Ensuring the financial savviness and profitability of your rental property investment is of the utmost significance. Landlords fear unexpected vacancies and long-term delays in securing tenants as these issues can jeopardize and reduce their rental income drastically.
All landlords deal with the pressure of finding credible and reliable tenants through a speedy and efficient process. When it comes to find reliable tenants, marketing is the best way to publicize your listing across a wider audience of serious renters. Online listing portals are the most efficient and affordable marketing solution.
We’ve compiled a list of tips and tricks to help you create winning listings that stand out and command attention.
Here, take a look:
Providing Crucial Information
It’s essential to provide a comprehensive property description at the beginning of the listing. You want to capture potential tenants with a detailed description, outlining the number of bathrooms, bedrooms, living spaces and amenities.
You see, tenants usually filter out all the fluff to focus on the information that is most useful to them. So, be sure to provide these crucial details at the beginning of your listing. The information requirements vary, depending on the listing portal you’re using to market your rental property. Typically, landlords are also required to provide the monthly rental estimates, and details about the square footage, floor plan and other specifics.
Highlight Property Features & Amenities
Once you’ve detailed all the features and specifications, it’s time to build up the hype around your property. We advise you to highlight the amenities and perks of renting out your property, and talk about the advantages tenants can enjoy. Be sure to highlight unique features, such as a fully-equipped laundry room, a walk-in wardrobe, or a spacious patio.
It’s also wise to talk about the perks of living in the neighborhood, nearby transit roots, school districts, healthcare facilities and entertainment venues. Is your property part of a vibrant community-style neighborhood? In that case, you can also highlight community facilities, such as a dog park, green spaces, community swimming pool and fitness facilities.
Detailed Yet Concise
It’s crucial to avoid overwhelming potential applicants with fluff and irrelevant information. An appealing and informative listing is always detailed yet concise. You don’t want to lose the reader’s interest by dragging on and on about one feature.
Approach the listing with a storytelling format that begins with a general description, and goes onto describe the unique features, neighborhood amenities and community facilities. Give the renter a brief overview of the lifestyle they can enjoy in your property.
Build on the location of the rental property to capture the reader’s interests. For instance, is the property located in the suburbs, the countryside or a centrally located metropolitan neighborhood? It’s essential to paint a detailed and comprehensive picture without overwhelming the reader with lengthy paragraphs. Be sure to maintain readability by dividing the description across multiple paragraphs and bullet points.
Play up the Visuals
The description is an integral part of your listing, but high quality pictures are more significant when it comes to making a powerful impression. You see, tenants actively seek visuals to explore the amenities and facilities your rental property has to offer. The visual appeal of a listing determines its effectiveness at garnering applicants and securing tenants.
Listings that do not feature images, or contain low quality photos lose credibility, and fail to capture the reader’s attention. If you do not have the equipment required to take high-definition pictures of your property, it’s wise to engage a professional photographer.
Most smartphone cameras are powered with sophisticated lenses and camera features that eliminate the need to hire a professional. However, before you start clicking pictures, be sure to spruce up the property and highlight its best features.
A deep clean and power washing session is crucial to present the living spaces with a spruced up appeal. We advise you to play up the natural light by opening all windows and doors, allowing sunlight to cascade into the property. It’s wise to take pictures during the golden hour, either after sunrise or before sunset.
Be sure to capture the property from various angles, and use a wide angle camera to capture the space in its entirety. Make sure your listing features ample imagery of the interior and exterior, the curb appeal and the neighborhood. The listing should include at least 15-20 images to lend credibility to your post and to capture tenants and encourage them to get in touch with you.
Offer a Virtual Tour
Virtual tours have taken the real estate industry by the storm. They are a popular trend that allows convenience to both tenants and property owners, eliminating the need for open houses and in-person tours.
A video detailing the amenities and features of your property will work wonders at lending your listing credibility and attracting applicants by the scores. Online listings that feature videos garner more visibility and attention as compared to listings without videos. You can create high quality videos using your smartphone and then edit them using a user-friendly application.
However, if your budget allows it, consider hiring a professional videographer to highlight the best features of your property. Consider this an investment towards your rental business as the video will come in handy whenever you need to make a listing to promote vacancies.
Social Media Marketing
Do you usually share your property listings on social media? If not, this is a standard practice to broaden your audience and capture more applicants from a wider pool of target tenants. Social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, are highly effective at engaging a wide pool of tenants. You can publicize your listing across community-specific groups.
Conclusion
Visuals pack up an enormous appeal and credibility, allowing your listing to rise above the competition and command attention. We advise landlords to go overboard on creating high-definition and immersive virtual tours. If you are a marketing a multi-family property, virtual tours and images will help you streamline the process effectively.
If you’d like to talk more about property management, or you need help with Everest Property Management, please contact us at Everest Realty.
As a top producing Realtor and Property Manager; Terry specializes in sales, extensive construction homes, rentals, REO’s, short sales, and all aspects of Real Estate. After graduating the University of Michigan with a master in MBA, Terry continued his endeavor and now has over 15+ years of experience in the Real Estate world. If there is anything that has to do with Real Estate and sales, you can always be sure of Terry to provide important, specialized knowledge.
