Single-property and multi-property owners have one major thing in common: most of their current, past, and potential new tenants searched online first before arranging a viewing. It follows, therefore, that the breadth and quality of your marketing will directly affect the type and quantity of tenants that your property attracts.
But, is posting a listing online all that needs to be done to properly and effectively market your property? Whether you plan to market your property yourself or you’re looking to work with a Fort Collins property management company such as Black Bear Real Estate and Property Management, here are some things that you should know.
Why Marketing Your Property is Important
Marketing is a crucial aspect of successful property management and the reasons for this are actually quite simple. First and foremost, it’s essential to highlight your property and create awareness broadly throughout your community as well as with your target market. Competition is relatively high in real estate - and especially in Colorado - so it’s more important than ever before to help your property stand out.
By marketing to all possible channels and strategically targeting certain groups, you can ensure that you are reaching the right audience while simultaneously maximizing the potential tenants who will view your property. As we mentioned above, the majority of people nowadays will look online before arranging a viewing, so exposure is one of the most important aspects of your success. But marketing is more than that as well - it is an opportunity for you to demonstrate your property’s unique personality and selling points rather than just being another number in the crowd.
Tips and Best Practices
The following tips and practices will give your property the best chance of securing great tenants at fair rates:
Identify Your Target Tenant Profile
The first step in creating an effective marketing strategy is to identify your ideal tenant. Whether you’ve invested in a property in a University town and plan to rent to students, or you inherited a property that you now plan to let, identifying your ideal tenant will help you tailor your marketing more effectively, using language and marketing channels more likely to connect with those individuals.
Once you understand who is most likely to be interested in your property, begin strategizing ways in which to best present your property in order to appeal to their needs. A student, for example, may like to hear about its proximity to campus and gyms, and that it comes furnished. A property targeted for new families may want to hear about how many schools are nearby and what public transit looks like. The bottom line: identify your ideal tenant and then build out your marketing with them in mind.
Make Sure Your Property is Ready
It’s important to get the property ready before hitting the accelerator - as soon as potential tenants begin to inquire about viewings, it’s key that the property is in perfect condition. This means preparing the property for your target tenant’s needs (as discussed above), as well as having all the baseline necessities taken care of. Baseline necessities include all legal obligations and paperwork prepared, interior and exterior renovations as needed, curb appeal, safety and inspections, and routine checks on utility functionality. Crucially, you’ll also need to conduct market research to understand just how much you should charge as rent - keep in mind that a big factor for most tenants will be affordability.
You should also consider staging your property to make it more appealing and to present it in the best light. Just be sure to keep it simple - potential tenants love a clean, open canvas for them to be able to imagine what their life may look like at this new property.
Capture Your Property’s Benefits and Features
Successfully marketing your property means capturing the unique selling point along with all of its greatest benefits and features. Making a list of these items will help you create solid marketing content, and it will be your first port of call when creating a basic description of the property which is standard for practically all marketing channels.
Similarly, you’ll want to visually capture your property as best as possible. Just as most tenants will look at properties online before arranging a viewing, they will most certainly seek out photographs of properties and make their judgments accordingly. If you’re going to attempt this on your own, we recommend taking pictures during the day with as much natural sunlight as possible and taking pictures from multiple angles. However, if you really want to make an impression, consider investing in professional photography. Tenants will notice the difference when viewing multiple properties and will be more attracted to those that are well-presented. Professional photographers will be able to help with 360-degree property photos as well as video walk-throughs. This will help reduce the length of viewings and even enable virtual tours!
Advertise Using All Marketing Channels
By now you may already have an idea of which marketing channels you are going to use to market your property, but we will emphasize this: it’s important to be as meticulous as possible. Consider establishing your property on its own website, leveraging the power of social media platforms (all of them!), and posting advertisements for your property on all online property listing sites and rental platforms.
This step is simple enough, but it will take a lot of time and dedication to ensure that your reach truly extends to all marketing channels available as well as dedication to respond quickly and effectively to all inquiries that flow in from them.
Get Help With Marketing Your Property
For single-property and multi-property owners alike, it is well worth investing in the help of professional property management services. Black Bear Real Estate and Property Management is a reputable Fort Collins property management company that can help you through all the steps of the marketing process. From professional photography, drone footage, social advertisements, and rental platform optimization, we got you covered! We also provide help with leases and documentation, tenant acquisition, maintenance, collection, and all other services you may need as a busy landlord.
Marketing is a crucial factor for your property ownership success. Contact our team today to learn more.