Marketing your Rental Units
Now you’re ready to start marketing your units to the public. This is one of the most important steps in making sure your that not only is your unit leased to the best possible tenant, but also to make sure that you use the marketing tools and listing information to help you eliminate time-wasting showings with tenants who may not qualify or may not be interested in your unit due to certain features.
It can be natural to want to get as many showings as possible. The activity will look good to the owner and you want as many people as you can get exposed to the unit. But when it comes to leasing you can definitely waste a lot of time on the wrong people. We will discuss this further when it comes to screening tenants but some of the rules apply in this chapter as well.
Like a sales listing, put your best foot forward right off the bat. The time in which you will have the most interest in the listing is within the first couple of weeks. Have as much info about the property as you can and write a good description. Discuss some of those important factors from chapter 4 such as fresh paint, new flooring, laundry, pets, and parking too if applicable. You don’t want to not mention the laundry situation just to find out when you meet the tenant for a showing that they need to have in-unit laundry and it’s a deal-breaker without it. So have a well-written description that highlights those desirable features along with any other amenities that may be desirable.
What to say about your listing?
Within the listing description, you will also want to outline the general terms of the lease and any applicable fees. If the unit is only available for long term lease like 12 or more months, you don’t want to be doing a showing just to find out the tenant wants a short term lease. So make it clear. Also, disclose any fees that may apply such as the application or HOA fees. You’ll also want to outline the income and credit requirements. This will help the tenant to understand if they can afford the unit and it will also let prospective applicants that there will be a thorough application process and this will help to eliminate some of the riff-raff that may otherwise try to pull a fast one on you. We will go into greater detail on this when it comes to tenant screening, but just by mentioning that you have strict guidelines in place will help.
How to display your listing?
Pictures. Take lots of pictures. It’s been proven that listings with lots of good photos will always get more interest from tenants and prospects. Most of us have a smartphone that will take quality photos. Be sure to take plenty of pictures of all the main areas and also of the common areas as well. The last thing you want is to get home and find out you don’t have any good pictures for your listing or that you forgot to snap some photos of important areas. Follow some basic guidelines when taking pictures. Use the “landscape” format when shooting. Many websites and MLS’s require the images to be shot in landscape. If they aren’t, they won’t look right on the listing. Also, do your best to have the unit cleaned up and looking orderly. If the apartment or house is occupied it may be more difficult, but try and give the owner or the tenant some heads up as to when you will be taking pictures so that it can be cleaned up and organized as best as possible. Turn on the lights and get many different angles of the same room. You will often find that the picture you thought looked good, turned out to be not so great when you got home.
What are the best websites for rental listings?
Websites – there are lots of great websites available for advertising your rental listing, and it is my personal opinion that craigslist is not one of them. There was a time when Craigslist was the best, but that has waned. This certainly depends on your market of course, but for the agents in our office, we find it’s more trouble than it’s worth. The last several listings we put on craigslist generated nothing but robocalls from services we didn’t want or outright scammers. If you do use craigslist, I recommend watermarking your pictures. We have found that the best way to market our rental listings on the largest number of websites is right through our MLS. Yes, you will have to pay a leasing fee to an agent but it’s worth it, especially if it helps you get your unit rented faster. The MLS in our market here in the Tampa Bay area uses what’s called, listing syndication, which will disseminate your listing to dozens of other real estate portals and websites out there. I have found that many MLS’s around the country do the same. This will save you tons of time in your marketing efforts. The places where your listing is, the more potential tenants who will be able to find it. Our MLS also automatically watermarks the images to help protect you from intellectual property theft (other agents and services using your images), and scammers who will try to close your listing and divert the leads to themselves in hopes of manipulating someone out of a security deposit and rent. It is a very real threat going on in the marketplace right now and I have seen it personally way more times than I’d like. So I feel that the safest and most effective way to market your listings is on the MLS. Now if you’re not a member of an MLS or don’t have access, then as of this writing, the real estate website Zillow seems to be the most effective for marketing rentals. Say what you want about Zillow but they are they have a large syndication network themselves and have recently put a lot of development into providing tools for leasing agents and landlords.
Another source of leads
Another source of marketing for your listings can be your previous tenants and tenants who are looking to move around that time frame who may be a match for the property. These are great leads because you already know who they are. You are aware of their behavior and payment history and whether or not they would be a good fit. I can’t tell you how many times we will have tenants whose lease is expiring around that same time and are looking to move. We are able to simply move them from one unit right into another! It’s fantastic. Of course, if you’re newer to the leasing game, you may not have an extensive list of tenants to choose from. Find out from other agents in your office if they know of anyone looking to lease a house or apartment. You can also look on the MLS for agents who leased a similar property about a year ago and approach them directly to see if their tenant is looking to move.
Lastly, I’ll recommend this. Once your listings are up and running, answer your phone! The leasing business moves fast. Tenants will just move on and call someone else if you’re not there to field the call. Make sure you answer the phone and you will have that much more success just from that one thing!
Summary:
- Have a complete and accurate description of the property and leasing process.
- Use lots of pictures and format them correctly.
- List on your MLS or other major real estate websites.
- Connect with previous tenants and other leasing agents.
- Answer your phone!
