Effectively marketing your rental home in Hampton Roads is the best way to attract quality tenants to sign a lease and minimize your vacancy period. One of the essential components of rental home advertising is writing an enticing property listing.
Your goal in your listing should be to persuade prospects to contact you to schedule a viewing of your home. Hiring a competent property management company in Hampton Roads is the ideal way to make sure your home is adequately advertised. The following five tips from the experts in property management detail best practices in crafting a listing description to turn your home from 'For Rent' to 'Leased!'
1. Highlight the Features of Your Home
A useful property listing description showcases the best aspects of your rental home. Using select keywords can also help your listing show up prominently in rental listing searches.
Prospective tenants may be searching for terms such as "rent homes with large yard" or "Pet-friendly rental homes in Hampton Roads." A property management company in Hampton Roads can help optimize your listing to display on as many rental searches as possible.
Rental syndication sites such as Zillow also use information in the listing description to display "at-a-glance" amenities for renters to easily find their ideal home in Hampton Roads. The listing description should also use a 'feature-benefit' approach to accentuate the value of your home. For example, "the open kitchen makes entertaining easy" points out a benefit that persuades prospects to move forward with your property over a competitor.
Some other features you may want to detail in your listing description:
- Granite countertops
- Hardwood floors
- Privacy-fenced yard
- Garden or jetted tub
- Tile backsplash in the kitchen or bathroom
- Additional office space or entertaining space (for example, an extra living room or playroom)
- Recent upgrades to the home, such as new flooring or paint.
2. Highlight the Features of the Area
The area around a rental home can be a significant deciding factor for many people.
- Your listing description should address the best features of the neighborhood around your home.
- Some prospects may be looking for a specific area of Southeast Virginia to live in, and categorizing the area can help your home show prominently in search results.
- When you work with a property management company in Hampton Roads, they should be familiar with the area and can point out popular cultural hot spots and features prospects are searching for.
- If the schools in the area are highly rated, be sure to mention that in your description.
- Describe the proximity to area amenities such as parks and shopping centers.
- If the home has easy access to a major highway, it's good to mention that the home allows for an easy commute.
- Pointing out significant businesses close to your home can entice those who work at those companies looking for a fast commute to apply.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, homes that are away from the city should be advertised to entice prospects looking for a quieter area in the country. You can "paint a picture" of the peaceful living your home provides with any land or large lot that comes with your Hampton Roads investment property.
3. Use Professional Listing Pictures
Whenever possible, hire a professional photographer to ensure your home's best side is showcased. A property management company in Hampton Roads will utilize professional photographers trained to capture fantastic photos to make your listing stand out. If you can't afford to hire a professional on your own, there are some tips you can follow to maximize your solo shots.
While the listing description is important, the listing pictures are the central aspect that draws in interest for the home. A bright shot of the front of the house showcasing the yard and any trees should be first on the listing to attract prospects to click through the listing.
The pictures should show each room and display the best features of the living room, bathroom, and kitchen. Use multiple photos of the yard so prospects can get a feel for your home's amenities. These pictures should show the highlights of your home and avoid blatantly detailing any flaws, such as a bare patch in the yard or spots of uneven paint.
Have an adequate number of pictures to entice prospects, but don't overload them with a large number of images showing every nook and cranny of the home: the goal is to persuade them into calling for more details.
4. Use Storytelling to Entice Prospects
The ideal way to sell your home to prospective tenants is to make it easy for them to picture themselves in the house. Using light storytelling in your listing description can paint a picture for prospects and get them excited about renting the property.
Here are some phrases that craft a story of your home to prospects:
- "Enjoy your morning coffee from the raised deck in the backyard."
- "Relax at the end of the day with a bubble bath in the gorgeous garden tub."
- "Practice your green thumb in the raised garden bed on the front walkway."
5. Motivate Prospects to Contact You for More Information
The ultimate purpose of your property listing is to entice prospects to contact you to see the home. Be sure your listing is free of distracting errors and ends with a suggestion to call, text, or email. When you partner with a property management company in Hampton Roads, they handle prospective inquiries and convert them into a signed lease quickly. The company will also ensure your property listing is the best it can be to attract renters fast and drastically drop vacancy time.
Of course, once you have found the perfect tenant, it's time to prepare your property for move-in day. There are a lot of details you can't afford to miss before your new tenant comes home—that's why Renters Warehouse Hampton Roads put together our FREE Make-Ready Checklist! Be prepared before day one when you download your free copy!
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