Real Estate Pain - STR - Airbnb - Covid19 - Marketing Ideas

Airbnb Pain - moving forward build your real estate rental business as a business and a brand so you can control your future. YES, Furnished Monthly Rentals are getting rented in today's Covid-19 world. Healthcare workers need homes, seniors are moving out of multiple family environments, displaces expats and numerous other reasons. With entire hotels closing there are longer term guests that need to be relocated.

?Here are some marketing ideas:

Establishing Your Brand

Think about your property as a business.  If you were a manufacturing company and we started talking about establishing your brand you would know exactly what we were talking about.  But when we tell you the first step in connecting with qualified tenants is “establishing you brand” this may not be second nature to you.   Your brand starts with your relationship with the potential tenant.  Your brand is the look, feel and style of your rental property.  Your brand is the reviews and references tenant give you. Your brand is how you choose to package all the features of your rental and all this information and present it to future tenants that makes them decide to rent your property over another.

Establishing your brand is important because no two rental properties are ever the same and there is not easy way for a potential renter to rate one over the other.  Also by understanding your brand and starting with quality communication with all potential renters you will find it provides the foundation for quality communication with your renter for years to come.  If you expect to get top dollar for your rental property think about this in everything you do.  If you expect to rent your property to a business executive they will not be impressed with a rental application that has been photocopied from a book.  Take the time to setup all your rental documents on your computer and have a fresh and clean set of documents ready to go when the tenant says they want to rent your property.

In the previous section of this book we talked about property upgrades and what can get you higher rental rates.  Your upgraded property is now part of your brand.  Make a list of words that describe your property both inside and out.  Make a list of words that positively describe the neighborhood. Make a list of words that describe how a potential tenant would enjoy the property.  Once you have completed your descriptive words utilize them consistently in your property rental listings, rental flyers and even on a property specific website.  If you start your relationship with all your tenants the same way you would setup a relationship with a customer in your business you will find the landlord – tenant relationship more successful.

Marketing for Success 

Remember there are lots of ways to find tenants and you can spend a lot of money and not get the results you are looking for.  So before you start tossing money around you need to understand how potential tenants search for you. Potential tenants can search for properties in many ways.  In some communities the real estate MLS or Multiple Listing Service is the primary location for local rentals, but what if you want to attract a potential renter who is moving from out of state or out of the country?  Now what?  In these cases you will need to market your property on websites that have international exposure and not just local appeal.  Potential renters create their list of property criteria and start searching.  If you want to attract a nurse from the local hospital you will need to include the name of that hospital in your property description so your property would come up if a specific search was done.  Some ways a tenant will search is by specific property location, rental term (nightly, weekly, monthly), a specific mile radius from a desired location like an office, rental rate, bedroom count, furnished or unfurnished, vacation rental, corporate housing, CHBO Complete?, keywords, pet friendly (or not), move-in now, map view or property type (apartment, house, etc.).

Marketing Ideas

Pulling out all the stops to ensure your property earns high annual occupancy levels takes some time and commitment, but is typically well worth the effort.  Remember, a little effort devoted to marketing your investment property, can pay off handsomely in the years to come.  A big part of marketing rentals is developing long-term relationships, someone who rents your unit today could easily refer a friend next year.  Here are some ideas on where you can market your property:  Paid general rental websites, specific interest rental websites, craigslist, social media, fliers, bulletin boards, property management company, marketing through prior renters, newspaper, online virtual tour, printed brochure, property specific website (you can make these free online), real estate agent, real estate MLS, through referrals and commissions, rental magazine, sales calls to local employers and yard signs.

Marketing Plan  

Marketing a property is just like marketing a product. You need to have a marketing plan and budget. Use a combination of marketing efforts. Don't rely on one tactic (i.e., placing a For Rent sign in your yard) to get your place rented. A combination of various strategic marketing efforts will ensure your place is always front and center. As a general rule of thumb, landlords should dedicate anywhere from one to three percent of their total annual revenue to marketing  their property. In the CHBO “by Owner” annual survey, 43% of respondents invested more than $500 on their annual marketing. Overall, it’s important to remember that marketing your property is part of your investment. Stick to a long-term strategy that targets individuals inside and outside of your local area to attract quality tenants.  

