Best Places To List Rental Properties: Free and Paid
Places To List a Rental Property
Marketing a unit, home or any property is the only way to fill a vacancy. Prospective tenants need to be able to find you, but there are many options available for advertising your rental, free and paid advertising by searching the internet for “places to list a rental property”.
People look for rental property in a variety of places, so you need to increase your reach over as many of the top websites as possible. Unfortunately, there are often costs associated with marketing the property on paid websites or newspaper classified ads.
Where Can I List My Rental Property For Free
Advertising your rental online is a great way to find tenants and reach the masses. Today’s renters are Internet savvy and accustomed to shopping and communicating online.
List Rental Property on Your Own Site or Company Website
Advertising your rental online is a great way to find tenants. Today’s renters are Internet savvy and accustomed to shopping and communicating online.
Many individuals or property management companies neglect to maximize the potential of this great asset. It is the one place where you have total control over the content.
Use it to showcase your rentals in their best light. Give potential tenants all the information they need to make a decision as well as an opportunity to establish relationships before your competition does.
Websites to List Rental Property
Gumtree.com.au lets you post a free listing, which can be seen anywhere in Australia. Is the biggest and most popular free classified website in Australia. It is one of the first places that potential tenants think of when searching for rentals. That means it should be on your radar.
Craigslist.com.au also is a free classified website from the U.S, but they will be moving to a fee-based service in the future, as they already have in certain markets. Very popular in the United States, but in Australia is not well known. The site allow you to list your rental property based on location, making it easily searchable.
There are other well known free rental listing websites to find your next tenant faster with fully self-managed ads. Rent.com.au and australia.trovit.com/property are some of the best known.
Local Property Listing Sites
There are many local sites where you can advertise your property. MountisaProperty.com, for example, caters to the Mount Isa market. You can do an online search to find a site that targets your particular area. if you have your own website, list the property there and reference your site URL in your other ads.
It’s important to always look for these different places as many of them are free or very affordable. Don’t bank on a lot of lead volume, but overall quality and return on investment should be very good.
Use Social Media to Find Tenants
Millions of people use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. If you have a company, you should create a Facebook page and a Twitter account for it. If not, you can use your personal Facebook or Twitter account to let people know you have a property for rent. You can list your property on Facebook.com’s marketplace, post a status update on your account, or send out a tweet to your followers via Twitter.
Advertise on Local Bulletin Boards
Put up flyers in the community where your property is located. This can include bulletin boards at supermarkets, churches, Laundromats, and bus stops.
Since people will be passing by the flyer quickly, use a bold headline and large, color photographs to draw interest to the flyer. On the bottom of the flyer, include tear-offs for people to take. These tear-offs should include the property address, the number of bedrooms and your contact information.
Find Tenants Through Word of Mouth
Don’t underestimate the power of the spoken word. If you have current tenants, let them know you have a vacancy. They may have a sister, cousin, or brother who is looking for a new place to live.
Also, tell your brother, sister, hairdresser, boss, and mechanic that you have a property for rent. Always have flyers with you so you can hand them out when needed. You can offer a referral fee to give a greater incentive.
Place a FOR RENT Sign in the Window
While you won’t reach the masses by placing a “For Rent” sign in the window, there is no harm in doing it either. A passerby may be interested or may know someone who is looking to rent in the area. Make sure a phone number can be clearly read from street level.
Find Tenants by Offering Incentives
People like the idea of getting a deal or a discount. You can offer a free TV or a discounted rent as a bonus if a tenant moves in by a certain date. A $300 free rent may seem expensive, but if you’re charging $1200 in rent, and the bonus gets someone to move in early, you are actually saving yourself $900.
Paid Websites To List Rental Property
Paid property listing websites (domain.com.au, property.com.au) and newspaper classifieds will cost you money, but the advantages can make them worth it, but not always.
Their marketing is more aggressive. Many of these sites invest heavily in search marketing and have top rankings under high traffic keywords. The exposure they offer as a premium ad source can lead to more and better quality leads.
Check with your fellow property managers to find out which of these premium services generates the best results for your area and try them out. Make sure you have a good way to track all your leads and how many leases you convert.
There are a few drawbacks to all these sites. It can be time consuming to create listings on each site for each property and your ads can quickly get buried among the other listings.
Advertise in Print Media: Newspaper
Many people look for rental properties in the newspaper. Aim to advertise on the weekend, and in particular, on Sunday because this is when newspapers see the most traffic.
You will only have a few lines to make your property stand out, so make them count. Use abbreviations for words like bedroom (BR) and washer/dryer (W/D) to save space. Placing an ad in the newspaper will cost money, but it is another way to increase exposure for your property.
List Your Property With a Real Estate in Your Area
For their services, agents typically charge a commission of about one weeks’s rent, and you have to sign a six month contract that include management fees. You may want to interview two or more real estates to find the one you are most comfortable listing your rental with.
While this may be the most expensive way to advertise your property, it can save you a lot of the hassle and headache of dealing with prospective tenants.
Answer the Phone or Email Promptly: Be Ready to Show the Property
Don’t wait a week to respond to a potential tenant. If you don’t call or email a tenant back promptly, another landlord or real estate will. If you do not want to give out your personal phone number, you can buy a pre-paid mobile phone just for the rental.
