Prepping to Rent
“It’s so easy, I could train a monkey how to do it!”
– Jeff Christensen, 2009
Ready to learn?
Good.
Now put down that banana and let’s get started!
- ESTABLISH THE RENTAL AMOUNT – Go to Craigslist or Zillow and see what owners of properties SIMILAR TO YOURS in the same general area are asking (and likely getting!). WHAT YOU SEE THERE WILL BE YOUR COMPETITION.
- FIX THINGS – Pretend that you are a prospective renter … go through your property and write down things that you notice that you would want fixed … IF you were a renter. Torn window screens? Dirty walls? A door with a hole? Broken light fixtures? IF IT BOTHERS YOU THEN IT WILL BOTHER THE GOOD PEOPLE THAT YOU WANT TO RENT TO.
- DECLUTIER & DEPERSONALIZE – Try to remove half of your belongings to make your home look TWO TIMES LARGER! Renters need a “blank canvas” onto which to project their ideas of “how it could be” if they rented your home.
- CLEAN – Everything doesn’t need to be new but your home needs to be VERY CLEAN. Do the job well so that in your advertising you can HONESTLY say “MRS. CLEAN LIVED HERE!”
- WRITE THE AD – Take some time to write a rough draft of an upbeat ad to be posted on Craigslist or Zillow or a website of your choosing. Emphasize “the good” but do not lie about “the bad”. If it has no garage or small bedrooms, figure out a way to say so in a novel way with some clever humor. IN TODAY’S BUSY ADVERTISING WORLD, EVERYONE APPRECIATES HONESTY & HUMOR!
- PHOTOS – Take lots of them … at different times of the day (esp. important for the exterior shots), the front, the back, all the interior rooms and any special features or upgrades. Then, later, LOOK THROUGH THEM ALL and select only those that BEST represent each room or feature. An out-of-focus photo with poor lighting will not help your cause! YES, IT’S TRUE! … each good photo will be worth more than 1,000 words in your ad.
So there – that’ll get you started. Want to know more? Good! Stayed tuned for a future post on the next step for the D.I.Y. rental property owner:
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT – 102 : Advertising for rent
