You may have the most magnificent properties in the world, but if you’re not doing the right things to attract prospective tenants, you won’t be enjoying much return on your investments. Successful property management involves attracting, landing and retaining quality renters and doing so sometimes takes a little creativity. That said here are 7 simple but creative ways to get more interest in your rental properties.
Offer online applications
These days, the easier you make things for people, the more likely they’ll be to work with you, so make it simple to apply for your rental properties by offering the ability to do so online. This also makes things easier for you, since you won’t have to keep track of as many paper applications and risk losing one that could have been the perfect tenant!
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Use every avenue available to you
Social media alone has at least a dozen different platforms that are available for you to spread the word about your rental properties to the masses. Utilize as many avenues as you can, from the web to post cards to blog posts to mobile ads. If your budget constricts you to just a few of these, do the legwork to determine which marketing methods are most likely to target your desired audience and focus on those.
Create some strategic alliances
Think about what types of other professionals might come into contact with your target audience on a regular basis and then work on developing mutually beneficial relationships with people in those positions. For instance, establishing a partnership with a local college, church or realty firm could give you easy access to a larger pool of prospects.
Offer a tenant referral program
In a recent post, we touched on the subject of tenant referral programs. If you’re struggling to locate quality prospects, tapping into the networks of your existing tenants can help boost your search efforts and all it takes a small concession. Just be sure to weigh the pros and cons to be sure it would be worth it for your business.
Model your best competition
In business, it’s healthy to know what your competition is up to so you can both learn what works for them and also get a heads up of what not to do. Keep a close eye on those competitors that are most successful and find out why. You can’t outright copy them, but you can model some of their best practices for your own benefit.
Point out the proximity
If your rental property happens to be close to something that prospective tenants might benefit from, such as a fitness center, theater, school, shopping mall or prime restaurants, be sure to highlight this in your marketing. Oftentimes, a person will specifically search for properties with close proximity to certain amenities, so ads that contain this info will come up at the top of the list.
Offer incentives
People can rent from anyone, so why should they choose you? Well, give them a reason! Offer incentives that other property owners and landlords don’t, such as online payment options, bonuses for timely rent payments, contests and other perks. Show your prospects upfront that you’re different from everyone else and they’ll be clamoring to complete an application.
Of course, these are just a few ideas for creatively landing and retaining quality tenants for your rental properties. Think outside the box and don’t be afraid to do something unique or different. The more you do, the better the outcome will be for your business.
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