If you have rental property investments, you know that the only way to keep them profitable is to keep them occupied. Vacancy is deadly to your cash flow and your return on investment (ROI), so limiting vacancy time is one of your immediate priorities as a rental property owner.
This is why marketing is so important.
When you market your vacant properties well, you can ensure that you find a tenant quickly.
But, the market is crowded and attention spans are miniscule. How do you get your property the exposure it needs?
A property management company can be your secret weapon when it comes to marketing. Not only do we know how to advertise your property effectively, we know how to draw prospective tenants to it until we have a list of showings set up and applications coming in.
Here’s how a property management company markets your rental property.
Creating a Listing: Professional Photography and Written Words
Property managers know that prospective tenants are going to look at photos first. So, when we put together a listing for your rental home, we pay special attention to the pictures that we post. We’re talking about both quality and quantity: they have to be professional-level photos, and there have to be a lot of them.
Investing in great photography will do more than simply show potential tenants what the property looks like. It showcases the strongest selling points. If there’s a garden tub in the primary bathroom, you can bet we’ll take a picture of it. When the kitchen appliances are stainless steel, those will be a centerpiece of the photo spread.
High-quality photos are necessary. By capturing the best angles of the property, we can highlight the strong points of the units and give viewers an idea of what they’ll find when they come for a showing. The pictures should create an emotional connection so that tenants can imagine living there.
The words are important, too, when we’re talking about listings. Your property manager will provide as much information as possible without overwhelming viewers or giving them a reason to get bored and move on. We’ll present information on:
- Square footage
- Number of bathrooms and bedrooms
- What kind of parking is included
- Whether there’s outdoor space
We’ll also talk about the requirements and the logistics, such as rental amount and whether pets are permitted.
Finally, your property manager will ensure that the proper contact information is included. You won’t have to worry about fielding phone calls and scheduling showings. We’ll do that for you. Our team will be the point of contact for prospective tenants, and we’ll schedule agent showings while doing a bit of pre-screening.
Understanding Where to Advertise Online
There are a lot of ways to get exposure for your rental property, and most tenants are looking for their next home online. Your property manager can facilitate better and more targeted marketing by syndicating your listing onto all the popular platforms, including Zillow, HotPads, Apartments.com, Rent.com, and more.
Our property management software allows us to list your property in multiple places with ease. We can also showcase your property on our own website, where tenants may come to see what’s available.
There’s also the power of social media. Your property manager can utilize sites like Facebook Marketplace, which has its own section for rental properties. We can share your listing on all of the social platforms that people are using, inviting comments, likes, and shares. It generates more momentum and gets more traction for your rental property.
Timely response to Leads
If there is interest in your property the potential tenant is going to reach-out either by telephone, email, or social media. This is the critical phase where most tenant leads are lost because most landlords do not have the resources to timely respond to tenant leads. Most important are the telephone calls because these are the “hot” leads and most potential tenants will not want to leave a voicemail on a telephone system. Hoffman Realty “live answers” telephone leads on our rental properties 7×24. We also have an Agent on Call 7-days a week to respond to email and social media messages. This costs money, but it is money well spent as it produces results.
Showing Your Rental Property
A lot of landlords are using self-showing technology to allow tenants to see their property without the assistance of an agent or a live person.
We understand the benefits of self-showings. And we also invest heavily in technology ourselves, so we know it can be beneficial for a lot of reasons.
One of the best reasons to work with a property management company, however, is the access you have to experts such as leasing agents who can do an exceptional job of showing your home. When it’s possible, we like to have someone professional show your home to prospective tenants. We believe personal interaction helps to sell people on your property. Someone is right there to answer any questions and provide additional information. It’s easy and seamless to move on to the next steps, which is often filling out an application and beginning the screening process.
These showings also allow us to pre-screen residents. If we know that someone won’t qualify based on their income or their history of past evictions, we can save them some time and money.
Referrals and Professional Property Management Networks
Property management companies also have an advantage over independent landlords when it comes to marketing because of our local relationships. We can offer referral programs that encourage previous and current tenants to refer their friends, family, and coworkers to the properties we have available. Offering incentives such as a discount on the next rent payment, a gift card, or other rewards can incentivize tenants who refer others to move in.
Word-of-mouth still carries a lot of weight and can be a great source of new tenants. We work with real estate agents who may have clients who want to rent a home. We talk to vendors and service providers all the time, many of whom know people looking for a rental home.
A property manager can also work with relocation companies and local businesses to help find homes for their employees and clients who may be moving into the area. This is a marketing strategy that only works when you’re a local expert with deep community connections.
A property management company in Tampa can help market your rental property and attract quality tenants. Through online advertising, professional photography, yard signs, and referral programs, property management professionals can expose your property to potential tenants, give them great reasons to schedule a showing, and ultimately, move in.
We’re here to help. When you want to talk about marketing your Tampa rental property, please don’t hesitate to contact us at Hoffman Realty.