Before You Market Your Unit

If at the time you settled on your investment property it was fully occupied, you have yet to experience marketing and leasing a vacant (or soon-to-be-vacant) unit. Like any part of real estate investing, it’s important to be proactive, rather than reactive, and marketing a rental is no different. There’s a number of important steps you should take long before your tenant gives notice and the marketing process begins.

it starts with your lease

Being a legally binding contract, your lease is the first step in managing a successful, cash-flowing property. There are a number of great leasing practices you should partake in, but none is more important for marketing than the notice date you build into your lease. A notice date is the last day your tenant can let you know if they are choosing to not renew their lease. My leases read as follows, for example:

(A) This Lease will AUTOMATICALLY RENEW for a renewal term of ( 1 year @ with a minimum increase of 5%) at the Ending Date of this Lease or at the end of any Renewal Term unless proper notice is given. Proper notice requires the Tenant or the Landlord to give at least ( 60 ) days written notice before Ending Date or before the end of any renewal term. 

(B) If notice is given later than required, rent is due for the entirety of the Renewal Term.

(C) Any renewal will be according to the terms of this Lease or any written changes to it.

You might be wondering what this has to do with marketing your property, but it’s an important part of the puzzle. If your current tenant is required to give you at least 60 days (a full two months!), that gives you ample time to start assessing the unit, marketing the property, and conducting in-person or virtual showings. Being proactive about marketing can lead to your unit being leased before your current tenant has even moved out — which means more money in your pocket.

60 days out

Once your tenant gives you notice they will not be renewing their lease, your first steps should be to contact the tenant and get into the property. Reach out and explain that because they are leaving, you will need to access the property for marketing photos and eventually, showings. Give them a number of days to clean the unit and then schedule a time to come take photos. If you have a property management company, they will do this for you.

Getting great marketing photos can be a little difficult, but there are a few tricks that can help:

• Go at the right time of day — depending on which way your property is facing, it can be advantageous to shoot in the early morning or the early evening.

• Use a high-quality camera or cell phone camera — the better quality images you post, the more views you will get.

• Take your time — Make sure photos are not blurry and get multiple angles. Walk to the corners of the room to get the most space in the photo.

• Avoid photographing unsightly areas — if the tenant has moving boxes in the way or there’s a “problem” area you know you have to fix after the move-out, don’t photograph it!

• Avoid personal or expensive items — think about it this way- would you want your personal belongings or family photos circulating the internet? well, neither does your tenant.

• Edit your photos — You do not have to be a master in Adobe InDesign, but making sure photos are lightened, cropped, and clear.

The next step is discussing how to conduct showings of the unit with the current tenant. Depending on if you are self-managing or using a property management company, showings are going to operate in a number of ways.

• Arrange showings based on your tenant’s schedule, so they can let in prospective tenants

• Conduct all showings yourself and use a spare key to assess the unit

• Have your property management team schedule and conduct all showings, as well as coordinate with the current tenant on your behalf

Every property and tenant is different — work with your current tenant to ensure that showings go smoothly.

Posting Your Property Online

Now that you have your photos and you have established a showing schedule with your current tenant, it’s time to start marketing the property on the internet.

Where to Post

There are a number of online spaces you can market your property:

• Listing sites — You can pay to list your property on listing sites; shop around for prices and look into which sites are most visited by renters. Depending on what kind of property you have, various sites have specific purposes and viewers. There are sites specifically for affordable housing, student housing, and luxury-style apartments.

• Facebook Marketplace — This is a great source because it’s free and widely used! Your property will generate a lot of views and you can cross-post to Facebook Groups that are specific to users looking for rentals. One downside to this is you will have to most likely use your personal Facebook to post. If you have a property management company, they should be posting on their Facebook.

• MLS — The Multiple Listing Sites (used by licensed realtors) is a great way to get your property marketed to realtors looking for rentals on their client’s behalf. In order to gain access to these sites, you will need to enroll the help of a property management company or real estate agent.

• If you are using a property management company currently, don’t worry, they would be taking care of all of this as well as paying the fees for the resources noted above.

What to Post

When marketing your property, you want to include the following information, along with your photos:

• Bedroom/bathroom count

• Square footage

• Price

• Utilities/Appliances included

• Features/Amenities

• Parking

• Pet Policy

• How to Apply

• Contact Information

You do not have to be a creative writer — in fact, short and to-the-point is better. Renters are viewing multiple sites and apartments as they browse. Make sure you post the facts that they care most about and anything that sets your property apart from the rest! Most importantly, make your contact information clear.

Responding to leads & Conducting SHowings

Once your property is posted on to all the online sites you wish to be on, you will start getting leads — or prospective tenants — wanting to tour your property. Be prompt with responding — in such an active market, you will need to be competitive to get great tenants.

Depending on the arrangement you have with the current tenant (or if the unit is vacant), you will need to arrange showings with the lead. Keep these showings as open as possible — that includes nights and weekends; remember, most people work during the week and during the day — they need to view rentals during odd hours. Make sure your current tenant understands and agrees to this as well.

When showing the property, be sure you are taking a mental note of common responses or questions about the property. You may find that you have to fix minor issues before tenants are willing to sign the lease.

Be prepared to lease

By marketing two months before your current tenant leaves, you are maximizing the potential amount of money your property can make. If you are doing everything you can to market and show the property, you should be able to secure a deposit and get a lease signed within those 60 days or very soon after. If not, you need to assess the situation. Ask yourself the following questions to determine why your property is not yet leased:

1. Is this property showing well? Are the tenants currently living there clean and polite…or are they making the prospective tenants uncomfortable?

2. Are there glaring issues with the property that would turn a renter away?

3. Are there cost-conscious improvements I could make to help the property show better?

4. Would it be better to wait for the current tenants to move out, do a turnover over, and then re-market?

5. Is the property overpriced?

You will be able to answer these questions if you visit the property and listen to what prospective tenants are saying on showings. If you are not sure, reach out to the people you showed the unit to and ask! It never hurts to have a better understanding of how your property is perceived. The fix could be as simple as a fresh coat of paint!

Have your lease drafted before showings and before applications start coming in. You will want to get the lease signed and the security deposit secured as soon as you can. Be sure to set the lease start date two weeks or more after the final tenant moves out. Give yourself enough time to do a move-out walkthrough to determine how much security to deduct from the leaving tenant and to do the necessary turnover work. This work may be minor — like a deep cleaning and spackling. It may be a bit more labor-intensive, though, so be sure to assess your property during the showing/marketing phase so you can fix major issues before the new tenant’s move-in date.

Marketing your property can, at times, be tricky — but if you give yourself ample time, you’ll have the best chance at minimizing the time in-between tenants — remember, if your property is vacant, it isn’t making you any money! Take the time to spend a little extra attention to how you market your space — well-crafted photos and a detailed list of what’s included can be enough to get your property leased and money into your account. For some investors, they simply do not have the time to dedicate to this — in these circumstances, I always advise finding a stellar property manager to handle all of this for you!

This information may not be used as a substitute for legal advice and you should consult your attorney for legal advice if you have any questions relating to this advisor guide.