5 Tips To Attract New Tenants

When it comes time to find new tenants to rent that freshly turned unit you just spent money on, you need to make sure you know who you are renting to. Regardless of the market, you want to perform the proper underwriting upfront to avoid problem tenants. You want to attract good, strong tenants that will be happy to rent from you and stay in the property for as long as possible. There are many ways to attract a tenant to rent from you, but here are 5 tips to attract new tenants to rent your vacancy:

1) Focus in Curb Appeal

When prospective tenants roll up to your property, they expect to see a clean property that looks well maintained. This doesn’t mean it needs to look like a Class A community. Rather, you should strive to make sure there is no trash on the premises, the entryways are clean and maybe even decorated. You want to make the place as welcoming as possible to a prospective tenant and make it feel like home. If you are not great at taking photos or videos, spend a little money on a photographer to take photos of the interior and exterior, highlighting the features of the property.

2) Make the Place Great, but Remain Neutral

Using a neutral pallet on the surfaces of the units will appeal to a wider market. By that, I mean sticking with modern colors that people like. For instance, these days, it’s about light grey walls with white trim. Years ago, it was all about eggshell paint on the walls, which you can still get away with today. Landlords are installing dark grey laminate flooring which looks great as well. Update your kitchen counters and flooring. And make sure the place has natural light to brighten the room.

3) Target the Features of the Property to Your Demographic

Depending on the target group you are looking to rent to, make sure they are aware of the advantages of the unit. For instance, if you are targeting families to move into your vacant unit, you will tout easy access to school and leisure facilities, parks, and other family-favorable places. If you are targeting business professionals, tell them about gyms, spas, office hubs, and restaurants nearby. If you are targeting students, advertise your proximity to the local university and social hubs. The point is, consider who would want to live there and describe how your vacancy will solve the problem they have today.

4) Green is Good

Depending on the asset class you are promoting, you will want to make improvements to the exterior to include nice green spaces and places for people to congregate and enjoy the outside. This could be a small barbecue area, fire pit, garden, or playground. Make sure that in all these cases, you consider the distance from the property and any insurance you may need for these features.You can also market what you are doing to the interior of the units to “go green,” like switching from traditional lighting to LED lights, providing recycling services, and installing low-flow showers and toilets that use less water. Sustainable properties are not only popular for resale as it improves NOI, but it is popular with Millennials and older Gen Z’s.

5) Increased Security

For some areas and asset classes, having security in place will make the tenants feel better about living at your property. Consider investing in high-def cameras to cover high traffic areas, bright lighting, visitor registration, key-card access, and possibly a security guard if you are repositioning a property while putting all these features in place. For tenants to feel truly at home, they need to feel safe. If you would like to keep that tenant long-term, this is something you just can’t overlook.

Anyway, what do you do to pull in new tenants to your property? How do you keep them happy? Please let me know and leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you.

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