Eliminating Vacancy & Lost Rent

[Blake C.]

I only manage two properties at the moment. Therefore one of my goals is to use my opportunity to focus just two properties to increase my returns. I wanted to gain some prospective on how to eliminate vacancy even while experience tenant turn over. Here is what I am thinking.

I want to add into my lease a requirement and an incentive for current tenants to aid in securing the next tenant. First, I would like to add language into my lease stating that the property will be available for showing or open houses on either Saturday or Sunday (once a week) from 2-4pm. The house will be shown only one two hour period each week during the final month of the lease after the 30 day notice is given. An accompanying For Rent sign will be posted in the yard as soon as the 30 day notice is given.

Does anyone have good language that I could use as a guide to adding this to my lease? Does anyone have red/yellow flags they would raise to doing this?

Also, I want to add an incentive program to them aiding in the process. If they are home, i want them to say good things... all of which should be true because I try my best to provide a good product and honest business. Additionally, I would like to show the house in at lease decent condition (free of dirty laundry, and significant messes. Last, I think the incentive allows it to be a win-win. I don't believe in exhorting control over the tenants. They do their part, Ill do mine. If they help me by being inconvenienced with showings and keeping it a little more orderly than normal I would like to do a reward. $150 if we get a tenant that moves in within 3 days of move-out and an extra $50 on top if they refer someone to me that leased within 3 days of move-out.

Does anyone else offer similar programs? How do these numbers compare to yours? The lease is in a class B neighborhood in Texas that rents for $850 a month (3 Bed, 2 Bath, No garage).

[Roy N.]

Originally posted by @Blake C.:

@Bill S. You have made some good points about the open house vs. scheduled showings with respect to occupied units. Open houses have been gold for me when I need to get in and do work to a property. It has allowed me effectively manage my time and pulls in a large number of tenants. Filling occupied units is going to take a different strategy. My tenants might have been more adapt to view scheduled showing as favorable over an open house. Thanks for the head start and insights on developing that.

Blake:

When showing occupied units, we arrange blocks of time with our existing tenants {say 2-hours on a Wednesday evening; another 2-hours on a Saturday afternoon} and schedule individual viewing appointments within the block (we use 15-minute appointments, starting every 20-minutes). This allows us to make the best use of our time and minimize the inconvenience to our existing tenants.