Hosting A Successful Rental Open House
Undoubtedly one of the most important tasks of a landlord is finding the right tenants for your property. It can mean the difference between a great deal of stress and money spent, and taking the time to find the best prospective tenant for the opening in your rental property will be more than worth the effort. Instead of sifting through piles of applications, give your tenant search a more personal touch by hosting your very own rental open house.
Best Advertising Practices
If you’re replacing a former tenant, start advertising as soon as you’re given notice of vacancy. If you’re renting out your property for the first time, list early, at least a month in advance. This will give you the time to craft a great advertisement and allow you to determine the best places to post. Instead of throwing up some shoddy pictures on Craigslist, take the time to craft great listings on a rental property website like HotPads.com.
Give the Place a Thorough Cleaning
If there’s any instance in which to justify hiring a professional cleaning service, it’s before your rental property open house. If you currently have tenants living in the home, ask them to have the apartment picked up before having prospective new tenants come see the space. Then, hire a service to come in and clean the place top to bottom (as much as possible with disturbing your current tenants’ valuables). If your property is empty, that’s all the more reason to have it scrubbed down clean.
Paper Assets
As your open house visitors work their way through the house, make sure they have something to look at. Print out flyers that highlight the top advantages of your property, including upgrades, amenities, and proximity to places like restaurants, bars, and schools—anything you think your ideal candidate would be looking for. If you do have a plethora of guests walking through the house, you’ll be assured that they know your main selling points, and they’ll have a memento to take with them to keep your property in mind. Also be sure to bring along applications and other documentation you’ll need in case a tenant is ready to put in their name for contention. Use a website like PosterMyWall.com to create a professional looking real estate flyer that will help your property stand out.
Harness the Power of the Competitive Spirit
Humans respond to competition, and when we see that others want something, our predilection is to want said item as well. Taking advantage of this aspect of human nature can help you find a better tenant willing to pay a higher price for your property. Schedule your open house to field multiple prospective tenants. As they shuffle through the home and hear the expressions of delight from other potential tenants, they may be more inclined to get their application in—and just might be willing to pay a bit more to secure their spot, especially if you’re renting a property in a popular neighborhood or overly saturated area.
How to Select Your Tenant After the Open House
The luxury of putting a face to a name on an application is afforded to landlords who choose to host open houses to find their new renter. When you start receiving those applications, keep in mind the conversations you had with each visitor, and take their presentation into consideration.
Were they respectful? Polite? Think of the qualities you want in an ideal tenant and have those in mind as you make your final selection. Also never be swayed from running full credit checks, even if an applicant is willing to pay more and pay immediately—this is almost always a bad sign. Use a company like MySmartMove to make sure the candidates in question don’t have a criminal past, haven’t been evicted, and have a decent credit score. Knowing all of these aspects about your pool of prospective tenants will help you make a more informed decision that will result in a better placement every single time.
Ensure yourself a great tenant by following these steps for the perfect open house and make your rental property more lucrative than you might have expected.
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