How To Attract Tenants For Your Rental Property

Generally, finding tenants for your rental property can be stressful and time-consuming for a property owner or manager. Finding the right tenant can be yet another hectic mission altogether.

If you’re looking to attract some tenants for your property, there are some obvious ways you could do so, including an ideal neighborhood, the right price, and, of course, an ideal property. As much as this may seem pretty straightforward, conditions may not always be ideal.

As the property owner or manager, you may not have control over your property’s rental price or location. Still, you could do many other things to attract quality tenants for your rental property. In this article, you’ll get some helpful tips and information to help you through this.

What Is An Ideal Tenant?

Almost every landlord dreams of having a tenant with the right personality traits. A good and respectful tenant, who pays their rent on time, takes excellent care of the property, and stays for a long time, could be an ideal tenant.

Before You List Your Property

Before putting out a property on the rental market, you must consider the tenant you’re looking for. A criteria list of the tenant you want to live in your property is essential. Similarly, knowing the ideal tenant for the property helps narrow your applicants so that you focus on those who tick the boxes.

To help you with the criteria list, you could look out for some of the following traits:

• A Tenant Who Pays Rent On Time 

You could look out for a tenant who not only pays their rent but pays on time. One way you could do this is through a thorough credit analysis. If your prospective tenant’s credit card report shows that they make payments on time,  you may be on the right track.

• A Responsible Tenant 

Check out some references and see if there are any red flags before you settle for any tenant. One way to ensure a responsible tenant is to have them purchase the renter’s insurance policy. If they’re up for it, then that’s a good start.

• Long-Term Tenant 

A high tenant turnover is never good for your property. It comes with expenses such as advertising, renovations, and so forth. To ensure you get a tenant who stays for the long term, you could review the references and see how well they relate with others at work, at home, and so on.

You can start hunting when you’re clear about the tenant you want. To help you attract tenants, here are some 18 valuable tips you could try out:

1. Lay Out A Clear Tenant Criteria 

Once you’re sure about the tenants you want for your property, you should lay out your tenant criteria. This should answer the sort of questions you might get from prospective tenants. These may be to do with smoking, pets, and social status, to mention a few. Laying clear tenant criteria helps you attract the right people for your property.

2. Choose The Right Real Estate Agent

If you’re a landlord, you should consider working with a real estate agent with the right experience to help you attract tenants for the property. A real estate agent like Rooftop Real Estate Management, and many others, could help with professional advice on ways to attract tenants to your property.

The real estate agent you work with must also be well-versed with the area and the rental market. Do your research before you pick your real estate agent and then choose the one you trust the most.

3. Set The Right Rent

Setting a competitive rent is one of the simplest ways to make your property more appealing. When your rent is too high, it may take some time before you get prospective tenants. Nevertheless, if you set it too low, you may raise unnecessary negative suspicions. One way of setting the right amount could be to compare the properties in your area.

4. Write A Compelling Listing

A good listing is one of the initial steps in attracting tenants for your rental property. Thousands of property managers and landlords use listing services to find potential tenants. Therefore, you have to write a compelling listing if you want to be competitive in the market.

A decent listing should have the following basic tenants:

• A hook in the headline that could interest potential tenants.
• A concise and informative description.
• Professional-looking photos.
• Sufficient contact details.

Take time to craft an attractive listing to increase the pool of tenants. This could help your chances of getting the right one for the property.

5. Use Professional Photos

For a great listing, you have to use attractive pictures. When you use quality photos, you quickly capture the interests of potential tenants. The more images you place, the longer you could hold the interest of potential tenants. A listing with no pictures is like a coconut with no juice.

Never leave anything up to the imagination of your potential clients. For example, if you have some excellent art décor on your property, let it be shown in some images. A professional photographer normally knows the best shots to bring your property to life. Some listings will even take a notch higher by including a video tour of the property. This could certainly improve the interest of any potential tenant.

6. Ensure Regular Maintenance 

Regular maintenance of your property may not only help keep your property pristine but also helps you attract tenants for rental. When a property is well maintained, it may give potential tenants a positive impression that it is well taken care of and that they’re unlikely to have problems with the repairs.

Also, regular maintenance is like nipping problems in the bud. It could save you time and money as it addresses little problems before they become substantial expensive repairs.

7. Prepare Your Property For The Market

With property, the first impression always counts. Before renting your property, ensure you’ve done all the necessary work to make it more attractive. No tenant would be interested in renting a property that requires a lot of work.

Make sure you thoroughly inspect the property and add some curb appeal to make it more attractive. Also, ensure you spring clean before you conduct any showing of the property.

