Getting that property rented out is priority one if you are the owner or property manager. As a property management company in Buford Georgia, we base our entire business around the fundamental fact that an empty, non producing house is bad for everyone. Below is a summary what we use in our business to get our own homes rented out as well as our clients.
A key area to focus your efforts and money is the curb appeal or attention that your properties convey to the potential residents who drive by. Statistics have shown over and over that the majority of residents who rent apartments or homes do so because they liked what they saw when they drove by. Less than 20% were attracted by paid advertising.
All of your unique and creative vacancy filling ideas really can’t help you very much if the outside of your property is unattractive.
Priority number two is making it easy for people to know about your home. Otherwise known as marketing. Do some research for your area and find how and where people are looking for homes. Trust me when I say that every area is different. Not everyone uses Craigslist. Locate at least 5 different online sources to market your home on. Call a local property management company and ask them for advice or feedback. Do not use print media. It’s too expense and slow. Stay online. Post everyday or as often as you can by changing headlines, content, and account numbers. Forget about just posting on the busiest days. Market the home every day. Be sure the yard sign stands out, it is easy to read, and the information box is full at all times. Remember that 55% of people drive by the home. You must and I repeat must drive by the property every three days to ensure it is locked and the yard signs are up. Be sure to answer the phone when it rings. Many people use automated voicemail services allowing the potential resident to get information without you having to give the information over and over again. While this is convenient, many full-time rental management companies and investors are answering their calls.
Make it accessible and convenient for people to see. Consider placing a lockbox on the home and allowing them to see it without you being there. This can be done with caution. Be sure to have all information about the home and requirements for renting the property in plain sight.
Last, but not least, make it comparable to the other homes in the area. Please do not base your rental amount on your monthly mortgage payment. One has nothing to do with the other. Scan the online sites and drive the surrounding neighborhoods. About a 3 square mile radius is about the limit depending on population. Currently, the rental market is slightly depressed. There are allot of homes on the market which are driving down prices.
If you currently have a vacancy or a home or apartment coming available, use this as a blueprint to get the property rented as quickly as possible. Your bank account will appreciate it.
4th Avenue Property Management is a property management company in Gwinnett County, Georgia. We offer Property Management Services specializing in rental property management in Lawrenceville, Buford, Suwanee, Sugar Hill, and Dacula Georgia. If you are currently selling or renting a home, give us a call for a solution to your real estate needs.
You are absolutely correct about Craigslist not being the only place tenants are looking for rental properties. We attract potential tenants from across the country and while Craigslist may be #1 in some areas, Kijiji is huge in others and there are likely even others popular in other regions.
One way to determine where tenants may be looking in your area is to use a search engine like Google to search for properties for rent that are just like yours.You can then use the results to determine where the most effective places to place your advertisements would be.
There is no sense advertising on sites that don’t appear in the results or that tenants cannot find!
We too gave up on print advertising years ago as the internet searches quickly became our prime source of potential tenants. They allowed us to find better tenants for a much lower cost.
Regards,
Bill