Archive for Landlords

Managing Tenant Maintenance Requests

Wow! I haven’t posted on the Rocket Lease blog for some time now. We’ve been very busy with other things over here lately. But I did want to set aside some time today to write up a post for all you landlords out there. It focuses on managing tenant maintenance requests.

As you are all no doubt aware, maintenance requests are a very real and very important part of being a landlord. Heck, it doesn’t matter if you have one tenant or one hundred, you’ll definitely come up against a maintenance request before long.

A maintenance request in its most basic sense is a request from a tenant that you fix something that is broken or otherwise causing a problem in their unit. Generally, these are things that they can’t fix themselves or aren’t allowed to (as per the specifics in your lease agreement). Usually, they are reasonably serious things: a broken garbage disposal, a leaky faucet, a malfunctioning oven. But sometimes they can be small, minor things like a burnt out light bulb or a clogged drain. These last two things are annoying and, in some ways, shouldn’t be maintenance requests at all.

This is why it is important to note here that you should always be screening your tenants before renting to them. Generally, this tenant screening process (which we provide along with our online application services) will weed out bad tenants who will call on you for the simplest of requests. Good tenants, those that have passed a proper screening, generally are a bit more conscientious and courteous to their landlords.

The absolute key to managing tenant maintenance requests is handling everything in a timely and efficient manner. If the request is non-urgent, I usually recommend waiting no more than 2 days before checking on the problem. If it is an emergency, get over there as soon as possible. You don’t want a relatively minor problem developing into something that could harm any of your tenants or the property.

Promptly responding to maintenance requests will improve your standing with your tenants. It will improve your relationship with them and show them that you care about their needs and well-being. It will make you a good landlord in their eyes. It will also, one certainly hopes, limit the amount of minor requests that they call in for you to take care of.

Finally, a big part of tenant maintenance requests is doing preventative maintenance throughout the year. This is especially true of the time between when old tenants move out and new tenants move in. You should give your units and your property as a whole a once over during these times and fix anything that needs fixing or that looks to be old. This will greatly reduce the amount of maintenance that you have to do in the long run.

If you’re a landlord reading this, what do you think about tenant maintenance requests? Do you have a special system set up for managing them? Have you ever used an online tenant maintenance request management system for you? Do you have any other tips that might help a landlord deal with them? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

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Spring Cleaning: Ideas for Landlords and Property Managers

This guest post was written by Rental Choice (.com).

The month of May finds rental property owners on the verge of yet another busy rental season. The recent state of the housing market seems to be improving, but there are still a very large number of renters looking for affordable housing. Rental Choice (.com) has compiled a list of ideas for the rental property owner in preparation for the summer months. No one regrets planning ahead, and these steps aim to make this time less challenging for everyone involved.

Because more tenants move during the spring and beginning of summer than during any other time of the year, landlords and property managers undoubtedly burn through more of their time and materials. May is a great month to stock up on supplies that are critical to your rental business, if this has not been completed. These supplies may include light bulbs, shower heads and other various plumbing supplies, air conditioner filters, and elements for water heaters, among others. Consideration of additional staff members during this time may also be in order.

Before becoming too busy handling the many demands of the summer rental season, now is a good time to tackle minor repair issues and preventative maintenance tasks. By using this time to replace air conditioning filters, the working condition of each A/C unit can be ascertained. It is also a good idea to replace the batteries in each unit’s carbon monoxide and/or smoke detector. This important task is quick and dead simple to complete.

An optional (but helpful) item to consider during this time is the drafting of a tenant newsletter. This should detail what is expected of tenants, as well as what they can expect of their landlord or management team. The tenant newsletter is a great opportunity to stress the timely reporting of maintenance issues. Remember, open communication cannot be overstressed in any landlord/tenant relationship.

Take this time to ensure any vacant units or properties are ready for move-in. If not already completed, all vacancies should have cleanings and maintenance scheduled. In doing this, you connect with vendors to make sure everything runs smoothly with them. If all of this planning sounds overwhelming, don’t panic! Property management companies exist to help landlords with all of the specifics of renting properties. These include collecting and depositing rent, conducting background checks and interviews, and taking care of maintenance issues.

