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5 Tips for Renting your Vacancy Quickly
Article contributed by Enterprise Property Management

In this tough economy we have noticed that the pool of “qualified” tenants in Orange County is evaporating. As a result, there are literally thousands of vacant properties competing with yours for the dwindling number of credit worthy applicants.

This means that when your rental becomes vacant you must do everything you can to attract those hard to find tenants to your property. I thought it would be helpful for us to share with you a few of the ways we help our property management clients to generate interest in their vacancies.

Advertise. Advertise. Advertise. Having an appropriately priced property will do no good if no one knows about it. Many property management companies will simply put your property on Craig’s List and wait for the phone to ring. It should be no surprise that this method will not work in this market. You must explore and utilize other advertising options such as the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), local news papers, targeted emails, and various online sites.

Declutter and Clean. You only get one shot at a first impression. Do your best to make your property shine. Just like you do when selling a home, it is important to ensure your rental is aesthetically pleasing to prospective tenants. This means that you may want to consider investing in a fresh coat of paint on the interior walls, landscaping, or a spring cleaning of the windows and carpet.

Remember, homes that are not cluttered, but instead are organized and clean, tend to rent for more money and in much less time than those offered in “as is” condition.

Place Multiple Signs on the Property. It is important for potential renters to know that your property is available. The best and most inexpensive way to do this is to place bright and easy to read signs in conspicuous places on the property.

Consider Accepting Pets: You will open yourself up to many more prospective tenants if you decide to accept pets. Remember that if you decide to do so, you can set limits by number, size, and/or type of pet.

Increase Your Availability for Showings. When someone is seriously interested in your property, they will want to see the inside. If you do not have a property management company assisting you, it is up to you as the property owner to schedule the showings. Many property management companies have adopted policies, in the name of efficiency, under which they will only show their client’s rental on set days and times (e.g. 2pm on Thursdays). Although such a policy allows the property management company to reduce its costs for gas and compensation, it negatively impacts their client’s chances of finding qualified tenants.

In my experience, when someone is looking for a place to live, they are generally on a tight timeline. Hence, if you tell them they need to wait 24 hours, let alone an entire week, before you are available to show them the inside of your rental, they will almost always continue their search in the meanwhile. This means that there is a very good chance they will have found another place to live before your scheduled showing time rolls around. In the more than half of century we have been providing property management services, we have always made it a point to make ourselves available to show our clients’ properties as much and as often as possible.

Although these five tips will assist you in your search for a qualified tenant, in the more than fifty years we have been managing Orange County rental properties, we have found that no property will be given serious consideration by a potential tenant until it is priced appropriately.

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Article submitted by Enterprise Property Management

Enterprise Property Management is a family owned and operated company serving Southern California property owners since 1964. We are a well-known Orange County property management company and we manage hundreds of single and multi-family homes throughout Orange County and portions of Los Angeles, Riverside & San Bernardino Counties.

Please feel free to contact us at 714.542.6800 if you have any questions.