The next step on your journey to becoming a landlord is finding your tenant. Everyone wants to find the ideal tenant, but marketing your rental unit isn’t always that easy.
How you market your unit makes all the difference to the tenants attracted to it. You need to make sure your property stands out in the crowd.
Make sure potential renters know why they should choose your property over others. Is it newer than the others or maybe bigger, cheaper, cleaner, or safer? Does it offer more bang for their buck? There are a few basics we need to cover first.
Before starting to market your rental property
Note all interior and exterior conditions and make sure that your property is squeaky clean. Take excellent photos that make your rental property look homey.
- Note down all the qualities of your ideal renter. Listing your tenant preference can help you narrow down all applications that you will receive down the road.
- Decide if your property will be listed as a short term or long term rental.
Planning where to list and advertise
Better list as much as you can!
Here are things you need to prepare before adding your listing:
- Property Description
- Property Features
- # of Bedrooms
- # of Bathrooms
- In-suite Laundry?
- Balcony or Terrace Available?
- Flooring?
- Feature Highlights
- Parking?
- Complete Location
- Where is it near to?
- Are pets allowed?
- When is it available?
- Terms?
Start of Advertising and Marketing
Once you’ve got everything prepared, then you are ready for the next step
The ideal places to advertise are the following:
- Newspapers,
- Campus housing offices,
- Bulletin boards outside of any public location, or
- Merely putting a for rent sign outside the rental property.
- Appropriate social media communities
- In your social profiles
- Listing websites: Craigslist, Zillow, Hotpads, Trulia, Padmapper
Related: 4 Effective Ways to Market Your Rental
You want to be sure that your advertisements are incredibly detailed and that you focus on the features that will attract your ideal tenants.
When Advertising Online…
You can send out email advertisements, place ads on apartment listing websites, online classifieds, etc. Again, you want to be sure to be detailed in your listing and, if possible, decorate the house for the images you upload as that could better attract your ideal tenant.
When evaluating prospective tenants
You should take your time and choose your tenants carefully.
If you decide to hastily, you could wind up with people that damage your property or are late on rent payments. You should, of course, find out your potential tenant’s credit information, but you should also ask for references.
Business references and personal references can help attest to the potential tenants’ character and help you make a more informed decision.
What should you check when screening tenants
You should be sure to ask for credit and banking history, employment information, tenancy history or possible evictions, court records if necessary, and references. You should call their previous landlords and try to get a feel for how they were as tenants. This will give you a good idea of where they stand.
You need to be careful about human rights, so you know what’s okay to ask.
Acceptable questions are as follows:
- What is your income;
- Where do you work;
- How many people will be living with you and what are their names;
- Do you have pets; do you smoke;
- Could you provide written permission for a credit check;
- May I see your references and their current contact information?
- You cannot ask personal questions about their relationship status, family, race, or sexual preference.
Related: The Ultimate Guide To Screening Tenants
Finding tenants is the most important step on your journey to becoming a landlord. Without tenants, your property is just a waste of money and space.
You need to be sure to advertise to your intended audience. Place your ads in areas where people with your desired income and personal qualities might see it. List benefits that will sell your desired tenants on your property.
Be picky in the tenants you choose. This way, you’re less likely to get a tenant who would skip out on rent or damage your property.
In Conclusion
Some individuals think that posting a listing online or hanging a for sale sign on their property is the end of marketing. Unfortunately, the whole landlord-tenant relationship doesn’t end there yet.
Marketing your rental property marks the beginning of a bigger chain of processes that will help you run your rental smoothly.
Top notch property managers Leo Chrenko, has shared their team’s full rental management process here so other aspiring landlords could understand how to deal with tenants efficiently and professionally.
[inf_infusionsoft_inline optin_id=optin_11]