Locate and connect with a local property manager using RentalChoice.com. We don’t charge a fee or require users to register. Our goal is to help our visitors connect with the nation’s top property management companies.

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Clever Landlord Tax Deductions

Guest post from Rentmatic.com

Tax season is upon us once again and it is time to take advantage of every tax deduction possible. Most landlords know about the most common deductions like interest, tax, depreciation, and repairs, however there are many more. Here are four clever deductions every landlord should consider when filing taxes.

1. Travel - landlords can deduct travel expenses related to their rental properties. Travel expenses like gas and tolls can be deducted directly, or you can use the standard mileage rate deduction. Check with your accountant to see which one offers the biggest advantage.

2. Credit & Background Checks - Fees paid to credit reporting or background check services, like RocketLease, to run checks on rental applicants can be deducted.

3. Legal & Accounting - Any payments to lawyers, accountants, legal software, or accounting software is tax deductible. If you bought a lease online or purchased TurboTax, it is deductible.

4. Rent Payment Software - Fees paid for rent payment software, like Rentmatic, are completely deductible. This includes monthly software fees, as well as any return item fees.

Tax rules are incredibly complex and tricky. Make sure to take advantage of every deduction you can, but also consult with an accountant to make sure you play by the rules.

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Is a Rental Property Manager Right for Me?

Guest post from Rental Choice (.com)

As a rental property management directory, we receive many questions about property management. Many investors are curious about what level of income they need to justify hiring a property management company. While there is no one-size-fits-all answer, there are some easy ways to evaluate and determine if a management company makes sense.

For example,

  • Do you have time to set aside for managing your rental property?

  • If so, are you already devoting all of your available time to managing rentals?

  • Do you live close to your rental property (or properties)?

  • Do you have time to properly screen a tenant?

These are questions that you must ask yourself. If you don’t have sufficient time to manage your properties, that alone is reason enough to consider professional management. Likewise, if you do have time to devote, but you’re spending all of it on management tasks, then a management company could literally change your life.

If your time is not already consumed with your landlord responsibilities, you must then evaluate your existing knowledge and experience:

  • Do you have proficient knowledge of your state’s landlord/tenant laws?

  • Are you skilled at handling your own maintenance issues?

  • Is your vacancy rate high?

  • Do you have trouble getting rent payments on time?

  • Are you comfortable with evictions and collections?

These factors are also very important and must be considered. If you don’t know your local landlord laws, it’s only a matter of time before you experience legal problems. This is another issue that  carries enough weight to justify a management company. If you aren’t the world’s greatest handyman, maintenance issues have a high probability of causing you frustration.

The benefit of a professional property management company is this: they do property management all day, every day. Every company worth its weight has a preferred vendor list. This means that when a toilet, freezer, or water heater goes down, the management company knows just the right person to call. This expertise applies to all aspects of property management, even those we haven’t mentioned. If you’re considering hiring a professional company to manage your rental, we encourage you to browse our directory, connect with a local professional, and gain some insight.

Rental Choice (.com) helps landlords by making it easy for them to connect with the right property management company. Rental management companies meet the day-to-day responsibilities of being a rental property owner. These include screening and selecting tenants, responding to maintenance requests, collecting rent, and evictions. This way, the landlord can own several rental properties without the hassle and stress that comes with their daily operations. By creating an open-source search directory of the nation’s best rental property management companies, Rental Choice (.com) has become a great resource for property owners across the country.

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6 Tips for Creating an Effective Late Fee Strategy

Guest post by RentMonitor

Late fees are an important part of any property management business so landlords need to make sure rent due dates, grace periods, and late fees are properly crafted and clearly stated in the lease agreement. Here are 6 tips landlords should consider when creating their late fee strategy.

1. Set Clear Payment Terms

Every written lease agreement should begin with clear rent payment terms. This includes setting the date rent is due each month (usually the 1st), if there is a grace period and when rent is considered late. Typical grace periods range from 3-5 days, but they can vary based on what the landlord chooses. This is the time after rent is due, but not officially considered late. If a rent payment is not made by the end of the grace period, the rent is considered late and landlords should implement a late fee.

