How to Advertise Your Rental Property: 5 Top Tips

Searching for an experienced partner to manage your rental property? Palmetto State Properties is known for their ability to manage, market and maintain rental properties in the greater Charleston, SC area. Contact us today.

Why Is Advertising Rental Properties Critical?

Whether or not an investment in rental property is profitable depends largely on maintaining high occupancy rates, minimizing how long units remain vacant between tenants, and finding quality long-term tenants who pay the rent on time and don’t cause damage or annoy other tenants. Accomplishing those goals, in turn, depends on how and where landlords advertise vacant units. Read on to learn how to advertise rental properties to get the best results.

Why Work with a Property Management Company?

Advertising is an art that takes years to hone, and usually, a collaborative team of specialists who each contribute their experience and knowledge to the project. Every detail contributes to a successful campaign, from copywriting to images to the connections you have. This is why working with a property management company–instead of relying on your own skills–yields better results.

As a full-service property management and real estate brokerage, we are able to advertise our properties on MLS, the real estate listing platform that is distributed to all 7000 Realtors in the area as well as their brokerages. We get about 1/3 of our tenants from other agents who have clients moving to the area using the services of a Real Estate Agent. We also use social media platforms with a sizable reach, such as Facebook and Instagram. Furthermore, we know how to create attractive listings on more than 40 internet real estate platforms including: Zillow, Trulia, Homes.com, Realtor.com, Apartments.com, Zumper.com, etc. You can see some of our marketing services here.

How to Advertise Rental Property

 

1. What to Highlight

Before crafting advertisements or hiring someone else to do so, take a close look at what your rental units offer. Try viewing them through the eyes of a potential tenant, particularly one who may be new to the area. Ask yourself questions such as:

• – What makes this a good location?
• – What kind of renter would appreciate what this location has to offer? (Students? Single business professionals? Creative folks into the cultural scene? Retirees? Families with children?)
• – Is this a good location for someone who doesn’t drive? Are shopping, medical offices, restaurants, entertainment, etc., available within walking distance?
• – Is there adequate parking for people who drive?
• – How would you describe the style of your rental property? Modern? Retro? Timeless? Chic? Industrial? Cozy? Expansive?

Answering questions like these can help you decide what to highlight when advertising your rental property to appeal to your target audience. It can also help you choose where to place your advertisements to attract potential tenants who fit your target audience description.

2. A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

If you’re not a good photographer, find someone who is–preferably a real estate photographer with the equipment to take well lighted, well-focused wide-angle shots. Before taking pictures, declutter and stage the interior to make it look comfortable and inviting. Photograph every room and specific features that should be good selling points, such as exposed brick walls, modern appliances, spacious closets, unusual architectural details like French doors or crown molding, and any outdoor patio/deck/balcony. In the case of multi-family rental properties, include shots of outdoor communal areas, such as a pool, fire pit, playground, and so on.

Depending on where you intend to advertise online, you may also want to have a videographer record a walk-through to be used as a virtual tour of the property.

3. Create Compelling Copy

There is an art to creating copy for real estate listings. It’s a matter of presenting detailed factual information (e.g., number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage, type of property, rental price, location, and key features and amenities) in an emotionally engaging style. Be sure to mention things today’s renters are looking for, such as smart home features, security systems, cable and broadband internet, etc,.

4. Full Disclosure

You can help ensure that people who apply for one of your rental units meet your screening criteria by including relevant qualifications in the advertisement. That includes things such as, whether smoking or pets are permitted, any background checks that you will perform, and the lease terms.

5. Online Advertising Platforms

Most rental advertising these days is done online, on platforms and websites that see a lot of traffic. Very few landlords rely on print advertising in the local newspaper anymore. One of the greatest advantages of online advertising is that it can get your rental properties in front of people from outside the immediate community and reach a far greater number of prospective tenants than would otherwise be possible.

There are dozens of websites that advertise rental properties, many of which carry both MLS listings from a variety of markets plus direct listings from landlords. Here are a few that you might want to consider (in alphabetical order).

• – Apartments.com Rental Manager—Lists apartments on several partner sites. Allows landlords to schedule showings and request applications from potential tenants within the platform. Premium listings get featured more prominently in search results than free ads.
• – Apartment List—Only charges landlords a fee (currently $359 per signed lease) if a listing is successful. A discount is applied for multiple listings and increases with the number of listings.
• – Avail (part of Realtor.com)—Listings automatically appear on Zillow, Trulia, HotPads, Zumper, Apartments,com, PadMapper, Realtor.com, and more. Offers auto-generated descriptions and titles based on landlord input. Also offers online tenant screening, lease agreements, and other features for managing rental properties.
• – Dwellsy—Offers listing on Dwellsy Direct for smaller landlords and Dwellsy Feed for professional property managers.
• – Facebook Marketplace.
• – HotPads—Partners with Zillow and Trulia but is more focused on apartments, particularly in urban areas. Sends push notifications to users, which benefits landlords by encouraging potential tenants to contact them quickly.
• – PadMapper—Listings can be added for free through the PadMapper mobile app (single units) or Zumper Pro (bulk uploads). Users zoom in on a map to successively smaller areas using filters to limit their search criteria.
• – Trulia—Rentals listed on Trulia will also appear on Zillow and HotPads. Provides detailed community information of interest to renters, such as schools, crime statistics, and public transportation in the area.
• – Zillow Rental Manager—Allows landlords to post a first listing for free on Zillow, Trulia, and HotPads. Adding each additional listing carries a weekly charge of $9.99 for as long as it remains online.
• – Zumper—Uses two-way matching (by top search criteria for renters and by credit score minimums for landlords). Zumper listings are free and also appear on PadMapper.

Many landlords, particularly those who own larger or multiple rental properties, prefer to leave advertising vacant units and finding quality tenants to a property management company.

Get in touch today to find out how we can help.