When is the best time to begin advertising your rental?

Question

I have a rental that will be available to rent beginning 9/1.  The last time I had to rent it, I had half the notice and a lot of work to do on the place, so I didn't list it until it was ready to show, which was after my tenant vacated.  As soon as I listed it, I got a ton of interest and had a lease signed right away.  So far, I'm getting very little interest, so I don't know if it is because it is priced too high or listed too early, or a combination of both.  My price is in line with similar rentals in the same neighborhood, but those don't appear to be moving either. I'm planning on doing an open house in two weeks.  Am I better off taking the ads down for a week or so?  I fear that if it looks stale that people will lose interest.

Steve Vaughan · Answer

If vacant, I like to show mine when only mostly done.  If a  few things still need to be completed and the applicant flinches too much, I know I have a nit-picker to avoid.  I seek flexible and tolerant tenants.

It not being available for 6 weeks probably is a little soon, but not necessarily.  My area has a lot of folks moving from out of area and their positions don't start until then.  You only need one, right?  Consider yourself blessed for not having to deal with a bunch of tire kickers.

Open houses are a whole nother area of debate.  I avoid them like the plague.  Some love them, but the same also put their phone number in their ad and don't mind answering the same questions over and over.   I like to ask questions in my ad and not exchange numbers until a few anonymous e-mails have been exchanged.

Good luck renting your place to a quality tenant @Jennifer L.!

Account Closed · Answer

I stopped showing units until they were ready, because it's hard for people to see past other people's junk, or to envision their own stuff in there in a different way, etc.  And I learned not to show them partly ready, because they worry it won't really be ready on time or the work will be done badly.

But, in San Jose, you should have families moving from out of state for jobs, who want to get there for school.  When does school start?  Are you in a good school district?  Maybe you could play up the good school angle - give the greatschools.org rating, and work with people relocating and willing to rent sight-unseen.  I did this a lot and it wasn't a problem for me - my tenants were mostly young professionals and students.  My units were mostly studios, with some 1 bedrooms.

Since you want families, then advertising at the universities won't work - that's why I was asking.  Craigslist and the others are the way to go to find people relocating.

The good news is that you have had some calls, so it's not ridiculously priced, I don't think.  And the owner I worked for said if you're slammed with calls, you're priced too low.  We started high on vacant units, and came down if necessary.

Would you be willing to cut and paste your ad?  Leaving out the address or whatever?  Maybe your ad could be worded better?  Did you include old photos from when it was vacant and ready?  Just brainstorming.

Jennifer L. · Answer

@Steve Vaughan Yes.  After that, I had one of the no-shows ask for another appointment.  I sent him a link to my application and told him I would schedule him a time after I knew that met my minimum qualifications.  Never heard back from him. So, I'm learning.

I prefer the Open House method because competition creates urgency.  My tenant was uncomfortable with that because she is still living there.  After spending an evening hanging out and seeing the no-shows, she offered to allow me to do an open house.  She said that when I held my open house that she attended, she was eager to sign the lease because she didn't like seeing other people in 'her' house.

Thomas S. · Answer

Now is the time to advertise. Responsible tenants will begin looking two months ahead assuming they are giving or planning to give proper notice to their present landlord. You do not want a tenant that needs a unit on short notice. If the market is slow you simply need to be patient.

Account Closed · Answer

Forgot to add, though, that I wouldn't take the ad down.  If the ad says it's not going to be ready until Aug 1st, then I don't think there will be a sense that something's wrong with it.  At any rate, I'd leave it up.  New people will be looking all the time.

James DeRoest · Answer

We put them back on the rental market when they are vacant. I'm not going through all the hassle of renting a place that has an existing, or even worse, signing a contract with a new tenant when the old one isn't even gone yet.

And to be honest, I like the place to have a month downtime between tenants. Gives me a chance to inspect the place, do the odd jobs without the pressure of someone moving in the following day, and generally take my time.

Vanessa Chow · Answer

I have my property, which is also in San Jose, posted on Craigslist and internally on my company's ad postings.  I have a lot of inquiries and I am asking all of them to show up at my open house.  I did not advertise until my tenant has moved out and the place is clean enough to take pictures for advertising.

I am overlapping my contractor repainting the place with the open house to shorten the vacancy time.

How big is your place and how much are you looking for?  I researched my zip code and survey the asking rent.  I am pricing my condo below the large apartment complex but above the ones that are dated.  We will see how it goes this weekend.

Atwan Kwan · Answer

I reluctantly advertise mine 2 months ahead if i can. opposed to greg's comment, i get a lot of browsers and looky loo's that early.

Also, the anxiety and stress is added on to my pile so early out, but better to be safe than sorry with a good list of prospects by vacancy date.....

Josh Caldwell · Answer

I market mine a month before my tenants leave, that seems to work pretty well for me in general There are times when for no known reason a property just doesnt seem to catch the attention of renters.  When that happens, I mess around with the property description.

Jennifer L. · Answer

Craigslist (which is the only listing I used last time), Zillow, HotPads, Trulia, etc.  My feeling is that I'm asking too much.  I went $150 under last time and now I'm way under market with my current tenants.  Working professionals are the ones that have rented it in the past.  Small families or couples.

When is the best time to begin advertising your rental?

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