First Accepted Offer

[Michael Braatz]

Hi all,

My partners and I received an accepted offer on a rent ready, unoccupied, SFR in Milwaukee.

My question is, at what point do we start advertising for tenants?  Immediately? After inspection? After closing?  Are there any legal issues with advertising for a property we do not yet own? 

Also,  any other tips regarding this part of the process would be appreciated(from acceptance to closing).

Thanks in advance!

Mike

[Stephen E.]

I say advertise now. The worst that can happen is that you spend time on this and get contacts from prospects whose interest fades between now and when you can show which in my experience would be after closing. Seller's lawyers are wary of letting anyone in the property earlier because of liability and other concerns. Having said that the entrepreneurial thing to do is get the word out ASAP about your property. You will have email and phone traffic, and the reality is that by the time you can get in to show the place a lot of those people will have gone on to other units, but at the end of the day you only need one.

I just did a sale and short term lease back with a seller who was waiting for their newly purchased property to close. I was in two minds on advertising given I had agreed to do showings after late January, so I just posted a free ad on a major real estate advertising site here. The ad turned up a strong prospect who had just sold her own house due to divorce and was highly motivated. The seller agreed to a showing, the prospective tenant loved the place and cleared screening with flying colours. 24 hours later she had paid first and last month's rent in full and signed the lease. I could have faced weeks of traffic and showings without doing this. It helps to be lucky for sure but the point is I would not have had this tenant without showing some initiative. The tenant has a credit rating in the mid 800s and very healthy income, plus strong references. Sometimes you show for weeks and weeks, rejecting numerous weak applicants. Sometimes the first one takes it.

In terms of photos here the major advertising site takes ten photos on a standard ad. I tend to start with one of the front of the property, two of the kitchen, one to two of the living area, the bathroom, etc. You need to give a sense of the flow of the house. Don't use your phone camera if you can help it. An SLR is a good investment to get better photos. Costco have Canon cameras for great prices. It is amazing how many real estate professionals post ads with crappy photos. You can do better.

You are lucky that the property is vacant and so there should be no privacy issues regarding taking photos.