Every property owner hopes to land the perfect tenant to occupy their rental property. Some think that it is sheer lack once they do but here is the secret, it all begins with a quality advert. The more prospective renters you can attract with the ad, the more the applicants you have to screen meaning you will settle for the perfect candidate.
Your Ad is the first communication tool between you and the potential renter, so your goal should be to create one that stands out and will leave a lasting impression. The good thing about these ads is they are not rocket science, stick to the specific standards that we will discuss below and you should be fine.
Here are some of the rules to consider when writing the rental ad:
1. Start with High-Quality Pictures
Sometimes, the pictures that you include in your rental ad are enough to convince a prospective renter. As much as this is true, the reverse also applies; some people may never click on an advert due to the poor quality of the images presented or lack of them.
Before the text, people tend to go straight to the pictures, and if they are not appealing, they move on. Additional features such as filters help people to search for rental properties with images, and you may not show up in results if you don’t include them. Two things are a must and matter at this stage: the pictures and their quality.
We are visual beings. We tend to recall up to 65% of visual content even after three days but only 10% of the written content. So you’ve got to include your images. It’s vital for a person to have an idea of how the rental looks like before they view it. Display the actual pictures of your rental and not of a sample unit. If photography is not your profession and you are not ready to hire a professional, below are tips on taking stellar images of your rental property:
- Take multiple shots. It will provide you with options when it comes to picking out the best ones and weed out those that are blurry or have poor display.
- Remove the dates and timestamps. They display how long your rental property has been on the market and may be a turn off to prospects if it has been a long time. So keep the pictures evergreen and discard the dates.
- Make the light work for you. You cannot take the photos at any hour during the day; no! Do so when the apartment has natural lighting from the windows. It is often during morning hours or late afternoons. You can also play around with the interior lighting to help brighten things up.
- Display the whole space and not just a particular area. Do not use cramped photos that display only a side of a room or corner. Stand outside the apartment to be able to capture the best angles of the whole space.
If you have any additional features such as a yard, balcony or a terrace, be sure to include them. If it’s possible, take a video tour of the apartment, and this could help you seal the deal before the physical viewing.
2. Follow It Up With an Interesting Headline
Your headline is an essential part of your ad as this is your only shot at getting the prospective tenants to notice you. Your headline needs to be descriptive and catchy at the same time. It is a shame that even with a great rental property; you could lose out on prospective renters.
The headline should be attention grabbing since most of the times renters skim through the property ads looking for eye-catching headlines for them to click on your advert. True to the saying, the first impression is everything, so you have to bring your A game. Ensure that the headline has the price and number of bedrooms of your rental.
Have a look at these two headline examples below:
- $3000/2BR Beautiful Units with Great Facilities
- $3000/2BR Stunning Units in a Prestigious Location. Washer/ Dryer in Units
It is clear that the first ad comes off vague with limited descriptive features. But the second one adds the location of the units with specific amenity which makes it much more appealing and stands out from the first one.
3. Impeccable Grammar Matters
Grammar matters a great deal in the world of real estate. You do need to have captivating pictures and an attention-grabbing headline, but if you follow it up with silly grammatical and spelling mistakes in the description, guess what? People will be less inclined to consider your ad.
There are a lot of spell checkers out there, use them but do not rely on them 100%, we can’t claim that they are perfect. So read and reread your ad some more before you decide to post it. A trick of catching these errors is by reading out loud. If in the end it sounds the way you intended, have someone else go through it for you, they may catch what you missed. You can go the extra mile and have Custom-Writings edit and proofread for you.
Proper grammar is a must for a potential tenant to follow your ad. Take heed of incorrect punctuation or lack of, homophones or writing in ALL CAPS. When you use all caps, your ad will be viewed as shouting hence people will frown upon it. Yes, it will grab their attention but in the wrong way. As well, at all cost, refrain from obtuse, abbreviations and industry-specific jargon. When you use such, you stand a chance of confusing and worst case alienating prospects.
Make it a point to use positive and energetic words as they are a must! That does not mean that you exaggerate details or lie about them altogether. Just be accurate, and the rest will fall into place.
4. What Are the Best Features?
Every rental property has its own unique features regardless of where it’s located or its size. What are some of the unique qualities of your apartment? List them down in a bullet format as tenants are mostly interested in practical information. List the most valuable features of the rental property. They may include:
- Walk-in closets
- The number of bathrooms
- The number of bedrooms
- Mention if the location is prime
- The oak floors
- Amenities around the neighborhood
- Kitchen Appliances
- Patio, deck or pool
- You can also include the number of square footage
When listing the key features, it is important to have a target audience. Take your time to show some of the most important features to your targeted prospects. List them according to how important they are to them. If the ideal tenants are a family, their key interest would be the proximity to schools, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, parks, grocery stores and parking. If it is a young couple, their key interests would be proximity to restaurants/bars, parking, gym, the number of bedrooms, and so on.
5. The Property Description
The words that you use to describe your rental property have to be extremely powerful and well phrased. Descriptive words are an important element of your ad, therefore, should be informative and colorful. In the advert, be sure to clearly outline the details of the apartment. It will save both you and the prospective tenant’s time since you will have described all the necessary information about your rental property. The details of the property should be accurate and not be misleading in any way. You can start with a positive introduction such as:
This authentic three bedroom apartment is located in Trenton, NJ.
Its location is centrally near dining and shopping centers. The apartment is over 1500 square feet and offers newly renovated kitchen and bathroom.
From the example, all the necessary details are listed concisely with the critical features.
For enticing descriptions, use adjectives like; Authentic, Cozy, Contemporary, Charming, Breathtaking, Elegant, Luxurious, Glamorous, Impeccable; well you get the gist.
Conclusion
It’s a landlord’s nightmare when losing money due to a vacant property or having to pay out of their pockets to keep the rental property afloat. Luckily, by following the above writing rules, you can expect decent tenants in a reasonable amount of time. With the right marketing ad, you can afford to be choosy without losing out on time. Remember to use useful marketing tools such as Craigslist to capitalize on its platform and the type of exposure it commands. You should create an ad based on the actual property. In the advert, keep it concise, clean, appealing and informative. Take your time to edit and proofread to produce a credible ad.
What are some of the posting rental tips do you have? Shoot them to us in the comments section below.
About the Author: Jake Lester is an experienced essay writer that is fond of sharing his mind about various spheres of life. The most recurring themes he covers are education, writing and marketing. He has his own writing style and this is why he is appreciated by readers. You may look through Facebook, Twitter & Google+
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