How to find Tenants for your rental property and where do landlords advertise.
If you want to find tenants quickly for your rental, prospective tenants need to be able to find you. Learn seven popular methods to fill your property and seven tried methods by landlords.
7 Popular Methods for Finding Tenants
The goal of these methods is to reach the most people possible to find a tenant quickly some methods will have a cost and draw on your own experiences to know when a wrong tenant is telling you they are a good tenant as this may cost you more.
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1. Find Tenants on Rental Websites
The internet is a great way to reach the masses. Sites such as Gumtree allow you to post a listing for your rental. These listings are then visible to anyone with internet access who is looking for a property to rent in your area. The prospective tenant can further narrow the search criteria based on rental price, or the number of bedrooms and bathrooms so include these in your advertisement. If you are interested in accepting government subsidized housing this site can help you reach this market. If you have your own website, you must also make sure to list the property there and be sure to reference your website URL in your other advertisements.
2. Use Social Media to Find Tenants
Millions of people use social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a company, you should create a Facebook page, Instagram account and a Twitter account for it. You can use your personal accounts to let people know you have a property for rent. You can list your property on Facebook.com, post a status update on your account, post a photo of the rental on Instagram or send out a tweet to your followers via Twitter.
3. Find Tenants in the Newspaper
Some prospective tenants still look for rental properties in the newspaper. Advertise your property on the weekend, and on Sunday, because this is when newspapers see the most traffic.
Rental ads in newspapers are tiny, so you will only have a few lines to make your property stand out. Use abbreviations for words like bedroom (BR) and washer/dryer (W/D) to save space. Placing an ad in the newspaper will cost money, but it is another way to increase exposure for your property.
4. Advertise on Local Notice Boards
Put up flyers for your rental in the community where your property is located. This can include bulletin boards at colleges or schools, supermarkets, churches, newsagents. Since people will be passing by the flyer quickly, use a bold headline and large, colour photographs to draw interest to the flyer. On the bottom of the flyer, include tear-offs for people to take. These Tear-offs should include the property address, the number of bedrooms and your contact information.
5. Find Tenants Through Word of Mouth
Don’t underestimate the power of the spoken word. If you have current tenants, let them know you have a vacancy. They may have a sister, cousin, or brother who is looking for a new place to live. Also, tell your brother, sister, hairdresser, boss, and mechanic that you have a property for rent. Always have flyers with you so you can hand them out when needed. You can even offer a referral fee to give a greater incentive.
6. Place a ‘To Let’ Sign in the Window
While you won’t reach the masses by placing a “To Let” sign in the window, there is no harm in doing it either. A passer-by may be interested or may know someone who is looking to rent in the area. Make sure a phone number can be clearly read from street level. Only if you are comfortable giving out a personnel phone number which everyone can read.
7. Let a Letting Agent Find Tenants for You
For their services, letting agents typically charge a commission of about one month’s rent, sometimes more or sometimes less. While this may be the more expensive way to advertise your property, it can save you a lot of the hassle and headache of dealing with prospective tenants. Your property will also be listed on all the methods of advertising and internet property portals only accessed by professional agents like Rightmove, they will have running tenant mailing lists which will increase your property exposure. All contact with prospective tenants have a safe secure point of contact. A one stop property shop. The service will include referencing the tenant to comply with right to rent tenants and they generally present a high-quality tenant and will have local knowledge of the area, an agent will provide a legally compliant tenancy agreement and ensure your property complies with current legislation. The agent will be able to help with management services if you decide not to deal with tenants direct which can time-consuming and stressful. You can decide not to have the constant interaction with tenants. Respond Quickly to Prospective Tenants – You need to respond to prospective tenants immediately. If you don’t call or email a tenant back promptly, another landlord or letting agent will.
