When I was first licensed as a real estate agent in 1972, a yard sign and newspapers were all you needed to market your rental property. That’s not the case in this age of the Internet. If you’re not on the Internet in a major metropolitan area like ours in Nashville, you’re going to miss the boat.
We utilize our website for much of our online advertising because through Appfolio, our listings feed to multiple other sites on the web. We also use the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which might not be available to you unless you’re a Realtor. Thanks to all of the resources we use, we are able to market our properties by getting them out onto dozens or even hundreds of websites.
At Apex Ventures, we don’t advertise on Craigslist because of all the scams you can run into. Our properties do end up on Zillow and Trulia, but they aren’t always complete and accurate. We have found that they don’t pull up all our information.
Your ad has to include photos. The more photos you have, the better chance you’ll have of attracting good tenants. Video tours are also great. You can shoot those with a simple iPad or iPhone. Use the video to show the outside of the property, the neighborhood, and then a 360 degree turn in each room. Include the asking price in your ad as well as the deposit amount that’s required. You should also say whether you’ll accept pets, and include the conditions under which pets are allowed. There may be size and breed restrictions.
The old yard sign can still be effective. This helps a prospect find your property. You might find that some HOAs and condo associations won’t allow yard signs, or they’ll restrict the kind of signs you can post. In those cases, you may have to go with a window sign.
If you need any help with marketing, or you’d like to get some additional professional advice, please contact us at Apex Ventures.
