Advertising is tricky in the property management world. Of course, you want your advertising to get impressions and clicks (for digital ads), but “conversions” are essential. Even more critical are conversions that turn into quality leads. Conversions are the calls, emails, and texts that result from your advertising, and that leads to potential tenants. A quality lead would be someone that meets your income standards and have a solid rental/credit history. It can be difficult to specifically target those individuals digitally due to discrimination laws around pay per click (PPC) ads. Read on to learn rental advertising tips to attract quality tenants for your Bucks County, PA rental property.
Apartment Rental Advertising to Attract Great Tenants
- Always include price and transparent descriptions of your rental property. You may think that adding the price will deter prospects, especially for a pricey unit. However, the opposite is true! By listing the price in the ad, you are assured of attracting renters who are explicitly looking for a property in your price range.
- Use keywords! Keywords can be a great way to get your ad noticed and highly ranked on search engines. For example, if the property that you have for rent happens to be more expensive, you may use keywords like “luxury” and “upgraded” to attract the correct audience.
- Professional photos are another great way to attract quality tenants. Don’t skimp on photography. Hire a licensed real estate photographer to capture the property well. Do not attempt to do so on your phone or even on a camera if you don’t have any photography training.
- Highlight amenities: Always highlight what sets your property apart from others. This might be common areas like gyms or a business center, or other amenities like upgraded appliances, smart home products, and so on.
Rental Property Advertising Tips
- Boosted Ads: Boosted or paid ads on social media, Google, and listing sites is a quick way to bring visibility to your property. Remember the advice above when building the ads to help attract the correct audience on these boosted posts. Either hire someone with search engine optimization (SEO) knowledge or use a template for ads (particularly on Facebook) to be sure you’re targeting correctly without breaking any laws.
- Social Media: Use social media not just for paid ads, but as a form of communication with tenants. Your social media pages can include the best photos and videos of your property, any rent specials, and links to related blogs about renting properties. This can help you organically grow your property’s online reputation.
- SEO/SEM: SEO, or search engine optimization, is vital for getting the most ad views, clicks, and conversions. If you do not understand how to properly optimize rental listings, the property website, social media, blogs, etc., it’s essential to reach out to someone who does. Search engine ranking is critical to getting clicks on your property. Typically, no one scrolls past the first page of a search engine, so being one of the top links is important to get traffic to the listing.
- Hire a Professional: Reach out to a marketing agency or a property management company to assist you with ads. Advertising isn’t everyone’s “thing,” but it also can’t be done halfway. Rental advertisements should be appealing, appropriate, and optimized to get the most of your advertising efforts.
Tips for Finding Quality Tenants in Bucks County, PA
So, you’ve created an ad and scheduled tours. Now what? Keep these items in mind to further ensure you’ve found a quality tenant for your Bucks County investment property.
- Screening: Have a thorough tenant screening policy in place and check tenant references. Always screen every applicant before allowing their application to be accepted and a lease to be signed. You want to avoid accepting applications from those with serious criminal backgrounds, history of evictions, low credit, or not enough income. Most screening software runs all the needed reports for you so you can qualify the best candidate based on the information you get back. Screening can be tedious and take a bit of time, but it’s a necessary step in the property management industry. Failing to screen can and will land you with trouble tenants that end up evicted for nonpayment.
- Communication: Communication is always crucial. Be upfront about the cost of the property, utilities, and any other fees, such as pet fees. The best thing to do is pre-screen the tenant in person by asking questions like if they plan to bring pets, if they need parking, etc. Then you can provide them with additional details on pet policies, parking fees, etc.
- Well-Written Lease: A well-written lease is the best way to guarantee your potential resident understands that they genuinely need to be able to afford the property and take good care of it. The lease should include penalties for lease violations, damage to the property, or nonpayment. There’s generally a grace period for late payments, so note this in the lease and include what will occur if they continue to miss payments (generally eviction).
Still unsure of how to attract quality renters for your rental property? A Bucks County Property Management Company can help! Bay Property Management Group Bucks County offers full-service property management including rental property advertising and tenant placement services.