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Marketing ideas for apartment rentals is something that will always be of interest to landlords, property managers, leasing agents, and investors in any economic situation. It can be difficult to find reliable tenants, and high vacancy rates not only affect immediate income but also the long term value and appeal of a property. It can also be costly trying to advertise an apartment rental or property lease for several months or longer if a suitable tenant is not found quickly.
If you’re looking to get your apartments rented quickly, here are some ideas to help:
1. Fix It Up & Price it Right: This is probably one of the first things that many landlords overlook and neglect, even though it may be obvious. However, a property that was trashed by the previous tenants, has obvious defects or problems, or overly outdated will not likely attract the types of tenants that will be trustworthy or long term. While you do not have to go over the top, doing things such as making sure all of the fixtures have working light bulbs, a fresh coat of paint, and other repairs will help make showing the property go much smoothly. Make sure the price is reasonable and competitive – no one is going to rent an apartment that is $500 a month more than the identical one down the street.
2. Try Online Classifieds First: Many people begin their searches online first. Craigslist.org is probably the most popular classifieds site, but that doesn’t make it the only one or even the “best”. Posting good pictures will help attract people who have strong interest and weed out those who don’t. Our list of free Craigslist Ad Creators can help you make an ad that outshines the competition. There are also many other real estate listing sites that may be useful for posting online.
3. Create a Website: If you own or market multiple properties or have an entire apartment complex a website can be a major benefit to you. Not only can you rank for apartment search terms in your area, but you can also take advantage of PPC campaigns such as Yahoo’s sponsored listings or Google Adwords. You can also set up the site to include pictures, community amenities, rules and regulations, local events and news, and testimonials from your tenants. Linking to it from your Craigslist Ad will also help increase interested parties. Make your website functional, professional, and appealing and you’ll have good results.
4. Capitalize on Current Tenants: Your current tenants can be an excellent source for potential referrals, since they most likely have family, friends, and coworkers. Posting flyers around the building, offering special incentives for referrals (ex: save 15% off next month’s rent) and other programs that target the people who already live in the building can help you find new residents without needing to spend extra money on advertising.
5. Offer Specials to Prospective Tenants: Promoting special offers such as “$99 Move in Special” or “First Month Free” can often help. Always make sure you do background checks, sign a lease contract, and get a security deposit – there are people who think they can live in your place one month free and then move out before the 30 days are up.
6. Network With Local Businesses: There are many businesses in every area that frequently hire and transfer employees. Consulting with their HR Department, setting up special offers to their employees, or working with relocation companies can all help. Many people when relocating prefer to lease first to get an idea of what they like about living in an area before making the commitment to buy.
7. College Campuses: Almost every area has a local community college, if not a major university or school within proximately of the property. Hanging flyers or offering to do an interview with the student newspaper in exchange for advertising can help you get exposure to these markets as well.
8. Notify Drive-By’s: Balloons, signs, and banners on the property can all have an impact to those driving past on a regular basis. Make sure the sign is easy to read, does not interfere with any zoning laws or regulations, and offers a special promotion or incentive. Spending $50 for a sign that can be used for many years is an excellent investment that will attract those who regularly see your property but do not notice it on a daily basis.
9. Scope Out the Competition: Chances are that you are not the only apartment building in an area that is available. Spend some time taking a look at the other properties and what advertising efforts they are making. If need be, call them and pretend you are interested in an apartment. What do they do differently than you? You can always network with the other apartment building owners to give each other referral business or share advertising space if you think it may be of benefit and not a threat.
10. Get Listed on Google Maps: Getting listed in Google Maps takes about 15 minutes. You won’t be #1 in any short period of time, but it will help bring more potential customers to you, especially if they type in “apartments nameofcity” and the business listings appear above any other results. It will also help those identify exactly where your location is.
11.Offer Something Unique: There are many different things a property owner and manager can offer that others may not have available. Free wireless internet access for example may be a huge perk to some people as long as you can count on it being reliable and have someone to assist them with setting it up. You can then consider marketing it in places where a unique benefit like that might appeal to someone – such as a local cafe that offers wireless internet.
The possibilities are endless when it comes to finding ideas for marketing apartment rentals. You might also get a little inspiration from our post on 53 Ideas for Real Estate Leads. Be a little creative, and you’ll find that some ways don’t cost anything to implement but a little time.
Have any other creative apartment marketing ideas? You know I’d love to hear about them in the comments below.
8 Comments
You could always try having your property listed for rent in the MLS. We get quite a few people looking to rent on our site.
In order to get on google maps all you have to do is put the apartment listing on Google Base with an address, correct?
@Brenden – if you go to the “Maps” tab in google there’s a place where you can “add your listing” – you can also set it up through your account page that lists the different services available that Google offers and what you can use.
I can’t express how much I wish people would read this article before renting. I go along to view so many apartments, and 9/10 would benefit from atlease one of these points.
If you decide to launch a website to market multiple properties, I’d advise PG Real Estate Solution – an averagely priced script with a wide list of features.
It allows to list properties on google maps, show neighboring amenities, includes driving directions etc.
In addition, it can export listings to google base, trulia, zillow etc. Plus a lot more other features you can check here realtysoft.pro/realestate
These are all great tips for marketing rentals. The best one might be the online classifieds though. Craigslist is a great place to advertise and find real estate. Good post, thanks for sharing.
Usually gong through a local agent is a good idea because they should really have all this in place. Gumtree I personally would had thought was a good idea up untill the recent spamming tho, that was terrible!
Craigs list has been the most wonderful thing for my apartment advertising. The local paper costs $90 to list my Bangor Maine Apartments that are vacant. With the free option, I actually get the same amount of calls and was able to drop the newspaper.