Vacancy-Rental Strategies-Property Management Services

[Laura Au]

SFR in rental market saturation. Property on market for a month, no hits with below than median rental price. In situations as so, what should property management services would be put work here to earn their keep to get the property rented. The only options provided is move in specials or driving down rental price. Advertising only consists of main websites: Zillow, Trulia, etc. Should I look into finding a better PM?

[Adam Bartomeo]

Facebook marketplace is a great place to find potential tenants. Putting in a yard sign helps also. We pot on about 30 websites, our website, the MLS, social media, and put in a yard sign.

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Laura Au:

Facebook marketplace gets a lot of activity, but very few qualified renters. That's my experience, and I hear it from other property managers around the country.

This is really simple. Anything will rent for the right price. If it's not renting, it's either at the wrong price or it can't be found by people who are looking.

1. Ensure it is clean and updated

2. Check that your marketing is casting a wide net, the information is accurate, pictures are well-lit and at good angles, etc.

3. Offer move-in incentives (hard dollar amount, not a percentage)

4. Drop the rent rate

5. Set a time limit. If not rented in X days, rinse and repeat.

Remember: lower your price, but never your standards!

[Drew Sygit]

@Laura Au we've never had any real success with Facebook Marketplace, just a waste of time.

Depending on the Placement Plan our clients choose, we can advertise their rental on at least 20 sites.

Assuming you've got good pics and a jazzy ad, then look at how much exposure the property is getting.

After that it's time vs rent amount, also what the property is vs improvements to make it more appealing.

[Thomas Talbert]

In my experience, two things affect vacancy. It is either Price or Condition. If the property is listed at below market value I would ensure the property condition is up to par. If it's a multi-family unit, even a townhome, or something that even looks like multi-family you may need to invest some money in updating the unit. In my market, because so many class A MF units got built we are having a major issue renting them if they are outdated by even 10 years. 

[Mason Weiss]

Quote from @Laura Au:

SFR in rental market saturation. Property on market for a month, no hits with below than median rental price. In situations as so, what should property management services would be put work here to earn their keep to get the property rented. The only options provided is move in specials or driving down rental price. Advertising only consists of main websites: Zillow, Trulia, etc. Should I look into finding a better PM?

 Seems like something is off but hard to know what specifically without more details. I would see how your PM company is following up with leads and what their qualification restrictions are for the property. If you truly feel it is priced well and there are no property defects, then you shouldn't have no hits.