:20:09
Irelynn Zurflueh
Thinking outside the box. Moving can definitely be stressful, and there is always going to be a to-do list. ah that you're responsible for as a resident. It's not, you can't just wipe your hands clean of it.
00:20:20
Irelynn Zurflueh
But if you do follow the to-do list and you take some piece of advice that we gave today, your move out is going to be a lot smoother than it would be if you just tried to walk away from the situation. So I think that these are some pretty good tips and tricks for for move out success and Hopefully you get your full security deposit back and then you can go out for a nice dinner afterwards. That's a good idea. Let's hope that happens.
00:20:45
Irelynn Zurflueh
Well, we'll see you guys next week. Bye.