Not Just Local

Property owners should not only look at local marketing (such as local housing lists, newspaper classifieds, flyers, etc.), but instead turn to national marketing efforts. Rental properties are being searched for by locals and non-locals is your property in the right spot to be seen by all?

Beware of free Classifieds

If you post your property listing for free on an Internet list, you may find that 100 properties within the last hour posted rental properties, too, and your post is now buried.  Having a long-term Internet marketing strategy is the way to go to attract out-of-towners. 

Understand Craig’s List

While Craig’s List is a great place to market your property for free, it doesn’t come without great risk of attracting the wrong type of tenant or wasting your time with the need to repost or speak with all the wrong tenants. We’ve found that most property owners advertising on paid internet sites because they prefer to market their properties to quality renters not just high volume sites. 

Keep Your Property Marketing Updated  

Keeping your listing updated is one of your most valuable marketing tools. Tenants want to work with landlords who are organized and keep their information current. Tenants get frustrated when they contact a property owner and get no reply. 

Always Market - Market your property even when it's rented

The old adage, "the best time to find a job is when you have a job" can be applied to a tenant's market too. Don't get too complacent in this unpredictable housing market; always be looking for your next tenant.

Incentives - Use incentives to attract quality tenants

Look for creative ways to attract tenants by including free incentives in the rental price. Some ideas include a gym membership or gym equipment usage, or a monthly cleaning service (bonus to you too – at least you know the place will be cleaned!).

Stand Out - Furnish your property

There are tons of unfurnished properties for rent, but very few homeowners are tapping the potential of offering a fully furnished short-term property for rent.  A short-term rental can be used as corporate housing and commands nearly three times the rent, creates less wear and tear (no furniture constantly being moved in and out) and attracts high quality tenants (typically traveling executives).

Testimonials & Review  

A competitive renter’s market means potential tenants are getting more finicky about who they rent from.  Today's tenants want to work with professional landlords and don't want to have to train a newbie landlord to do the job right. Ask current and former tenants to write you a short letter of reference testifying that they enjoyed your property and that you were amicable to work with. This little effort will make your rental property stand out to future tenants.

Track Your Success

Any paid internet site should offer you property statistics.  Understand the overall volume of the website and on your specific property listing see how many views, clicks and direct email leads you have received from your listing(s). You may notice trends that are useful to helping you market your property in the future.   You may want to use different phone numbers for different marketing efforts so you can track exactly where that phone call came from.

Virtual Tour

Think of all of the money that you spend promoting your listings, including the cost of your time and the cost of gas to travel to appointments. Did you know that 81% of U.S. tenants use the Internet and virtual tours as a resource when they are searching for a rental? And only 15% attend in-person tours?  Why inconvenience yourself and your tenant?  Once you’ve spent an hour or less creating a virtual tour, you have essentially created a round-the-clock online open house that renters can conveniently experience from their home or office computer. If a tenant is interested in making an appointment, he or she can immediately click on your virtual tour button and instantly make a decision on your property. While a virtual tour isn’t a substitute for an actual walk through, it is an important opportunity for you to display your property the way you’d like. Your goal is to entice the online shopper to take the next step and give you a call. With a virtual tour, you are in complete control of your listing and all of the features that will make your listing stand out from other properties.

Photos

Because your listing’s photos may be the only means a potential tenant has of evaluating your rental before committing, it is vitally important that the photographs be of good quality, clear and appealing. A picture says a thousand words… so imagine what the pictures featured on your listing say about you. Do they show that you're organized, detailed-oriented and professional? Or do they show you're busy, unorganized and lazy? Remember, first impressions are everything, so be sure to follow these steps to make your listing picture perfect!  

Here are some tips to capturing good photos:

·       Good lighting - Make sure you take pictures when the lighting in your place is at its best.  Take pictures on a bright and sunny day and turn on all your lights. This sends a warm and inviting message to any potential tenants. 

