Success! You have an investment property and are excited to get it on the market for rent. You know that your property can rent out… but what exactly are the factors that will contribute to successfully getting it rented? Phase One of the Resident Life Cycle is all about leasing a property. The successful leasing of any property boils down to three simple factors:
STEP ONE: CONDITION
Condition: The current condition of your property will be judged by perspective renters looking for value in their next rental home. An easy way to work on this is to look at other rental listings on Zillow that are currently on the market and view their photos to assess the condition of your competition. A property manager can assist in doing a walk-through with you and make recommendations of items that may or may not be needed in getting a property Rent-Ready. They can also assist in obtaining estimates from the appropriate vendors and go through The Turn Process.
STEP TWO: MARKETING
Presentation: An owner may have the best-looking property but if it cannot be presented well to a perspective customer then no one will pay top dollar. A common phrase is that A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words and we agree with that when it comes to presenting a rental home. Hiring a professional photographer to capture the images of the property at its peak condition goes a long way in being able to present the property in the best way possible. Additional services that add extra exposure are 3-D Tours and Floor Plans.
Listing Platforms: With professional photos in place the property now must be published on the key platforms that will add the most amount of exposure. There are literally dozens of platforms that advertise properties for rent but the main two are the Multiple Listing Service and Zillow. These two platforms syndicate the listing to virtually all other platforms therefore giving a property the most amount of exposure to perspective renters.
Examples: The following is an example of the presentation of the investment via professional photos, a 3-D tour and a floor plan.
3-D Tour
Floor Plan
STEP THREE: PRICE
Setting the Listing Price: As with any other product or service, the price that a rental home will bring in is set by the marketplace. Yes, good or great condition will make the rental home stand out. Yes, great presentation with professional photos will showcase the rental home as best as possible. However, this does not mean that an owner can list the property at any price. A property manager can prepare a Rental Analysis which is a list of other rental homes that are comparable which have leased. A rental analysis will always show a range of prices with a floor and ceiling in pricing where most of the rentals will fall within. For the most part there are always outliers both above and below the range. A property manager can make a recommendation as to where to set the list price for optimal results.
Price Adjustments: Once the property is listed on the market, perspective renters will view the home online and set appointments to come see it in person. As great as appointments are, what truly matters is applications with qualified applicants. If there are property is on the market but there are no showings or if there are showings but no applications, it means one thing and one thing only… the price is too high. After two weekends on the market, if there are no showings and/or no applications then the best course of action is to reduce the price to drive further traffic. The amount of rent reduction will vary from marketplace to marketplace but in our area the standard price adjustment is $100. If the list price has been set within the context of the price range shown in the Rental Analysis, then it shouldn’t take more than one or possibly two rent adjustments before getting the property leased out.
CONCLUSION
Following these steps will result in successfully leasing the property in the shortest amount of time and for the best rental price possible!
