As someone who’s renting their home, you’re not responsible for the property maintenance that a homeowner is. Though it depends on your specific lease agreement, your landlord typically handles most of the maintenance issues. This, however, doesn’t relieve you of all maintenance duties, it makes you responsible for the day-to-day issues that may come about. Based on what we at tenant.rentals have determined as simple things that have a big impact on the function and appearance of a home, we’ve created a list of the top 5 small (and regular) problems and their fixes, that take 5 minutes or less to do!

1. Wall and baseboard scuffs – It’s really easy to let your walls and baseboards get scuffed from the regular wear and tear, but it’s also really easy to keep them looking new. Make it a point to wipe scuffs off (Magic Erasers are awesome for this) as soon as you see them so that you can avoid your walls turning grey and looking old.
2. Weeds – Normally, in a home that requires regular landscaping, it’ll be the landlords responsibility to maintain it. As much as it’d be convenient for you, your landlord can’t be coming by everyday to pluck weeds. If you see a couple of weeds here and there, get rid of them. Weeds never enhance the appearance of any home.
3. Carpet stains. – Pretty much following the same idea of landscaping, if you have carpeting your landlord will normally get it cleaned for you at a point or another. But if you see any small spots come up, or have any spills, put some stain remover on for a few minutes and wipe it off, and they should be all gone.
4. Appliances. – Wipe down your appliances regularly! Cleaning your large appliances on a normal basis is great for a couple of reasons: you clean vents and other parts that can be affected by residue, and you keep your appliances from aging as quickly.
5. Check your air filter. –  This is soooo easy. If you think it’s time to change it, take a look and call your landlord to replace it for you. Definitely very doable.