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4 Tips for Finding Tenants for Your Rental Property
If you own a rental property, you’ll want to do everything possible to avoid any long-term vacancies that could hurt your income. The key to avoiding vacancies is to attract more prospective tenants who are ready to move in and will stay at least until the lease period expires. Here are a few things that you can do to try to fill your rental property with new tenants as quickly as possible.
Advertise Effectively
Without effective advertising, fewer people will even know that your rental property is available. You can post ads online on different websites that feature the property description and detailed photos and videos of the rental along with some basic information about the rental price and lease terms. In addition to information about the rental itself, you can include details of how close the property is to certain attractions, hospitals, schools, or other places of interest. You can also post flyers to bulletin boards and in other locations around town.
Don’t Neglect the Maintenance
Even if your property sits vacant for a while, you should be mindful of its upkeep so that it doesn’t become excessively dirty or fall into a dilapidated state. You never know when people who might be interested in the rental will want to tour the property, and you’ll want to make sure that everything is looking its best when they arrive. Landscaping, cleaning, and painting the inside or outside of the property are just a few maintenance tasks that you might need to perform. You should also check the plumbing and electrical systems along with the appliances in the unit regularly to ensure that everything is still working correctly.
Know the Property’s Worth
By getting your property appraised with help from a rental appraisal service, one like John Cook Real Estate, you’ll know the exact value of your property and what you should be charging for rent. One reason why you might be having trouble finding tenants is that you’re valuing your property higher than what it’s worth and charging too much for rent. An appraisal can also help you devise better pricing strategies that may help you get more people interested in your property.
Screen Tenants Carefully
You don’t want to waste time on people who either can’t afford the rent or will likely cause problems and possibly need to be evicted in the future. You should perform thorough checks of credit reports and current employment statuses for anyone who wants to become a new tenant. It’s also important to look closely at a person’s rental history and see if they’ve had any prior evictions on their record. You may even be able to check certain details of a person’s criminal record, but be sure to review the local laws about screening tenants’ criminal histories before doing so.
You’ll likely fill your vacancy much faster if you invest the time that’s needed into doing things right. With more steady, long-term tenants, you’ll be able to enjoy more continuous income.