2. Decide on the Late Charges

Speaking of late fees, what should landlords charge? The rates need to be considered reasonable, but that can vary due to the amount of the monthly rent or state regulations. Generally, the total amount of late fees in any given month should not be more than one quarter of a month’s rent.

Now that you have an idea of what to charge, let’s look at how late fees are calculated. Late fees can be assessed in the following ways:

Flat Fee: a one-time fee assessed immediately after the grace period ends.

Percentage of Monthly Rent: a one-time fee that is calculated based on the rent amount. These fees typically range from 4-6%.

Daily Late Fee: This fee accumulates over time for each day a tenant is late paying after the grace period.

3. Leave Emotion Out

If a tenant is late with a rent payment, there’s no reason to go overboard emotionally. This is exactly why you set out clear payment terms in the lease. Now is the time to follow the plan. Landlord-tenant relationships are business relationships and a tenant failing to pay rent on time is a business problem, not a personal one.

A great way to keep emotion out is to automate the system. If you use rent payment software, you can set late fees before it becomes an issue. Then, the software system will add the appropriate late fees without the landlord having to become the “bad guy”.

4. Contact Your Tenant

Often tenants will just forget to pay the rent because the due date gets away from them. For tenants like this, landlords would benefit from having a system in place to send monthly rent reminders or invoices. This reminder encourages tenants to pay rent, just like their other bills.

Honest mistakes can happen, but more often than not, one late payment will lead to more late payments in the future. Landlords should be proactive as soon as a payment is late by contacting their renter to find out why they are late making the payment.

5. Set the Right Precedent

It is extremely important that landlords be consistent with implementing late fees for all payments that are late. If you do not follow through with your late rent fees, the message to the tenant and the courts is that it’s okay to pay the rent late with out penalty. Failing to communicate and impose the late fees could act as a form of “permission” that can work against you in an eviction hearing. Set the precedent from the beginning that you always take proper action when rent is late in order to protect your legal rights.

6. Amend Agreements as Needed

If your current leases do not have clear rent payment terms, consider revising your leases as soon as possible. Depending on your agreements, this may not be until renewal time. Contact a legal professional if you need help.

You can also amend your lease to include any unique payment terms agreed upon with your tenant. For instance, your tenant may have a hard time paying rent on the 1st because of when they get paid. Consider moving the rent due date to the middle of the month or accepting rent every other week. Being flexible can go a long way to build a successful relationship with your tenants and make it clear you value their business.

RentMonitor is online rent collection software that makes it easy for landlords, property managers, and real estate owners to collect rent online from their tenants. After a quick setup and application process we do the rest of the work for you: reminding tenants of rent due, transferring the payments, sending receipts, adding late fees if necessary, and following up when the rent is late. For more information, please visit http://www.rentmonitor.com.

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A Brief Look at Rocket Lease’s Online Rental Applications

Today while looking through the Rocket Lease blog, I realized that we have posted a ton of great rental information, advice, and news, but remarkably little on what we’re actually all about.

Though we have certainly touched on online rental applications in the past, we haven’t talked about them in a long time. There are also a few aspects of them that we have thus far left uncovered. And that’s why I wanted to write a little more about Rocket Lease, online applications, and why both benefit you.

What Is An Online Application?

Online rental applications are simple to understand. They are nearly the same as paper applications except that they are sent in, viewed, and stored online. You can access them online from anywhere in the world with internet access. You can even access your Rocket Lease online applications from you mobile phone.

Other than that, the way that online applications work is pretty much the same as with standard paper apps. A prospective tenant turns it in to you, you look over their information, run a credit check, and decide whether or not to rent to them. However, as similar as the two processes are, the benefits of online applications are hard to ignore – but we’ll get to those in just a minute.

One other way that online applications differ from their paper counterparts is that they can also be paired with other services that are vital to landlords and property managers. An example of this is the pairing of Rocket Leases’s online application with our integrated credit report. Credit and background checks are two very important parts of tenant screening, an equally important process for the success of landlords.

What Is Rocket Lease?

Rocket Lease is a provider of online rental applications and credit checks. Our service is incredibly easy to use and highly effective. All of your tenant’s application information is stored online, in the cloud, so that it can be accessed at a minute’s notice, whenever you need it.

