Home | Services | Pricing | Login

FIRST SHOWING

I guess I have to say I was fortunate when I placed an ad for one my rental properties. The phone would ring off the hook. Sure I got extremely tired of the calls, but what was worse was a half an hour drive to the house just for a “No Show.” Finally I had enough. I decided to try an Open House.

So I placed a different ad the next time my own rental was available which included the address and my phone number. Here’s a sample:

First Showing! Open House
Sunday 1-4 pm 2 Bedrooms, UP,
Newer Carpeting,
Eat-in Kitchen, Appliances

Then I changed my voice mail to include more details about my rental and the fact that I did complete backgound screening for all lease holders and ran criminal background checks on any occupants over 18 years old. Calls still came in, but the very few I did answer were people telling me about their credit problems. why they were under eviction or about their criminal background. The rest of the time, I just sat back and let that phone ring to voice mail. What a relief.

Around 2:00pm on the day of the Open House, several people all showed up at the same time. I gave each one a small form to fill out, telling them I wanted a record of their visit. It just asked for their name address, phone number etc… I now had several people to make contact with again if I had an unexpected rental come available or I had to turn down an application.

I talked about the rental to each group separately. I explained that my application fee was $30 for any lease holders and $15.00 for all occupants only over 18 years old. I gave each of them a list of my application criteria to read over. This way everyone understood that I would review and accept an application based upon Fair Housing Guidelines. Three different people applied for the house. . I was able to easily accept an application. A second person who applied, moved into my next vacancy when it came available two months later.

But I had also learned from some of my old mistakes. I made certain that everything was done before showing the rental. It’s always tempting to try and rent a place before it’s done. But don’t waste your time or money on an ad. You can’t have paint bucks and ladders off to the side and an unclean kitchen to expect to get applications. Think about your competition. Every other rental ad in the classifieds plus every apartment complex in your city! People are turned off when they are shown a property that’s messy or unfinished. They won’t say anything, but they’ll tell you just what they are thinking by leaving without showing any interest. Also, it’s very important to make sure the front yard is cleaned up too. I’ve had properties where people have left all kinds of junk behind and the tree lawn was full. But I never held a showing until after garbage day. First impressions are the biggest impressions.

These days there are so many alternatives to advertise your rental. You can include a web address in your classified ad so prospects can view pictures and get more information before your Open House. You don’t even need to hear the phone ring at all. I like kwikpost.com myself. I’ve viewed this web site several times and the set up seems very easy to use. I also like the way the finished ads look very professional.