8. Property Presentation

The real estate market is now so highly competitive that you have to ensure your property is on point when it comes to presentation.

Before you put up your property for letting, consider the following:

• Repair 

Ensure all repairs are done before putting the property on the market.

• Freshen 

A lick of paint could be what your property needs to look new. See what else needs renovation and sort it out to attract more tenants.

• Declutter

Decluttering your property could help improve its appeal. Because most tenants have their possessions, you must ensure there’s enough room to put them. Also, a decluttered place is usually more inviting.

• Clean 

It goes without saying that clean properties will almost always attract more tenants.

9. Include Add-ons

Boosting the value of your rental property could help attract potential tenants. A straightforward way to boost the value of your property is by using add-ons. For example, you could increase the lighting or install some built-in wardrobes and heating. You may also include other comforts like air conditioning and washers.

These add-ons will not only boost the value of your property but may also improve the quality of your potential tenants. And in the long run, they’ll likely prove to be a worthy investment.

10. Know All The Amenities

When you post your listing, make sure to include all the area amenities. These include local supermarkets, schools, parks, public transport networks, parking, and restaurants. Establishing all local amenities could help any potential tenant with a solid understanding of the area.

If potential clients enquire about the property, be prepared to answer any questions regarding the neighborhood. You could even create a flyer that has information about all the amenities in the area. This could be a creative way of attracting more potential tenants.

11. Be Accessible

Communication is key to attracting new tenants for your rental property. Ensure all your lines of communication are open and easily accessible. Be prepared to answer any questions regarding the property, and be sure to give any potential tenant a clear picture.

Open lines of communication could also help you to assess whether any tenant would be the best fit for the property. A good communication channel could also help you prove your relationship with a tenant. Once your listing is up, ensure that you include all your contact details like your cell phone number, email address, website, or any other easily accessible communication channel.

12. Be Flexible

To go hand in hand with good communication is the art of flexibility. Because most clients may not be able to view your property during working hours, they may opt to meet up with you during weekends or after working hours. Therefore, you must be available and flexible to meet up with them. If you are rigid about your scheduling, you could easily lose potential tenants for your property.

However, you must also be vigilant and look for potential red flags. For example, if a client wants to view your property late at night, you have to be careful and confirm they’re genuine.

13. Ensure No One’s At home During Showcasing

If you’ve listed a property currently occupied, try to conduct your showings when the current tenants aren’t at home. Organize a showing well on time and inform the current tenants so that they prepare. Try to work your showing schedule around the times when they’re out. Showcasing the property when the current tenant is in could make the potential tenant uncomfortable. Ensure all the valuables are locked safely, and the property is clean and homely.

14. Try Old School Techniques

Although the Internet has almost taken over most advertising platforms, never take the old methods of enticing potential tenants for granted. Although they may have a smaller market reach than the Internet, old marketing techniques could effectively attract the right tenants.

Never underestimate the power of physical advertisements in real estate. When you put up a” for rent” placard outside your property, you could attract potential tenants looking for properties to rent in the area. Other forms of physical advertisements could include placements in newspapers, billboards, local notice boards, and fliers. Try them and see for yourself.

15. Advertise To The Right People

Advertisements are most effective if they are targeted at the right audience. To improve the chances of attracting tenants for your rental property, you must consider the places and platforms on which to advertise. If, for example, your property is situated close to a sports club, you could try and target people who frequent the club as they may want to live close to it.

16. Use Word Of Mouth

Another effective tool for attracting tenants for rental properties is word of mouth. Family and friend recommendations are a great marketing tool in most business fields, including real estate. Therefore, establish a good rapport as a property manager or landlord so that your reputation helps attract tenants.

When your current tenant decides to move out, don’t hesitate to ask if they could recommend the property to their friends and family. Such referrals could help improve your chances of attracting quality tenants for your property.

17. Beat Your Competition

To attract property tenants, you must understand your competition and beat them. One way is to find out what your competition in the area is offering and to offer better deals. Just be sure to be truthful when you advertise.

18. Screen Potential Tenants

Although it may seem obvious, screening potential tenants is very important. Make sure that you have done all the necessary checks, including the following:

• Assess any potential tenant’s background.
• Check their credit score.
• Check their income.
• Speak to all their references, including former landlords.
• To get a sense of their personalities, ask the right questions.

A thorough screening of potential tenants could save you the hassle of dealing with impossible people in the future. After all,  prevention is better than cure.

In Summary

Attracting tenants for your rental property involves three main facets: marketing, appearance, and cost. If you get this right, your search for a new tenant will be easier than you think.

The tips discussed here generally fall under these principles. Good luck.

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