Better yet, our online rental applications can be easily organized, managed, and replied to. They feature bank-level security and are controlled through a simple, stream-lined dashboard. We’re basically the top provider of online rental applications around! :D

The idea for Rocket Lease came about when Eric, our founder, realized just how broken the current tenant screening/rental application system was. I mean, seriously, fax machines in the 21st century? How outdated can it get? Soon after, Rocket Lease was born and continues to strive to make the rental process hassle free for both landlords and renters.

Why Online Rental Applications Benefit You

You probably have a gist of the benefits of online rental applications just from reading this far. Simply put, they are faster, easier, and more effective than paper applications. They are also cheaper.

In fact, Rocket Lease’s online rental applications are absolutely free for landlords and property managers to use. Our ultra-speedy tenant screening service is paid for by the application fee that you would normally collect from your tenants.

As soon as an application is submitted by a prospective tenant, the tenant screening process begins. When it is complete, everything is securely stored in our system for your future reference. Our service speeds up the tenant screening process dramatically and gives you easy access to your tenant information at any point in time via our streamlined dashboard.

At the same time that online applications speed up the application process for you, they are doing the same for prospective tenants. No longer do tenants have to fuss with annoying fax machines or drive to your office to drop their applications off. The ease of which applications can be submitted will likely increase the amount of overall applications that you receive.

And did I mention the environmental benefits of online applications yet? Simply put, the environmental impact of paper applications is harsh (to say the least) and online applications cut away most, if not all of, their environmentally negative effects.

 

So, what are you waiting for? Ditch the fax machine forever and try out Rocket Lease’s online rental application today. If you’re still not convinced, head over to RocketLease.com for more information.

And to learn more about how the Rocket Lease application process actually works take a look at this blog post: http://www.rocketlease.com/blog/how-does-a-rocket-lease-application-work/.

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Get to Know the Top Apartment Rental Scams

Guest Post By: Raleigh Werner, co-founder of JumpShell

In the world, there are few industries more mired in selfish motivations and costly pitfalls than real estate. In the apartment rental business, there are three major scams that all tenants should be aware of before they start looking for a new place:

1. Online and Out-of-Country

Here’s a scam to end all scams, the source of which is none other than the internet. This example is taken from ESET’s We Live Security blog.

In a nutshell, the perpetrator of this scam puts up a robust ad for a “must-have” apartment — in this example, a fully furnished, 2 bed/2 bath apartment for $1,000/month in prime San Diego territory. The real deal? Not so much.

In the response e-mail to the initial inquiry, the perpetrator of the scam spins a story about how she is out of the country and then proposes a scheme whereby the prospective renter sends her a deposit.

The key takeaway: if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

2. The False Credit Check

The Consumerist ran a post on a sneaky and scary credit scam that’s made its way into the apartment rental scene.

Here’s how the scam works:

  • An attractive apartment ad goes up.
  • The person who placed the ad e-mails prospective renters back with a rental application, a promise to walk them through the property soon, and a request for a copy of your credit report.
  • The URL to the “free” (fake) credit report contains the scammer’s affiliate code, and they receive money for every new customer referred to the credit report site.
  • The scammer pretends that someone else was approved before you. Victims of the scam continue in their apartment hunts, never the wiser until strange charges for credit monitoring services show up on their credit card bill.

Your credit information is far too important to hand out willy-nilly. Always make sure that whomever you have run a credit check on your behalf is a licensed real estate broker or a certified organization.

3. The Over-Eager Landlord

Good landlords are savvy investors. As such, they want to make sure their apartments are leased by tenants who can pay the rent. Finding upstanding citizens who are respectful of the property and courteous to the other tenants is all secondary to the ultimate goal of securing a reliable source of income.

Running a credit check on potential tenants is standard procedure, as it’s the best way — even considering the recent news — to get a read on a person’s financial stability.

Especially in high-volume apartment rental markets where vacancy rates are hitting historic lows, avoid landlords who throw the credit check to the wind — there might be a [not good] reason why they’re desperate for tenants.

Unfortunately, if you have fallen victim to one of these ploys, check out About.com’s tips on taking action to get things back on track.

