Tips on Marketing Your Rental Property
When you own a rental property, marketing will always be part of your repertoire of tasks. Tenants come and go, that’s why conducting effective advertising is a needed skill for any property owner. You must also be proactive and not depend on your long-term renters. Life is dynamic and you should be prepared in any given scenario.
When your property has been absent of tenants for a long period, marketing is even more crucial. Each day your unit is vacant equates to maintenance expenses. Do you want your finances to be eaten up with cleaning fees, inspection charges, and repair costs? I take it the answer is no.
Here are useful strategies to effectively market your property to keep your income flowing in your bank account:
1. Focused target market
The first step to effective marketing is to know your target market. What type of demographic would be drawn to your property? Young families? Young professionals? Retirees? When you know the group to target, you’re able to save time and resources.
Study these demographics. What amenities will they be drawn to? Highlight those features. Check your neighborhood and the type of people residing in it. This creates more awareness for you when it comes to marketing. People are drawn to neighborhoods based on the demographic that stays there. This means there’s a ready community for them to engage with when they move.
2. Offer incentives
To create interest, it’s a good idea to sweeten the deal. You can see this strategy used by credit card companies who offer free vouchers when you sign up for a card. This can also be used when looking for tenants. You can give away gift cards and waive the rent for the first month. If there are parking lot fees, you can offer it for free for a certain period.
People like being handed incentives and getting something for free. Offering extensions on security deposits can also work. Provide plenty of perks and you might just see the number of inquiries on your listing rising.
3. Tap and build a network
When marketing, you rely on your network. It’s all about building relationships so make sure to be visible and continue networking. This method is effective to gain referrals and spread information through word-of-mouth. Here are tips for your Atlanta rental home.
Expand your network, socialize online and offline, and attend professional organizations. You’re bound to meet a wider pool of people who can help you out when tenant hunting.
Aside from digital advertising, don’t miss out on face-to-face interactions. You can put up physical signage, distribute flyers, and post them in places where people in the neighborhood usually gather. This can be schools, bus stops, community centers, churches, and cafes.
4. Use professional photos of your property
Most people are visual. That’s why ads contain perfectly crafted and sometimes edited images when selling a product. For your property, make sure that your photo can grab the attention of potential renters.
Use the right equipment and post only beautiful and balanced photos of your rental unit. If you’re not confident of your photography skills, hire a professional. This is no time to scrimp on fees. A high-quality photo can encourage prospects to contact you right away.
5. Savvy and effective advertising
People nowadays want convenience. As a result, businesses that offer a prompt response and immediate gratification to their customers succeed. It’s the same way in the rental property industry.
When marketing, harness the powers of online advertising. Most people have mobile phones and they check frequently throughout the day. It’s logical then to market digitally.
Join social media platforms and increase your presence. This is a great way for prospects to be exposed to your rental property business. Develop awareness with an effective web site design that promotes your property listings. You can also create video tours to take it another virtual step further.
Spareroom provides a fantastic way for you to advertise your rental property. Create detailed user profiles and listings designed to match you with those best for your property. Market the unique features, whether that’s a garden space or an ensuite bathroom, to stand out amidst the competition. Whether you’re choosing to rent out apartments and rooms in Atlanta, NYC, Denver, Austin, or anywhere else in the US, SpareRoom is here to help.
6. Connect with the community
Build your presence and authentically connect with the community where your property is located. Join local festivals and sponsor community events. Be visible. Talk about your business and distribute flyers during events.
This way, when someone is looking to rent, they will be directed to your office. Locals will easily refer their friends and relatives when they recognize and become familiar with what you offer.
7. Hold an open house.
When you host an open house, you never know who will attend. This is one of the best ways to stir interest. Incorporate creativity and throw in giveaways or raffle prizes to registrants. As mentioned before, people like receiving free tokens. This is also a way to show your gratitude to people who took the time to visit your open house.
When hosting an open house, carefully plan the event. It should be done on a day when most people have free time. Open times and closing times must also be long enough to welcome people who can only drop by early or late. The best thing about an open house is you can readily provide more information up close.
You can also distribute informative brochures if you have multiple properties to market. If you run out of printed marketing materials, make sure to obtain email addresses of registrants so you have a way of reaching out and proactively marketing to them.
8. Create an informative and detailed property listing
All of the important property information must be contained in your listing when marketing online. It can be frustrating to find an interesting ad but suffer through missing details.
It will also help you from getting swamped with repetitive inquiries. Remember that there are heavy competition and prospects can move on quicker to find similar properties.
Your listing should include amenities, exact location, and lease amount. Be specific and avoid exaggeration.
The bottom line
Marketing a property requires effort but there are ways of doing it more effectively to reduce extra expenses. You just need to be more strategic, adaptable, and creative. Keep learning more marketing tips from experienced landlords and property managers.
Have a listing you think should be featured contact us or email at Jeremy@offthemrkt.com to tell us more! Follow Off The MRKT on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.