No matter who you are, everyone is interested in real estate in some form or another and one of the most often asked questions is “how’s the market?” For our property investors out there, our very best advice is this: Regardless of what’s happening in “the market”, there’s 3 keys to securing a great tenant in the most efficient time frame.
Pricing
The greatest number of tenants will be attracted to your property in the first 1-2 weeks. This means it is important for your property to be competitively priced in this time to gain the most amount of activity. The more activity you have, the more applications you are likely to receive. So rather than hanging on to hope for one magic application to appear, you will have several to choose from and the opportunity to select the very best one.
Also something to consider in pricing is the loss of rent. As an example, if you are adamant about achieving $520 per week, and the property remains vacant for let’s say 4 weeks, your loss in rent at that time is $2,080. However, if you try it at $520 for just one week and there’s little or no genuine activity around your property (ie: no great applications) then this is a clear indicator the property is in need of a price adjustment, so you adjust to $500 per week and immediately receive excellent applications. Now the loss of rent is limited to $520 (for the first week) then $20 for the next 52 weeks, being $1,020, which is a total of $1,560. Making you $500 better off than in the first instance.
Presentation
One of the biggest mistakes landlords make is neglecting their investment property while it’s available for rent. When a property is vacant, dust settles, the yard becomes untidy and everything starts to look a bit tired. This is exactly the impression prospective tenants receive when they inspect. Remember that potential tenants are looking for a “home” and most people want to know that their landlord cares about their investment. The more you care for your property, the more a tenant will care for your property. Ensuring the property is clean, light bulbs are working and all repairs are attended to, will go a long way in helping you secure an excellent tenant. If you are unable to check in on your property regularly whilst it is available for rent, we can arrange a light clean as required.
Promotion
You can’t sell a secret, so promoting your property to the most possible tenants is essential in securing a great tenant in an efficient time frame.
Traditionally, the marketing of a sale property far outweighed the bare minimum and often half hearted advertising offered for rental properties.
We believe your investment deserves to be presented in its very best light and have developed marketing campaigns with a full suite of tools to ensure maximum exposure at a fraction of the cost of a sales campaign. These include, professional photography, floor plans, 3D virtual tours as well as carefully written descriptive advertising text.
If you were selling your property, you would want the very best marketing campaign available to help you achieve the very best sale price. Why not do the same with your investment property to secure the very best tenant?
Find out more about the author: Barbara Cooper