7 Tips to Find Tenants Fast for Your Rental Property
Are you thinking about renting your home for extra income? We're telling you how to find tenants and giving you tips for becoming a landlord.
Whether you've just bought your first rental property or are renting out a room, you need to know how to find the right tenant and find tenants fast.
Having an unoccupied rental can really cost you. Not only do you have no incoming rent, you also have mortgage payments and utilities, extra property care, and vacant property insurance.
Vacancy insurance costs alone can exceed 60% more than a normal policy because of an increased chance of vandalism.
Let's avoid all of that by finding tenants fast. Here's how:
Know the Laws As someone who plans to rent out your property, you must know the laws related to renting a property. Not following the laws could get you and your property tied up in a lawsuit that would prevent you renting the property out. You could also incur some costly penalties.
That's no way to find tenants fast.
Check out state, local and federal laws. You probably already know that you can't discriminate based upon certain factors under the Fair Housing Act. If you choose to deny a rental application, make sure it's based on criteria that you apply to all applicants. These can include things like a minimum income, credit score or criminal background.
This act also says that you can't discriminate in your advertisements. So, be careful not to exclude a protected class in your ads or insinuate that you prefer another. Those protected classes include:
-Race
-Color
-Sex
-National Origin
-Family status (i.e. kids under 18)
-Disabilities
-Religion
And while not specifically mentioned, you could also get in trouble for discriminating based upon:
-Sexual Orientation
-Gender Identity
-Price Reasonably But Competitively
Consider the cost of a vacant home. Set a rental price that you can live with. But don't hold out for another $50-100/mo if it means leaving your home vacant for 2 or more months.
If you find tenants who pay on time and take good care of your property, you'll come out better in the long run by pricing competitively.
Do a little research. Find rentals in your neighborhood or nearby that are comparable to yours. You can easily search sites like RentalAds.com for:
-Apartments for Rent
-Condos for Rent
-Houses for Rent
-Mobile Homes for Rent
-Rooms for Rent/Roommates
-Townhouses for Rent
This will help you get to the right price.
A pricing analysis is very important, so when possible take an hour or two to do it manually. This is much better than relying on calculators, which may lump your rental in with rentals that aren't comparable.
Keep the House Looking Amazing This is part of that added cost of vacancy we were talking about. A home that is well-manicured with running utilities will rent faster.
Don't let property care slip in between tenants. If you find that you don't have time to visit as much as you should, it's better to hire someone to keep it in top order rather than let it sit.
Remember, that this is a tenant's first impression of you. Tenants are judging you just as much as you're evaluating them. An uncut yard or sprouted hedges could be the first sign to them that you're not a great landlord.
Do Background Checks Background checks offer you both long-term and short-term benefits. They're a crucial part of any application process.
In the long run, talking to past landlords, checking for a criminal background and getting credit reports can help you get a great tenant. It's not worth it to get a tenant fast is you get the wrong tenant. That will cost you more.
In the short term, it helps you foresee challenges that could cause the deal to fall through after you've spent a lot of time with the person.
Wasting lots of time with a prospective tenant only to see the check bounce isn't a great way to find tenants fast.
Hire A Professional Photographer If you have some great equipment and an eye for staging, then it's okay to do this yourself.
But if not, when you need to find tenants fast, this is best left to professionals.
Professional photographers know how to get the best angles on everything. And they notice things that detract like:
-A hose that's coiled in a jumble
-Windows that look foggy
-A bedroom that looks smaller than it is
When someone is looking for houses or condos to rent, it's the little things that make a difference for many.
A professional photographer will know how to show your rental in the absolute best light.
Advertise Effectively Ads should be factual and concise. Find the shortest, most impactful way to say everything.
Every home has its flaws and selling points. Figure out what the selling points are. And sell them. Think about who your ideal tenant is and direct your selling points toward that target -- without violating fair housing.
Common characteristics that you can promote are:
-A big fenced yard
-Mature shade trees -Sidewalks (in the neighborhood)
-Nice appliances
-Nice flooring
-New Paint
-Big bedrooms or bathrooms
-Bonus room
-Walkability Score (how easily people can walk to grocery stores, etc.)
Advertise In The Right Place You don't have to spend a lot of money to get tenants fast. But you do need to be in the right places with the most exposure to the best tenants possible.
Look for somewhere that has 1000s of people subscribed to alerts on the latest rentals. Also, be sure that it puts your listing not only on their site, but 100's of partner sites to maximize exposure to millions of people. This should include some of the most popular home search sites on the web.
Make sure your advertiser optimizes your listing so that it can be found in search engines easily, and provides full-service support. They should also provide ample space to showcase your property. Finally, they need to integrate social media functionality to make sharing easy.
Find Tenants Fast If you're ready to find your next tenant, list on RentalAds.com today to start your free optimized rental ad. Your ad can be up on the site in minutes and in front of thousands in just a couple days.
