How To Lease Vacant Units During The COVID19 Pandemic

With all the horror stories happening right now, break-ins, squatters, tenants who stop paying rent and never leave...it's starting to spread panic.

But here are some things my company did to lease up a vacant unit, even with the COVID19 Pandemic happening right now.

Tell me if this sounds familiar: "We can't get contractors into the units to do work."

"We can't show the units."

"No one is looking for a new apartment right now."

I would recommend focusing on the solution and not the problem.

For instance, my company purchased a 6-unit property in Philadelphia recently (in an awesome location.)

There was one unlivable unit. The other 5 units were rented. Here's some before and after pictures of the unit we renovated:

Here are three things you can do to lease up your vacant unit during this pandemic:

1) Make Sure You Have An Awesome Team

After years of experience and having to part ways with two mediocre management companies, we now work with one of the best management companies in Philadelphia. They are very good at what they do. So when the state and city prohibited agents from showing units in person, they were able to lease this up in 12 days using a lockbox and a video walkthrough.

2) Create A Product That Is Better Than Anything Else On The Market

We very carefully examined rents for other apartments on this block and paid close attention to their kitchen/bathroom finishes, appliances, and upgrades. We kept our costs down but also made sure our unit was a little nicer than anything else on the market.

3) Be Flexible On The Price

Our original projections for this unit were $1,100 a month. However, things changed. We listed it for $950. Why? Because $1,800 annually is not worth the cost of leaving this unit vacant. We'd rather have a great tenant who knows they are getting an awesome deal. The alternative could mean leaving it vacant for months or worse, having squatters move in.

I hope this post helps a little bit with remembering to refocus on the solution (and not the problem). It's a challenging time but many things can be solved with some optimism and creative thinking.