Doing some good research upfront can save you a world of financial and emotional hurt downstream. To help you get the full details of your rights as a tenant, we’ve put together the tenants’ rights documents from the appropriate local governments and/or housing authorities of five top apartment rental markets in the United States:

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Going Green for Landlords

The rental market in most cities is hugely competitive these days and renting out an apartment is harder than ever before. One way that you can stand out from the crowd and attract more tenants is by ‘going green.’ Making your rental units green can save you money. And, heck, we haven’t even mentioned the best benefit of them all – it helps the environment.

Luckily, going green for landlords is pretty dang easy. The tips below are all awesome ways to make your apartments more environmentally friendly. Enjoy!

Cut Down on Paper

One of the biggest ways that you can help the environment as a landlord is by cutting down on the amount of paper that you use on an everyday basis. In no way is this easier to do then with your rental applications. On average the paper rental application industry impacts the environment by using just over 200 million pieces of paper per year (that’s 60,000 trees!). Check out our online application at Rocket Lease for one of the niftiest green apartment applications around.

Encourage Recycling

Provide recycling bins on your apartment premises for your tenants and encourage them to use them for recycling.

Use Better Light Bulbs

Compact fluorescent light bulbs are by and large better than standard conventional bulbs. You should use them for both indoor and outdoor common areas (like hallways and entryways). You should also replace burnt bulbs in units with them. In addition to being better for the environment, they last longer and use less energy.

Replace With Green Appliances

Though it can be a pretty expensive upgrade on its own, there is no reason not to replace old appliances with green ones when it is time for them to go. In fact, green appliances like high-efficiency refrigerators, washing machines, toilets, sinks, showers, air conditioners, and water heaters can save tons of money by cutting back on energy and water consumption.

Insulate Your Units

The easier it is to heat and cool rental units, the less energy will be needed to do just that, thus helping the environment. Making sure that your units are insulated with well-sealed windows and doors will help reduce the time tenants spend running their heaters and air conditioners.

Meter Tenants

Installing individual gas and electric meters for each tenant’s unit makes going green easy. Instead of paying all of the utilities yourself (such as when they are included in the price of rent), require your tenants to pay for their own utility usage. This will then encourage them to use less electricity and conserve water to lower their monthly costs.

Provide Programmable Thermostats

Installing programmable thermostats in each of your tenants units gives them the ability to easily control their unit’s temperatures. Instead of leaving the heat on all day long so that their apartment is warm when they get home, they can program their heater to turn down during the day and then back on just before they arrive back from work.

Practice ‘Going Green’ at Your Office

As important as it is to make sure that your rental units are environmentally friendly, it is equally important to make sure that your home office is green as well. You can do this through all of the methods above (recycling, light bulbs, etc). Emailing and calling tenants about concerns whenever possible can save paper otherwise wasted on written notices. You should also consider investing in high-efficiency computers, fax machines, printers, and scanners to conserve energy.

 

Going green as a landlord isn’t terribly easy, but it isn’t difficult either. Better yet, it can be done in small increments as time and money allows. Like we mentioned above, Rocket Lease’s online applications are one of the absolute best ways to get started going green as a landlord.

Do you have any other ‘going green’ tips for landlords? We’d love to hear about them in the comments below!

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Five Awesome Mobile Tools for Property Managers (That Will Make Your Life Easier)

Rocket Lease firmly believes that renting an apartment shouldn’t suck. It shouldn’t be a terribly hectic, time-consuming hassle for either the renters or the property managers. In fact, it should almost be a little fun. Renters are getting new places to live and property managers are making money. Win, win.

But renting out an empty apartment unit can suck as a property manager. At the very least, it is a time-consuming task that you have to juggle with other essential everyday tasks like advertising, marketing, showing, renting, maintenance, tenant complaints, and a million other little things. Then there is, of course, finding time to feed yourself and sleep. And maybe even spending a few minutes doing something fun each day!

The fact of the matter is that property managers are busy. Luckily, there are a bunch of mobile tools out there that can help make your life a little less busy. They will help you make your job easier and more enjoyable and will allow you to tackle your time more effectively.

