Why Effort is Required to Market Rental Properties

Marketing rental properties seems like an easy task. You just have to place an ad in the right publication online Await for applicants to respond. In theory, it’s this simple, but in reality, it takes far more effort to get a unit rented.

If you want to attract the right applicants and rent your property to a good tenant, you need to take some extra steps with your marketing.

Here’s why you need to go all in.

1. Your target audience matters

Who is your ideal tenant? When writing ads to fill vacancies, it’s important to tailor your content to reach your target audience. If you don’t have a specific target, you need to pinpoint your ideal demographics because that’s your foundation for attracting the right tenants.

Many property owners write ads that end up attracting the wrong tenants. Usually, this happens with generic rental advertisements that are created quickly and published anywhere the ad gets accepted. General approaches to marketing a property will generate applications, but it won’t necessarily be from the right people.

Try to tailor your rental ads to speak to the kind of tenants you want. For example, if you’re renting high-end properties, describe what makes your property feel luxurious and advertise in publications read by people who meet your income requirements and target demographics.

2. You need professional photography

It’s only natural to want to reduce your marketing budget, and that’s okay when you’re eliminating wasted money. However, don’t cut so far back that you shortchange yourself where it matters, like foregoing professional photography.

You need good images in your ads or people won’t be interested. If your listing lacks images, many people won’t even bother contacting you. Likewise, poor-quality images are a huge turn-off to potential tenants. To get those applications pouring in, you need to show your property in the best light, quite literally. Great photos that show details will deter people who aren’t a match and will attract people who are looking for the features you showcase.

Photography is best done by professionals. No matter how amazing your camera is, your photos won’t compare to those taken by a professional photographer. Lighting is the main reason for this. A good camera doesn’t automatically create stunning images. It takes intense knowledge and skill to create and capture the right lighting in a photo, and often that involves bringing in additional equipment to make it perfect.

3. Virtual tours help attract the right tenants

In addition to professional photos, it’s a good idea to create a virtual tour to publish on your website. This is different from recording a walkthrough of the property, although that can be helpful as well.

A virtual tour is when you set up a series of cameras in each room (or use a special app) to capture the space from every angle. Those images get processed into a 3D virtual rendition of your property. When placed on your website, visitors can click and drag their way through each room as if they were standing inside the house.

Virtual tours allow prospective applicants to see the whole property without leaving their house, which means you won’t have to schedule so many in-person showings. You’ll save time and money, and you’ll get applications from people who have verified, on their own, that the property is what they want.

4. Staged properties get rented faster

People are more likely to be interested in a property when they can see its potential with the presence of aesthetically pleasing décor. Although a tenant won’t necessarily have the same taste in design, staging an empty unit makes it come alive to applicants and will generate more interest.

Staging your vacant property makes it come alive for prospective tenants and helps them envision how they’ll enjoy living there. It evokes emotion from them and can feel quite warm, as opposed to empty properties that feel cold and hollow.

It costs money to stage a rental property, but it’s not as expensive as you might think. If you want to rent your property faster, consider staging it before you take photos and start showing it to people. Sometimes staging a property can even help you attract better tenants, although you’ll still need a good screening process in place.

Make every effort to market your property

With a little bit of marketing effort, you can rent a vacant property fairly quickly, especially when you take the time to present it professionally in your advertisements.

If your units don’t rent as quickly as you’d like, try some of the suggestions outlined in this article and you’ll be more likely to see faster results.