Renting out your home can be a great way to earn some additional income. However, being a landlord is not easy work! Owning a rental property means you have to deal with vacancies that lead to lost income until you find a new tenant to pay the rent.
Vacancies can also mean significant time spent finding new tenants. One way that real estate investors can reduce vacancy times in their properties is by creating excellent listings! Good listings attract more quality renters and help you fill up your vacant units faster. If property listings have got you (and your income) down, check out these insights from a Seattle property management expert.
Ineffective Rental Listings Hurt Your Income
Not spending the time or having the experience to create compelling rental listings hurts your income. If you're in the habit of throwing together a few details about the property and adding some photos from your smartphone, you could also be dealing with longer-than-necessary vacancies (and poor-quality tenants).
Every day that your rental property sits empty is a day that you lose money. When placing poor-quality renters, you might also struggle with late rental payments and expensive property damage caused by your tenants. Even if you deliver quality properties and have the resources you need to handle maintenance and rent collection, when your listings fail to bring tenants to your door—or the wrong tenants are the only ones responding to your listings—you lose money.
Compelling Listings Aren't Easy
So, the answer to better tenants and shorter vacancy times is simply to create better rental listings, right? Yes—but that's not as easy as it might sound.
An effective listing includes critical details about your property, like square footage, number of rooms, and features. Property owners must also include the rent and security deposit amounts, criteria to qualify for the rental, and how to apply.
However, those details are the bare necessities! Your listing must catch the eyes of potential renters scrolling through hundreds of available Seattle rentals. It must tell your property's story, include high-quality photos that show off the rental's best features, and give relevant information about the neighborhood, schools, restaurants, retail, and more.
The difference between a prospective tenant scrolling by your online posting or stopping to reach about your vacant rental and submit an application comes down to the quality of the listing!
A Good Listing Isn't Enough
After you pull together a quality listing, potential tenants won’t see it unless it’s everywhere it needs to be to reach your ideal renters! A property management company can verify that the best rental listing ever created won't "sell" your available rental if it doesn't receive enough exposure.
However, many DIY Seattle landlords don't have access to the most highly trafficked rental search sites like the MLS. Free listing sites will generate some attention to your listing, but it might not be enough to rent your property quickly and deliver quality tenants.
The combination of compelling listings and maximum exposure on a wide range of listing sites helps landlords reduce vacancy times and enjoy better residents!
Get Property Management Help With Listings
It's easy to overlook the importance of quality rental listings, but we hope we've described how critical they are to avoiding rental income loss. One of the biggest reasons landlords experience extended vacancies is ineffective listings or lack of exposure to their quality rental properties.
The good news is that if creating effective rental listings is the primary area where you struggle to maximize returns, a property management expert can help! A property manager can handle rental property marketing for you, including listings, reviewing applications, tenant screening, and leasing.
The right Seattle property management company understands the market and how to position your rental to reach your target audience and ideal renters. From helping you set the ideal rental price to creating an excellent listing that works quickly to find quality renters, partnering with property managers is the best way to reduce vacancies and maximize income.
Get Only the Help You Need
If you're concerned that hiring a property management team to help with marketing also means you have to commit to all of their services, choose property managers that won't require a full-service property management plan (and pricing) to deliver only what you need!
RentWatch helps real estate investors with specific services—whether they need a little help or a lot—without requiring a commitment to full-service property management.
A Seattle Property Management Company Delivers High-Quality Listings
Creating quality rental listings has never been easier with RentWatch. We provide a variety of services to help Seattle landlords create property management solutions tailored to your needs, budget, and level of expertise—without requiring a full-service contract!
Let our experts help you reduce vacancy times and enjoy better tenants with our marketing and tenant screening services. If that's the only help you need, you can trust that we don't require bundled services or fees for other services you don't need or want! Reach out today, and let's get your rental occupied faster.
Try our Free Savings Calculator to see how much you can save on Seattle property management services when you choose RentWatch.