Online Applications – Rocket Lease

Rocket Lease is where it is at when it comes to online rental applications. We were founded because we wanted (and still want) to make the rental process cheaper, easier, and faster for everyone involved. While Rocket Lease is primarily an online tool, we also offer a mobile version of our service that allows landlords and property managers to accept apartment applications and perform credit checks on their mobile phones while on the go. The Rocket Lease website has more information on the ins and outs of our service (and a free demo!).

Online Real Estate Database – Zillow

Companies, like Zillow, that offer online real estate databases for easy perusing are an essential tool of the modern property manager. They make getting real estate and values on homes in the United States a piece of cake. You can also use Zillow to find homes and apartments that are for sale or rent. It makes for an easy way to check up on that new building you’re thinking of purchasing or comparing your unit’s rent with other similar units in the same area.

Online Storage – DropBox

There is a reason that DropBox is one of the most popular file hosting services around – because it rocks! Free to sign up and free to use until you reach 2GB of stored data, DropBox is incredibly easy to use. In addition, it allows for quick file sharing, so that when you’re on the go you can share new documents with the folks back at the office, or you can opt to share files from your computer to your phone, so that you have them when you’re out and about.

Online Notepad – Evernote

Another nifty mobile tool for the busy property manager is Evernote. Most commonly used in its app form – it is available for both Android and iOS – Evernote is basically like a multi-form notepad. It lets you jot down text notes, take pictures, record videos, and then share it all with anyone you wish. I personally use Evernote to keep tabs on my properties (it is especially useful to get prepared before apartment showings).

360 Degree Camera – 360 Panorama

Yeah, I agree, today’s renters are spoiled in a lot of ways. When once plain old pictures of an apartment unit would suffice, renters today expect to see full-on videos of said units. And not just any old videos at that, they want to see 360 degree videos of the units that they are interested in. Luckily, it is easy to please these picky apartment hunters with the 360 Panorama app for Android and iOS. It converts your phone’s camera into a 360 degree shooting device so that you can take video of your empty units and upload it to your online listings (which you are hopefully posting on Craigslist, a great mobile tool that we didn’t cover here).

 

What about you? Do you use any mobile tools or smartphone apps to aid you in property management? Have you used any of the tools that we discussed above? Let us know in the comments below!

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Apartment Cleaning Tips for Landlords

Cleaning After a Tenant Moves Out

Part of the move-out process involves cleaning an apartment and returning it to its original state of cleanliness before a new tenant moves in.

While you can almost always expect the previous tenants to tidy up and do a little scrubbing, you will almost always have to do a little more cleaning yourself. One way to encourage the previous tenant to get your unit cleaner is to provide a checklist of sorts at the beginning of the lease period. The checklist should have a list of how things were when they move in and lay down expectations that they be returned to such.

Most landlords and property managers tend to hire apartment cleaning services when an old tenant moves out and they are preparing to fill their now-empty unit. These services are fairly abundant in most good-sized towns and you should be able to pick and choose among them for the one that best suits your needs.

If you only manage a few units and would prefer to tackle the cleaning process yourself, there are several things to keep in mind:

  • Kitchen: The kitchen is one of the first places that prospective renters look during showings. A dirty kitchen will scare renters away while a spotless kitchen could seal the deal. Take special care to clean all appliances and make sure that none of them are greasy.
  • Bathrooms: Another important area, bathrooms will take up a large portion of your cleaning time. High-strength green cleaners are your best bet here and should be used in a safe abundance to adequately remove germs and bacteria.
  • Carpets: Almost every landlord charges a non-refundable carpet cleaning fee upon move-in. Most of the time this fee goes to the apartment cleaning service or a carpet cleaning company for their services. However, if you choose to tackle the carpet yourself, rent a high-quality carpet cleaner for the job.
  • Small Details: Don’t forget the small details. Light fixtures, light switches, and window blinds all need to be cleaned.

Obviously, the above cleaning list is incomplete, but it gives you some idea of the areas to most focus your attention on if you are cleaning an apartment unit for new tenants.

How do you manage the move out cleaning process? Do you hire an apartment cleaning service or handle the job yourself? Any other tips or areas that one might forget to clean? Let us know in the comments below.

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