SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO ADVERTISE RENTAL PROPERTY

Rehabbing, Fix and Flip, Rental Properties
1

Hello REI club

I am trying to lease my first and only rental property, I did advertisements on CL, backpage, hotpads, Trulia, Zillow and all of those places and I haven’t receive that much of traffic/responses.

One lady that applied had horrible credit and didn’t have the income/rent ratio. Other one had dogs, but one was an agresive breed, and I heard that it is better to stay away from tenants with dangerous dogs breeds.

The rent that I am asking is about $150 less of what the rents run in the zip code where the property is located.

Any suggestion on what else to do and/or advertise my property so it can rent pretty soon?

Thanks for your responses.

2

You could be old fashioned and just put a sign in the yard. You could also put an ad in the local paper and the cheap classified ad paper if you have one of those. Not everyone knows about CL or uses it. I’ve got good traffic from CL but I go out of my way to personalize the ad so people know it’s real. Zip codes can be pretty big. Maybe check more properties close to yours to get a better idea for the price. Your street may be very different from another street in the same zip code.

3

Ditto to justin’s advice.

Evidently your asking rent is too high. You’re attracting the folks that are being turned down elsewhere, and are less concerned about the rent, than they are about smoking and possessing aggressive dogs, and paying their bills on time.

We have a 25lb limit on dog size, wherever we allow dogs at all.

If it’s legal in your area, you could simply ask for three or four times the contract rent in deposits, and charge the rent you’re quoting, but only with a 24-month lease.

This way, you’re getting top rent; getting it for at least two years; and you’ve got a big enough deposit to cover quite a bit of damage.

Tenants rarely walk from large deposits that are ‘large enough.’ They will work to get them back, including maintaining the place, and cleaning things up on their way out.

At the same time you need a hefty late fee that you’re willing to enforce.

You could also ask for a co-signer.

Or you could lower the rent until you start attracting the bargain hunters with good credit, residence histories, and income requirements.

As Justin suggested, put a sign in the yard. List the rent and your phone number.

The most likely prospects for your rental are already trolling the area.

To better gauge the rents, call other landlords in your neighborhood with similar units to rent, and see what they’re asking. Also search Craigslist for similar sized units/houses in your area, and see what their asking rents are.

The most accurate feedback will come from the responses to your well-placed ads (especially the front yard of your rental house).

Hope that helps.

4

Thank you for your suggestions. …really appreciated it.

5

I will add that I’m not a huge fan of signs in the front yard because of crime. I don’t like advertising a place is empty. Deadbeats will break into a house to steal a few dollars of stuff. The sign in the front yard is actually the last resort for me, but I haven’t had to do that for a few years.
I like making people call me to get the address of the house.
Here’s a copy of a recent CL ad I used:

This is a real ad and I promise I won’t redirect you to some stupid website to harvest information from you.
Hurry!! Have one house for rent that’s almost complete on the inside.
The house has a carport and shed in the back yard.
Sits on a corner lot.
It has three bedrooms, one bathroom, and a nice size utility room inside.
Fresh paint inside.
Hardwood floors.
The house is located near the colleges.
All applicants are screened and must pass a background check with the County Sheriff’s Dept.
Stove & Refrigerator are provided.
HUD is accepted. Call XXXX between 8am and 9pm.
$550 rent / $550 deposit
Absolutely no Pit Bulls, Dobermans, Rottweilers, Chows, or any mixed breed containing one of these breeds allowed on the property at any time.

6

I use sign in yard, ad in greensheet, (local classified newspaper) and an ad on Rentals.com.

The sign in yard is great because it lets the neighbors know your house is for rent and if they know anyone they can send them your way. Tenants with friends and family near by stay longer.

I put as much info as possible on the sign including rent and phone number.
Answer your phone! Especially when you don’t know the number. Prospective tenants almost never leave messages.

How did you get your rental amount in your zip?
I would search for comparable rentals in your neighborhood to find what the rents are. Zips can vary widely.

7

I used Zillow and Trulia along with craiglist and it worked wonders.

I think Zillow asks if you want to post the same ad in craigslist which is one additional posting.

I do NOT post for rent in front of my rental because of crime issues, not going to invite trouble unless that area is decent and even then…

8

Pete_Houston,

To get an idea for the rental amount that I should ask for my property, l drove by the neighborhood where the property is located and called 3 other companies/realtors and requested info for the houses that they had listed. I asked for size of the house, bedrooms, baths and all that stuff…their houses rent for more than mine…which is about the same size.

I also went to Zillow and look for the house for rent in the zip code where the property is located, I got lots of properties, but then I “filter” the data to get properties that are similar to mine…same stuff…# of bedroom, bath and I got the same result…the houses listed in Zillow are also a little bit higher in rent of what I am asking for.

9

It sounds like you have a good handle on the rents in your area.
This means it’s just a matter of finding the right marketing to find clients.
You said you drove around the neighborhood and got the competitiors number from their signs?.. This might be the way to go for your marketing also.
I’d go with a sign in the yard with flyers with your rental criteria and info on the house.

10

What is the market for furnished rentals in your area? Is it possible you could furnish it and make more in rent? It is more difficult but it can be more profitable.
Randyscott

11

It sounds like your are syndicating your property on the majority of high traffic real estate search sites, that doesn’t appear to be the problem.

Do you know what the average time on the market is for your property type in your market? Do you know how much competition your property has?

I suspect that one or more issues are at play:

  1. You set the rent too high.
  2. The comps and historical market data you are using needs to revised/reinterpreted.
  3. There is a over abundance of similar properties available for rent in your market.
  4. There is an underwhelming demand for your property type in your market.
  5. Your property is inferior to the similar properties in your market.
  6. You are renting during an off peak time in your market.

The answer to why your haven’t rented your property yet is either product (property), offering (price) or market dynamics related.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Scott Miller

12

Hi … For advertise your rental property you can place a classified ad in your local newspaper, place a for rent sign in your area, advertise it on rental websites and there are a lots of activities that you can do.