If you don't want to read everything this guide has to offer, you should go hire a professional real estate agent, and give them half your potential rental income.
However, if you are someone who is interested in retaining all potential income from your property, read on for more information.
When it comes to advertising rentals, it can be a challenge to get everything settled and find the right clientèle to rent your property.
Disclaimer! The only type of rent discussed in this article is a legally transparent agreement based rent.
What You Need Before You Can Advertise Your Rental
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Do it right!
When it comes to renting out your property, you will need to first find out what the laws and regulations are in regards to landowner/tenant agreements, taxation regulations, whether or not you will have to register as an entrepreneur, insure the property, and making sure you have your lease agreement written out by a professional.
A professional real estate attorney will know all of the ins and outs of rental agreements, and will be able to help protect you and your property from breaking any laws or regulations.
It is always strongly advised to have a legitimate rental agreement for many reasons. One reason is that, should there be any damage done to your property by a tenant, you will have a legal right to sue for damages. Another reason is agreements and contract go into action depending which country your property is in. -
Research the housing market in your property's area and determine the price that works for your goal.
If you want to lend out your property quickly, you must compromise on the price. If it is not urgent, you can stay on the higher end of the price range. The price of refurbishing, maintenance, furniture and other costs to keep the place livable must also be taken into account.
When you go to determine rent prices, you should rely on not just the type of property that you have, but also all of its other aspects. Using apartments as an example, the 1st floor and the last floor apartments are often the cheapest to rent.
When it comes to finding the right price and market, you must have an ideal customer in mind. Are you wanting clients that are short-term or long-term? Long-term renters will most likely not require furniture whereas short-term renters will.
Honest people looking to rent for legit reasons tend to want a neat place that at least has all the basics they need. Sometimes people need an empty place.
An example of an ideal customer versus a not ideal customer: If you want a safe, steady renting income, you would look for a middle-aged married couple with no kids. On the contrary, if you want quick cash, this means you would rent to people such as students, who can barely pay rent, and will agree to anything with a roof.
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Determine the type of rent you are wanting to do: Daily or monthly?
Daily rent fees are higher, but so is client turnover, as well as risks.
Monthly rent is a smaller but steadier income, but it relies on a picky selection of customers. -
Why you should request a security deposit
A security deposit helps ensure that your furniture, property and other services provided are taken care of by the tenant. In the event that something is damaged, you have some money to help take care of the damage.
Daily: require it and return at the end of the agreed rental period, as long as all your property and items are safe.
Monthly: same as daily, just in a monthly amount. -
Have clear, professional photos of your property taken.
Make sure you clean and/or refurbish furniture and the interior of the property well in advance, before you get the professional photos taken !
It has been scientifically proven that a person decides what he or she likes within 5 seconds of seeing it. This immediate decision is all subconscious too, which means no photos, or any photos that are off-putting for some reason, will filter out good potential customers who would have otherwise liked the property had they seen it in person. -
Setting up a rental agreement
Always have any and all rental agreements written up by a professional real estate lawyer! By taking the formal, legal route, you can assure that any safety deposit amounts, the terms, and conditions of its return or retention are all specified in the contract. Otherwise, they don't exist.
How to Market Your Rental to Potential Renters
How property, both for purchase and renting purposes, is marketed may be different in each country.
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Passive strategies: posting an ad, posting a generalized ad in a local real estate listings, posting a targeted ad for a specific community that fits your ideal customer.
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Active strategies: use targeted marketing when you know exactly where to advertise. Find mavens; people with influence over your potential customers. For example, if you are doing daily rent and you live in a place that is attractive to tourists, you go to mavens who would typically be information employees at the bus/train stations as well as tourist agents.
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Word of mouth advertising: if you are into renting your property seriously, make sure everyone you know, knows it! For example, have regular posts on your Facebook profile or other social media sites, along with quality photos of your property, clear rent rates, and availability timelines for the property in question.
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Listing all of the features your property offers
Playing up the features that your property offers will ensure more clients renting, and less worry about an empty house.
Examples of common desirable property features:
- Pets allowed (dogs, cats, fish, etc…)
- New appliances
- Outdoor space such as balconies, backyards, and patios
- Security systems
- In-unit laundry
- Recent remodeled kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms
- Close range of other community amenities such as a pool or a gym
- Garage space
How to Screen Your Potential Renters
Nothing is more stressful than having to deal with a bad renter. To avoid getting bad tenants, always sign rental agreements with third party individuals (lawyers, notaries, real estate agents, etc...).
This is so that the client sees that all of your original documents are legitimate, that you have the right to rent out the property, and so you can also see who the client is, as well.
Professional agreements designed by a licensed lawyer make for a great filter when looking for a good client. Good clients will sign, bad clients will be reluctant or refuse to sign.
An example of a risky/ bad potential tenant: if it's a college-age person from another state who is renting something daily from you during weekend for “just him/herself”, it will be a safe bet that you will have a crazy house party happening, and you’ll hear about it from your neighbors and the police.
Where to Advertise Your Rental and other Real Estate Marketing Ideas
Advertise rental property for free can definitely differ by towns, states, and even countries.
Generic Facebook listings , Facebook groups listing rents in your town or a potential client hangout groups on social media.
For instance, if your ideal client is a married couple, you would look for groups that cater to this niche of the market such as restaurants, theme parks, group activities, churches, etc...
Extra tips and advice
Try to network with your neighbors well before you rent out the apartment. Basically, if you are in good relations with your neighbors, you can leave spare keys and your information with them. You can ask them to notify you of any and all suspicious activity around your apartment.
If you cannot find any neighbors you can trust in this way, you can rely on video surveillance for your house and the surrounding area. Specify in the rental contract that you will check on the property however frequently you feel you need.
Even if you have no arrangements with your neighbors, it's always a good thing to make sure your clients believe that you do, this ensures that your clients will be more compliant with your demands.
Remember, most issues regarding rental agreements are often legal or taxation related!
