Owner Portal
The way we market rental homes in Atlanta continues to evolve. Twenty years ago, we’d be listing homes in the newspaper. Over the last 10 years, most of our tenants have found their current rental home by looking online. Rental sites are more popular than ever, with hundreds of available properties on display for residents who are looking for a new home.
Online advertising is still a strong place to be when you have a home to rent. However, a diversified marketing approach is what will set you apart from others on the market. When you think creatively about how to put yourself and your property in front of the most tenants possible, you need to come up with several different avenues for your efforts.
At Property Services of Atlanta, we’re very good at this. We use our own website to list and market rental homes. We syndicate listings across all the popular rental sites like Zillow and Zumper and HotPads and others.
There are a few unique things that we do as well, and that’s what gets our properties rented faster. There’s less vacancy, more competition among tenants, and ultimately a more effective leasing process.
Here’s why diversified marketing is so important in attracting quality tenants, and how you can make it happen for your own rental home.
Increase Your Exposure on Social Media
Marketing has to include social media now, even if you approach such platforms with trepidation. This is an excellent and important way to diversify your existing marketing plans. Different demographics are using different social media sites; you’ll find older renters on Facebook and younger, first-time renters on Tik Tok and Snapchat. Get your rental properties as much attention as possible by creating a presence on all of these social sites.
Social media can be even more powerful than the popular online rental sites you’ve been using like HotPads and Zillow. What’s great about marketing on social media is that it provides you with an opportunity that those rental sites cannot yet provide: immediate engagement. When you share a listing on Instagram or Facebook, people can leave comments. They can ask questions. You can be present to answer those questions, ask a few of your own, and inspire conversation. All of this engagement creates more attention for your property. And, it gets you closer to finding a great pool of applicants.
Social media is also known to spread posts and pictures like wildfire. Friends and contacts can like the post, share it, tag friends of theirs who may be looking for a new rental home.
The best way to diversify your marketing strategies and leverage what social media can do for you is by following these important tips:
You have to know your audience and your target market. Your ideal tenant is likely to be on one specific platform most of their time. Determine what that is, but make sure you’re covering all of them. Know what kind of content those ideal tenants are looking for. What will get their attention when they’re looking for a home?
Keep your contact information clear in both the listing and on your profile. People have to know how to reach out to you, and you have to make it easy for them. “Link in bio” requires them to go hunting for your bio. Instead, provide an immediate phone number or email address, or invite a direct message.
Use Facebook marketplace instead of just posting to your page. There’s an entire section for rental properties. When people get in touch this way, you can do a little pre-screening of your own by visiting their profile online.
Consider investing in social media ads. You can boost your post and increase views by spending just a few dollars on your post.
When you post your property for rent effectively, you’ll find that word spreads quickly across social media, putting your rental home in front of tenants who are actively looking.
Market with Visuals: Try Video Tours
People are increasingly visual when it comes to how they consume.
Capitalize on this by creating a walk-through video that gives prospective tenants a taste of what they’ll experience when they schedule an actual showing. The video can be shared in your listings, posted online in social media spaces, and provided to the relocation and employment agencies you partner with. This is especially beneficial to out-of-state tenants who may not get to see a property before they rent it.
A well-crafted video is a marketing strategy that can save time because the tenants will know instantly whether or not they want to see your rental home. You’re more likely to collect applications from the people who do schedule showings.
Reach Out to Relocation Companies for a Fresh Pool of Tenants
Marketing is still about relationships. Even with all of the fantastic tech tools we now have, you have to be able to connect with someone if you want to rent them a home. Get yourself out into the community and establish some of those important connections.
Atlanta attracts a lot of professionals, students, educators, and medical professionals to the area. You’ll find that relocation companies and even employment agencies in the area appreciate working with real estate agents and property managers to place clients into homes seamlessly. Those individuals and families who are moving into the area without wanting to buy a home right away will be looking for rentals. This can be a quick short-cut for rental property owners who have a property that’s available and move-in ready.
These partnerships will help you rent your home quickly, and to a qualified tenant who you know has a job and a reliable source of income. There’s less risk for you, and likely more money.
Introduce a Tenant Referral Program
Leverage existing relationships when you’re marketing your rental property.
You can reward existing tenants and other contacts for bringing you new tenants. Offer a referral commission and pay in cash, or you can provide gift cards or even rental discounts if your referral comes from an existing tenant.
Marketing in this way allows you to draw upon a larger network of people who can help you get your property rented.
Don’t Abandon the Online Rental Listings
You’re diversifying your marketing strategy, which means you’re introducing additional elements into the way you list and advertise your home.
Don’t give up the online listings in favor of the other things we’re talking about.
You still need a strong online advertisement with fantastic photos, a concise description, and all of the information that people will need to make an immediate decision about whether or not to see your property. The listing is what you’ll share on social media. It’s your foundation.
Put together your photos and video as well as your description and your contact information and make sure you syndicate this out to every rental website that’s willing to run it. Then, make sure you’re monitoring your results. Stay flexible and make small changes when necessary.
Invest in Technology to Facilitate Self-Showings
We know there are a number of landlords and even property managers who enjoy the process of showing a property to prospective tenants in person. We get it. And, we’re always happy to show properties in person when a client requests this. There are benefits to in-person showings.
There are also benefits to self-showing technology, and when you’re thinking about how to diversify your marketing strategies, we want you to consider this.
Tenants want the privacy and space of seeing a home on their own time. They don’t want to commit to an appointment time or work around your schedule. You can save yourself some time, too, and a lot of frustration. Have you ever had a tenant not show up for a showing appointment? It’s irritating.
Utilize some innovative technology and market your property with the help of self-showings.
Self-showings are becoming more normalized than ever. They’re likely to move the leasing period along much faster, which means you can get your tenant approved and placed in a fraction of the time. Self-showings are also incredibly secure. Whatever platform you use, you’ll find that enough information is collected from the tenant before they enter your property that you won’t have to worry about theft or damage. These showings will also save time on your marketing and leasing process. They’ll streamline everything and they’ll also be more appealing to tenants.
Prospective renters can visit the property on their own time and according to their own schedules. They can walk through the unit on their own, and spend time inspecting the details that are important to them.
Being successful in today’s competitive property management environment often means finding creative ways to get the word out about your properties. Try these strategies and if you’re overwhelmed by the idea of marketing your rental property at all, we recommend working with an Atlanta property management company. We can use our innovative marketing strategies to get your home rented quickly.
Contact us at Property Services of Atlanta, and we’ll tell you more.