Tips to Rent Your Space

“Property has its duties as well as its rights.” - Thomas Drummond

Rent Your Apartment or Home Faster

If your investment property is sitting and waiting for a tenant this is not good. The biggest risk to a landlord is seeing your investment sit vacant. There are things you cannot control, such as industrial buildings or busy roads or airport noise, etc. To this I say review your potential investment prior to purchase! However, if these things don't plague you, let's review some things you can control, and fix.

Light Light Light

Is your rental unit dark and uninviting? Rooms just look better brightly lit. If your property does not contain furnishings that's ok. During your showing, make sure to arrive 15-20 minutes early and tidy up, open doors, open all the drapery, shades, etc. Turn on ALL the lights. ALL of them. Don't worry, you can turn them off after the showing times. This includes bedroom closets, pantries, basement lights...literally all lights should be on. Brighten your potential tenants' day!

A brightly lit room is inviting, peaceful, calming and attractive. Step outside your comfort with your property and ask yourself, "if this is the first time I'm seeing my property, what would I honestly think?"

Clean Clean Clean

Prior to any showing, make sure the place is super-clean. No loose ends should go unchecked. Clean means multiple things to multiple people: visuals, smells, sounds, surfaces...the whole 360.

Visuals

If there are some furnishings in a room, make sure they "look" appropriate. Not too much. Less can be more. Familiarize yourself with concepts such as feng shui. Area rugs should sit in alignment with the room, not crooked. Bed covers, pillows, no imprints, fluffed, straight, not bunched. In the photo above, notice the nightstand lamps. They each point at 45 degrees inward to the bed. The angles should match. Symmetry. The visual should paint a picture of completeness. No stone unturned. We want the tenant to think the landlord will take care of me. The property will be cared for.

Smells

If you're there early burn a candle in the bathroom with a nice scent. Consider baking chocolate chip cookies in the over 15-20 minutes prior to the showing. The smell will fill the air. It's easy to prep in advance and bring that with just a cookie sheet with you. People will enter the space and immediately be hit with a wall of chocolatey goodness. They'll stop and have one. This is a great time to just talk to them! This will be memorable. 

Has the place sat for a while? Is there a mothball smell? Cigarettes? Pet odor? These need to be rectified as they will turn away potential tenants or negatively affect your short term rental reviews. Of course, these tips do apply to selling a home, as well. Take advantage of this powerful sense to create a memorable visit.

Sounds

Walking through someone else's empty home can be a bit creepy sometimes. Creaking floors, squeaky door hinges, etc. A little lubricant on some low-hanging fruit helps. But still, there is an uneasiness associated with touring a home in silence. Consider some light sounds for the showing. Bring a blue-tooth speaker. Don't play anything offensive. Perhaps even use this to help mask a loud HVAC unit. Classical or ambient types of music can work well and soothe any nerves from potential tenants' commuting experience on the way.

Finish The Rehab

I see spaces for rent and the rehab is not quite done yet. If it is a single family residence, sure some stuff could still be done outside (landscaping or painting) but it is better if it is 100% done on the inside and out. Staging the home correctly cannot be achieved with tools, workers and unfinished spaces. Make sure to have as much stuff completed and finished for your potential tenants.

Pictures

Pictures are very important in the representation of your space to potential tenants. Crooked pictures of rooms where a hand held camera was not held level to the floor just look awful. Professionals have equipment to adjust the level of zoom or wide-angle lenses to capture the proper framing of a room or space. Use of secondary lighting to bring a consistency of light to the room is helpful when the sun or room configuration are not cooperating. Sometimes a phone camera just can't do it justice. 

Additionally if you are going to take the photos on your own, take the pictures in mid morning or mid afternoon, when the sun is at a medium height in the sky and rays of light can shine in from windows. As said before, open all the window coverings, turn on all the lights. Take bright pictures! This should typically take about an hour for a property. Make sure unsightly items are temporarily moved out of the room or space. Put them back after you've photographed the room. You will only do this once so spend an extra 20-30 minutes or better yet, hire a pro.

List It Everywhere

There are billion-dollar companies that let you use their platforms for free: Zillow, apartments.com, etc. All I can say is, use them! These companies attract the most "eyes" for tenants searching for a new home. If you are not listed on the major sites, you are missing out on opportunities. 

Additionally, if you're using a leasing agent, make sure they list it on the MLS. Many private homes are rented this way. A listing on the MLS gives other leasing agents the opportunity for your home to come up in their searches.

Of course, PMI Service Group is a property management company so we can handle all this for you! If you're interested in discussing how we can benefit you and your real-estate investment, call us for a free discussion and investment review. We would love to hear from you.