·       Avoid backlighting - Get the camera as close as possible to the item you want to feature (tenants like to see details).

·       Use proper lighting - Many people find natural, outdoor lighting photographs best. Indoors or out, thoroughly light the area you wish to feature.

·       Professional - Professional photographers provide specialized lights and wide-angle camera lenses that can help you achieve the quality images you desire.  You may be pleasantly surprised at how reasonably cost you can have these done.

·       Focus - Your photos should be in-focus – no blurred images ever!  A blurred image might tell a potential tenant that you really don't take your job as landlord seriously.

·       Quantity - More is better.  If you have a big property to showcase and/or you want to justify a slightly higher rent, then more is better. Your tenants may be willing to pay your higher rental fee if they know they're getting a view, hot tub and high-end appliances.  Seeing is believing!  If potential tenants can see themselves comfortable in your property they are more likely to want to rent it.

·       Details - Potential tenants want to see details.  They want to see your stainless steel fridge and your updated bathroom. Make sure those details are illustrated with close-up pictures, so potential tenants know you take pride in your home! Include the following types of photos in your listing: Exterior shots, Living area, Kitchen, View, Master bedroom, Guest bedrooms

·       Extras - Don't forget to include… Pictures of the yard, pool, hot tub, parking amenities, neighborhood, views and exercise facilities (if any).

·       Staging – Staging a property is when you setup furniture in a property to give a potential renter of buyer a better idea of how the property would look when they move in.  Furniture can always be rented.  A good way to get potential tenants to take notice is through staging photos. Staging photos are pictures of your property with the table set and the lighting just right for the mood. If you have a pool, you'll want the picture to include lounge chairs, towels and lemonade.  Properly arrange pillows on the sofa, take wrinkles out of bedding, unplug and hide an electrical cord and make an effort to de-clutter the room for a clean marketing photo. These types of photos can help potential tenants imagine what it would be like living in your property.

Social media Solutions and Strategies

Never underestimate the power of personal connection.  In today’s world of social media, success is less about who you know and more about who you are connected to.  By marking your property through your social media sites you are not only spreading the word that you have a property to rent but you are also adding creditability to the property because you the landlord have a personal connection with the people you are talking to.  Unlike traditional marketing avenues where you are just putting your message out into the universe, on social media you are sending your message to people you have specifically connected with and as such have things in common.  Sites such as Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Youtube, Pinterest and blogs can all be all be useful tools is connect with the right tenant.  A successful landlord stays on the cutting-edge of technology to help reach tenants and promote their properties. You don’t need to be a tech-geek to work these technologies either.  They are generally easy to understand and an affordable marketing tool.  Really success is all about getting the word out.

There are two way to utilize social media accounts.  One strategy is to just use your current account and post the property photos and information.  A second strategy would be to setup social media account specific for your property or of course you could do both.  One of the advantages of setting up a Facebook page or locked, members only Linkedin group would be to utilize this a way to communicate with your tenants, giving alerts or other information.  For example:  Altering tenants that the exterior window of the property will be cleaned next Thursday.

Facebook and Twitter pages – The two top social media sites can prove very beneficial in spreading the word about rental property options. Use a Facebook fan page to give some information about you, what properties are available and special features, pricing, amenities, and don’t forget your contact information. Twitter can also be used in similar fashion, allowing you to again have direct contact with current and potential renters.  Don’t let the sites go cold just because you have a renter, stay connected with the world and your next renter by posting fun things to do in the neighborhood or a review on a new restaurant around the corner.

Once you have taken fantastic marketing photos of your property, make sure to share them with everyon through Facebook fan pages and Pinterest.  Although tenants want specific details about each property, using the above-mentioned site and even YouTube videos are great ways to showcase the property. You can use social media to highlight the various amenities, including pools, jacuzzis, fitness centers, playgrounds for the kids, and more.

No matter what site you turn to for social media, using it when you own or oversee rental properties can your life a lot easier and increase your rental success.