After years managing multiple mid-term rentals, I started keeping a list of the messages I got most often from tenants. Wi-Fi password questions. Requests for a spare key. A 10pm text about a burned-out bulb. A tenant who couldn't find a broom.
All of it traced back to five categories of items — none of them expensive, none of them hard to source, all of them easy to skip when you're getting a property ready. Here's what I stock in every single one of my rentals, and why.
1. A dedicated workstation
My tenants are travel nurses, remote workers, and business professionals. They're not using my property as a hotel room — they're living and working there for 30 to 90 days. A kitchen table and a folding chair isn't a workstation. A proper desk, a comfortable chair, a monitor or monitor stand, and a power strip with USB ports — that's a workstation.
This single upgrade does more for reviews and bookings than almost anything else I've added to a property. When a tenant can sit down, set up their gear, and work comfortably from day one, they feel at home. Tenants who feel at home take better care of the place, stay longer, and come back.
What to stock: A desk (doesn't need to be fancy), an ergonomic chair, a monitor riser or second monitor if space allows, and a power strip with at least two USB ports. Place it near a window if possible.
2. Wi-Fi signage
The first message every new tenant sends is about the Wi-Fi. Every time, without exception, until I started leaving a framed card with the network name and password in large text, right next to the router, with a duplicate on the fridge.
That message stopped. Completely.
A printed, laminated, or framed Wi-Fi card takes ten minutes to make. You can buy a nice frame at any store. Put the network name on the first line, the password on the second, large enough to read from across the room. It's a small thing that signals to a new tenant that you thought about their arrival, and it eliminates the most common first-day question landlords get.
What to stock: A framed or laminated card with Wi-Fi name and password. One near the router, one on the fridge.
3. The essentials kit
These are the items tenants discover are missing at the worst possible time. A dead TV remote at 9pm when there are no batteries in the house. A second key they need for an emergency. A cabinet hinge that has a screw. A burned-out bulb in the bathroom. And the item nobody wants to talk about but everyone eventually needs: a plunger.
I keep a small basket or drawer stocked with all of these and I mention it in the welcome message so tenants know where to find it. Since I started doing this, the after-hours messages dropped noticeably.
What to stock: AA and AAA batteries, two spare keys (labeled), a basic toolkit (screwdriver set, hammer, measuring tape), extra lightbulbs in the right wattage for the fixtures in your property, and a plunger in every bathroom.
4. Cleaning supplies
Mid-term tenants stay 30 to 90 days. They will want to clean. If you give them the supplies to do it, they take care of the place. If you don't, one of two things happens: they let it go, or they message you asking where to find a broom.
I stock supplies under the kitchen sink with everything a tenant needs to maintain the property during their stay. I mention it in the welcome message so they know it's there. Move-out condition at my properties improved noticeably after I started doing this consistently.
What to stock: Broom and dustpan, mop, all-purpose cleaner, glass cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, trash bags (just a starter supply), dish soap, sponges, and a scrubbing brush.
5. Extra linens and towels
A full second set. Sheets, pillowcases, bath towels, hand towels — everything.
Here's why: tenants doing laundry mid-stay need something to sleep on and dry off with while the first set is in the wash. It sounds obvious, but most landlords stock one set and call it done. The second set is what separates a property that feels thoughtfully set up from one that feels like a minimum-viable rental.
This comes up in reviews more than you'd expect. Not always by name, but phrases like "everything I needed was there" often trace back to small details like this one. It tells a tenant you actually thought about what their stay would look like.
What to stock: A complete second set of bed linens for every bed, plus two extra bath towels and two hand towels per bathroom, stored in an accessible closet or shelf.
The fast win
Do a walkthrough of your property with this list right now. You probably have some of these already. The others are worth grabbing before your next tenant moves in.
These five things make your property easier to manage, your reviews better, and your tenants more likely to rebook or extend their stay.