What kind of advertising speaks to you?
If you’re like most consumers, you respond to advertising that provides an emotional spark. Something motivates you to look closer at a product or service, even if you’re not ready to make a purchase.
Good advertising works this way when you’re leasing an Oakland home. The goal of your advertising campaign is to reach potential tenants on an emotional level. You want to give them a reason to schedule a showing and fill out an application.
There’s a lot of advertising these days. We’re all flooded with images and ad copy designed to turn our attention to whatever is being sold.
How can you stand out when you’re renting out a property? Tenants are scrolling through listings on their phones. What will make them stop on your listing?
We are taking a look at that in our blog today because the strategies you employ to advertise and market your Oakland rental property will influence the length of your vacancy, the amount of interest you generate, and the quality of tenants you attract.
Here’s what you need to know when you’re ready to effectively advertise your rental property.
Oakland Rental Property Pricing and Preparation
Before you can begin advertising your property, it has to be ready for the rental market. It has to be attractive to the tenants who are looking for their next home. You’ll need to spend some time making sure the property is move-in ready.
To rent quickly, prospective tenants will have to immediately imagine themselves living there. This will show up in your advertising if you’re creating a good listing, too.
Good tenants are looking for homes that are not going to need a lot of cleaning and work before they begin unpacking. So, don’t advertise it without ensuring the property is empty, in good condition, and clean.
Next, you’ll have to price it accurately. Pricing is a big part of your advertising strategy because tenants are often setting filters at specific price points when they search online for a home. Get to know the market. Get to know your competition. Price your property for maximum profitability, but be competitive. Overpricing only leads to vacancy.
As your property managers in Oakland, we’ll begin the advertising process by walking through the property and recommending a few key updates that may be needed, such as fresh paint or new fixtures. Then, we’ll price the property in accordance with the market and what similar homes have rented for recently in the neighborhood.
These are the first steps in effectively advertising your rental home.
Advertising Oakland Rentals with a Great Listing
Now that your property is ready for the market, accurately priced, and in perfect condition for showings, it’s time to create a listing that gets it noticed.
Here are our best ideas:
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Rent Your House Out Quickly with Great Photos
Photographs in your online rental listing are your opportunity to make a great first impression. This is your digital curb appeal. Tenants are going to scroll through your pictures before they read the description or the rental requirements. You won’t get their attention without great photos.
Make sure you’re providing professional-level photos, and put a lot of them in your listing.
Before you take the photographs, it might help you to create a shot list. When you have your list, you’ll be prepared and organized, and thinking about the best shots before you even arrive. On that shot list, we recommend including:
- Every bedroom in the house.
- Every bathroom in the house.
- Kitchen and appliance pictures.
- Dining areas – inside and outside.
- Living room and family room spaces.
- Outdoor spaces, especially the yard and any parking.
- Photos of any recent updates or improvements. Is there a walk-in closet in the primary suite? Photograph it.
You want the viewers to feel comfortable with your neighborhood, so include some pictures that give prospective tenants an idea of the community that your property is in.
Work with a great camera if you can access one. You don’t have to go out and spend thousands on a new camera, but high resolution photos are preferred and will deliver the best results. If you have an SLR camera, that’s going to be great. Smart phones have come a long way and can take some excellent photos as well.
When you upload the photos to your listing, remember that the minimal amount of resolution is 72 pixels.
If you can do it, we also recommend including a walk-through video. This gives prospective renters an idea of how the place looks, and while your description and written information are important, the photographs and videos will reach new tenants on that emotional level.
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Include a Detailed but Concise Description to Rent Out Your Home
An accurate and engaging description needs to accompany your photographs.
Don’t be too wordy; tenants aren’t going to want to read paragraphs. Instead, choose descriptive phrases and lively adjectives to talk about your property’s best features.
A good listing starts with a great headline. This is what prospective tenants will see when they stop at your listing: the headline. A lot of tenants will decide whether or not to read more based on your headline. So, it’s important that you draw them in with a well-crafted headline.
Several key pieces of information should be worked into that headline. Find a way to mention:
- Rental price
- Number of bedrooms and bathrooms
- The type of property you’re renting
- Location
- One great selling point
It sounds like a lot of words that need to be stuffed into a headline, but it’s not as difficult as it may seem. Long headlines are not necessarily bad.
Here’s what your property’s headline might look like:
“One-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in Oakland with updated kitchen for $1,800.”
“$2,500 three bedroom/two bathroom single-family home with fenced yard in Montclair”
Your headline will instantly tell prospective tenants whether the home is in their price range, desired location, and target size.
The headline will lead into your general advertising copy. This needs to be easily digestible but informative. Talk about:
- Rental price
- Security deposit amount
- Square footage as well as number of bedrooms and bathrooms
- Whether pets are accepted
- When the property will be ready for move-in
You can also summarize rental criteria briefly, and always be mindful of fair housing laws and regulations. For example, you can no longer advertise your rental home as not being available to Section 8 tenants.
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Contact Information
Now you have your amazing photos and your written description, which leads with an engaging headline. The only left to include is your contact information. Tenants will need instructions on how to get in touch with you to ask questions or schedule a showing.
Online Advertising in Oakland and Rental Websites
There are thousands of rental websites that tenants use when they’re looking for a new home to rent. Listing your property on each site will be incredibly time consuming and frustrating. Look for syndication sites instead, where your single listing will be shared across various platforms.
Choose one property listing syndication site and upload your property. This will provide exposure on some of the major rental sites including Zillow, Zumper, Trovit, Trulia, PadMapper, and Rentals.com.
Social media can help widen your pool of tenants as well. Post your ad and your pictures and videos onto Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Ask the people in your network to share the post.
Once you have your listing online, you need to consistently monitor and update it.
All the different sites you’re using have different policies. Some won’t let you update more frequently than every seven days. Keep this in mind so your listing doesn’t drown in competing listings or fall behind.
You want your property to be on the top of every potential renter’s mind. Some sites will let you bump up your listing for a fee. This is something worth considering, especially in a tight and competitive rental market.
Effective Advertising Leads to Rental Property Showings
When interested prospective tenants contact you, be responsive.
If you don’t return phone calls or messages, you’ll lose those prospects. Good tenants have plenty of options, and they won’t waste their time chasing you down. Schedule showings and facilitate easy applications.
Part of advertising your home is tracking your results. You need to know how many leads you should be expecting from prospects weekly. This will tell you if there is a problem. If your property isn’t getting any interest, you might have to adjust the price. If it’s getting plenty of showings but no one is applying, there might be a problem with its condition or the way it shows.
Always ask for feedback after every viewing. This will help you make any necessary adjustments.
Advertising seems easy enough with all the tools and technology that’s currently available, but the Oakland rental market is complex. If you’re having trouble with the advertising of your rental property or you’re not sure how to implement the process that we’ve shared here, contact us at California Pacific Realty. We can help with all of your Oakland leasing and management needs.
