A successful tenancy starts with an effective property showing process. Facilitating home showings for prospective tenants allows you to represent yourself as a high-quality landlord and helps you attract quality tenants who treat your home respectfully.
Therefore, property showing is as important as marketing your rental unit and screening your tenant’s property. So, with that in mind, we at California Pacific Realty present top tips for showing an unoccupied rental property below.
Home Showing Tips to Wow Prospective Tenants
Creating eye-catchy rental ads with digital photos is only half the battle to attract your tenants. Although these attractive ads grab the attention of your prospective tenants, in-person home showings increase your chances of signing a lease. Take a look at some practical home-showing tips to get on track.
Consider the Basics While Making a Home Ready for Showings
No matter what type of rental you own, you should consider a few things before scheduling a home showing for your tenants.
- Curb Appeal
First impressions are long-lasting, so it is necessary to impress your tenants with a practical curb appeal. The home should be inviting and well-maintained at the time of your prospective renters’ arrival. So, ensure the yard is well maintained, you have removed any debris or trash, and cleaned the exterior.
Consider a power wash to remove built-up dust on siding, walkways, or foundation, if necessary. Additionally, adding lights to pavements, walkways and sideways can increase the appeal of your home and give it a fresh look.
- Thorough Cleaning
Nothing turns your prospective tenants away faster than a filthy home interior. Therefore, it is vital to inspect your home beforehand and ensure it is clean and in good shape. Consider removing old furniture, lingering dust and unwanted trash from the unit.
Even minor issues like leaky faucets or loose doorknobs can raise concerns in your prospective tenants. So if you want to put your best foot forward and show you are a responsible and attentive landlord, consider addressing maintenance issues immediately.
- Redecorate or Upgrade
Sometimes, cleaning may not be sufficient to attract quality tenants. You may also consider modern upgrades and renovations in your property to make it appealing during showings. One of the most common upgrades you can consider is replacing the carpet and repainting your property.
Additionally, you can update lighting fixtures, install new appliances and replace window panes and glasses. Ultimately, these small changes can make a huge difference in whether a tenant is interested in leasing a property.
Schedule Individual Showings
Once you improve your property condition and make it rent-ready, consider scheduling individual showings. Often landlords believe that planning an open house is a promising way to market your home and save time. However, scheduling open house showings may hurt your rental process instead of streamlining it.
When you plan a single time slot for an open house, it can automatically disqualify tenants who can’t make it to the showing. On the other hand, you can prioritize meeting and screening tenants based on their interests, and if someone reaches out for a showing, you can schedule it right away, ensuring your tenants are interested.
Create Handouts
You can show your tenants how organized you are by giving them all the relevant facts about your rental home on a handout. Having a thorough handout helps you clarify your tenants’ doubts and give them more personal space during the home showing, ensuring less stress for you and a more inviting place for them.
Handouts also provide your tenants with a solid take-home piece, so they don’t forget the essential details about your property. You should include all relevant information about your home, including lease start date, move-in and move-out fees, building rules and policies, security and pet deposits, and a clear list of what is included in rent.
Know All Amenities in the Area
It is necessary to understand your tenants’ expectations and rental demands before showing your home to know them better. Even if your previous renters didn’t have children, pets, or private vehicles, your potential tenants might. Consider researching all the amenities other landlords provide in your area, so you’re not caught off-guard by specific questions.
If you don’t have a thorough understanding of the neighborhood, there are chances that you will turn off your Quality tenants. You can provide a short supplemental handout, including information about nearby schools, playgrounds, parking/storage options, dog parks, and pet stores. You can speak intelligently about local amenities even if you don’t provide written information.
Communicate With the Current Tenants
Property showing requires additional preparation and planning if the unit is currently occupied. Consider discussing the showing time with your current tenants at least a week in advance. You can send a prior notice to them and respect their privacy during showings. Understanding the tenant’s right to privacy is better before scheduling showings.
Also, avoid showings while your renters have guests or if they are hosting a party. A messy property may prevent your quality tenants from signing a lease, so you can request that your current tenants clean up the property before the visit. You can tidy up the apartment yourself or hire a cleaning crew to make beds, remove trash and inspect closets and cabinets.
Fix and Stage a Property
Good property staging is a form of visual merchandising highlighting some of the interior design fundamentals. If your property is not rented, consider staging it to help prospective tenants envision how their home might look once they move into it. It can help your tenants visualize the space.
If the unit is occupied, arrive 30 to 60 minutes before your first appointment to prepare. Open windows for fresh air, remove the trash, vacuum, wipe down windows and counters, and pick up loose items. You should turn on all lights and open all blinds for showings.
Deodorize, Neutralize, and Freshen
One crucial step before a showing is to clean the unit properly and deodorize it. Some things may have harsh or bleachy odors, which may require deep cleaning before inviting guests. Here are a few ways to deodorize your unit.
- Take The Trash Out
The stinky trash can overpower other pleasant scents in the unit. Therefore, emptying every trash you can on your property, including the kitchen, bathrooms, and kids’ bedrooms, is better. Also, avoid overflowing dumpsters stinking up your yard or driving whenever your garbage pickup occurs.
- Accent With Natural Aromas
Once thoroughly cleaned the property, pick a gentle scent like clean linens and spray it all over the unit. Since plug-in air fresheners are too overpowering, consider unplugging them for a few hours before your tenants arrive. This way, your tenants will simply think the home smells and feels fresh. You can also consider other tiny touches, like placing dry sheets in your drawers or grinding a lemon or orange rind in the garbage disposal to naturally make your home smell better.
- Address Pet Odors Head-On
Renting a property with pets requires a bit of extra cleanliness. If your renters compare your home to others, they will pick the one that doesn’t come with a pet odor over one that does. You may need to deodorize the whole unit, put away any pet products, and arrange a plan for your pet during showings.
You can steam clean your carpet to remove pet hair and urine odor, clean up fur stuck to furniture and floors or take your pet to daycare, work or a neighbor’s home when the tenants arrive.
Make Use of Wind Chimes & Water Features
Adding extra features like wind chimes and fountains helps you lessen the impact of street noise, especially when renters are exploring your front and back yards. These decorations are effective, especially when the listener is close by, so they aren’t meant to drown out loud sounds.
You can easily buy these things from home improvement stores that stock self-install fountains to meet different aesthetic preferences in your budget. You can also make your own with a planter, using a plastic bucket, a bag of rocks, and simple tools.
However, water features like fountains are seasonal as they generally require an outdoor water supply. So if showings occur during colder months, you may use water features in the unit.
Follow-up After Home Showing
After your tenants visit the unit, you can contact them the next day to see if they have any questions you can help with. You can ask if there is anything you can do to help them complete a rental application process.
If they indicate they are no longer interested, ensure you give them best wishes for their home-hunting process. Although this seems trivial, a little kindness can go a long way in determining which property to call home.
Ultimately, how you present yourself as a landlord to your tenants can make a huge difference. Therefore, taking the proper steps before every show and promptly following up may make it a win-win situation for you.
Hire a Property Management Company
Longer rental vacancies are always a nightmare for landlords as they cut into your profit and increase your monthly expenses. Therefore, efficient rental property tours and thorough screening are vital to earn your profit potential.
You can do it yourself or rely on the experience of trusted industry professionals like California Pacific Realty. We are the area’s go-to source for dedicated property managers that guide landlords through every step of the home showing process.
To learn more about home showing tips and quality tenant retention, contact us at California Pacific Realty.