Don't wait. Instead, get started advertising your rental property today.
Whether you've just bought your first rental property or are renting out a room, you need to know how to find the right tenant and find tenants fast.
Having an unoccupied rental can really cost you. Not only do you have no incoming rent, you also have mortgage payments and utilities, extra property care, and vacant property insurance.
Vacancy insurance costs alone can exceed 60% more than a normal policy because of an increased chance of vandalism.
Let's avoid all of that by finding tenants fast. Here's how:
Know the Laws As someone who plans to rent out your property, you must know the laws related to renting a property. Not following the laws could get you and your property tied up in a lawsuit that would prevent you renting the property out. You could also incur some costly penalties.
That's no way to find tenants fast.
Check out state, local and federal laws. You probably already know that you can't discriminate based upon certain factors under the Fair Housing Act. If you choose to deny a rental application, make sure it's based on criteria that you apply to all applicants. These can include things like a minimum income, credit score or criminal background.
This act also says that you can't discriminate in your advertisements. So, be careful not to exclude a protected class in your ads or insinuate that you prefer another. Those protected classes include:
-Race
-Color
-Sex
-National Origin
-Family status (i.e. kids under 18)
-Disabilities
-Religion
And while not specifically mentioned, you could also get in trouble for discriminating based upon:
-Sexual Orientation
-Gender Identity
-Price Reasonably But Competitively
Consider the cost of a vacant home. Set a rental price that you can live with. But don't hold out for another $50-100/mo if it means leaving your home vacant for 2 or more months.
If you find tenants who pay on time and take good care of your property, you'll come out better in the long run by pricing competitively.
Do a little research. Find rentals in your neighborhood or nearby that are comparable to yours. You can easily search sites like RentalAds.com for:
-Apartments for Rent
-Condos for Rent
-Houses for Rent
-Mobile Homes for Rent
-Rooms for Rent/Roommates
-Townhouses for Rent
This will help you get to the right price.
A pricing analysis is very important, so when possible take an hour or two to do it manually. This is much better than relying on calculators, which may lump your rental in with rentals that aren't comparable.
Keep the House Looking Amazing This is part of that added cost of vacancy we were talking about. A home that is well-manicured with running utilities will rent faster.
Don't let property care slip in between tenants. If you find that you don't have time to visit as much as you should, it's better to hire someone to keep it in top order rather than let it sit.
Remember, that this is a tenant's first impression of you. Tenants are judging you just as much as you're evaluating them. An uncut yard or sprouted hedges could be the first sign to them that you're not a great landlord.
Do Background Checks Background checks offer you both long-term and short-term benefits. They're a crucial part of any application process.
In the long run, talking to past landlords, checking for a criminal background and getting credit reports can help you get a great tenant. It's not worth it to get a tenant fast is you get the wrong tenant. That will cost you more.
In the short term, it helps you foresee challenges that could cause the deal to fall through after you've spent a lot of time with the person.
Wasting lots of time with a prospective tenant only to see the check bounce isn't a great way to find tenants fast.
Hire A Professional Photographer If you have some great equipment and an eye for staging, then it's okay to do this yourself.
But if not, when you need to find tenants fast, this is best left to professionals.
Professional photographers know how to get the best angles on everything. And they notice things that detract like:
-A hose that's coiled in a jumble
-Windows that look foggy
-A bedroom that looks smaller than it is
When someone is looking for houses or condos to rent, it's the little things that make a difference for many.
A professional photographer will know how to show your rental in the absolute best light.
Advertise Effectively Ads should be factual and concise. Find the shortest, most impactful way to say everything.
Every home has its flaws and selling points. Figure out what the selling points are. And sell them. Think about who your ideal tenant is and direct your selling points toward that target -- without violating fair housing.
Common characteristics that you can promote are:
-A big fenced yard
-Mature shade trees -Sidewalks (in the neighborhood)
-Nice appliances
-Nice flooring
-New Paint
-Big bedrooms or bathrooms
-Bonus room
-Walkability Score (how easily people can walk to grocery stores, etc.)
Advertise In The Right Place You don't have to spend a lot of money to get tenants fast. But you do need to be in the right places with the most exposure to the best tenants possible.
Look for somewhere that has 1000s of people subscribed to alerts on the latest rentals. Also, be sure that it puts your listing not only on their site, but 100's of partner sites to maximize exposure to millions of people. This should include some of the most popular home search sites on the web.
Make sure your advertiser optimizes your listing so that it can be found in search engines easily, and provides full-service support. They should also provide ample space to showcase your property. Finally, they need to integrate social media functionality to make sharing easy.
Find Tenants Fast If you're ready to find your next tenant, list on RentalAds.com today to start your free optimized rental ad. Your ad can be up on the site in minutes and in front of thousands in just a couple days.
Don't wait. Instead, get started advertising your rental property today.