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WHAT DOES YOUR FOR RENT SIGN SAY?

My name is Susan Beck. I've spent the past 34 years in the Real Estate Investment, Tenant Screening and Property Management fields. In Property Management, I worked my way up from Leasing Agent to Property Manager to Operations Manager. But I'm not going to bore you with a list of accomplishments. Instead I just want to talk about what's on my mind.

Since April, when I walked my dog through my neighborhood, I watched a local rehabber work on a house. I stopped one day and he was proud to show me through. When it came to rehabbing that house, he did everything right. There's a new kitchen, bath, carpet and tile, windows and new exterior siding. The house is sensational inside and out.

Now the rehabber has put the house up For Rent. But there are two things I believe he did wrong. First, there's not enough curb appeal. A few extra dollars should have been spent on landscaping the small front area of the house. Some shrubs, mulch and a couple of flats of flowers would have caught any potential renter's eye.

Secondly, the For Rent sign is a small discount store sign stuck in the front window with a nearly illegible phone number. Did you know that the number one source of traffic in the apartment industry is always just people driving by? Whether buying or renting people want to drive around the neighborhood where they want to live. Or they have friends or co-workers going by looking for them. A small sign in a window can be easily missed.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN?

Most Landlords pay top dollar for newspaper and internet advertising, but just don't take advantage of the resources they have readily available for only a few dollars. Curb appeal and Signage is EVERYTHING. People driving by your rental are your NUMBER ONE advertising source.

Now imagine if my rehabber friend would have put a sign just like the real estate companies use in the front yard. The top banner says FOR RENT. The bottom banner gives the phone number to call. The large banner in the middle says:

Signage like this is very inexpensive. Companies like Peachtree Business Products sell complete signs for around $100.00 or less. When you call, you can select from their pre-made signs or choose your own advertising. They will make up what ever you want. Then of course you can switch out the middle sign for different properties. I have had signs made that emphasized the rental's one best feature such as: Extra Closets, Extra Living Space, Eat-In Kitchen, or New Carpeting. What ever feature would sell it best. One sign that I used often was: Clean, Quiet, Comfortable. And that's exactly what I got, tenants that were clean, quiet and comfortable to be around.