Showing your vacant rental property to tenants is an important part of the rental property marketing process, and a critical component to leasing your home. Today, we are taking some time to talk about showings and how you can minimize the risk of losing a prospect. At California Pacific Realty, we’re using an electronic smart box lock system, and we’ve found a lot of success with this program.
Changing Tenant Demographics and Demands
In Oakland and the entire Bay area, the leasing process moves quickly. The fast pace means we have to be prepared to respond to tenants and show them properties on demand. These are not tenant who will wait around to see your Oakland rental property. In an effort to meet the needs of these fast-moving residents, we have adapted our showing process to meet their standards.
Open houses are primarily how we market properties to our prospective tenants. They are an effective way to show the home to a large number of prospective renters at one time. Open houses are still our priority when it comes to leasing a vacant property, and we’re also offering a different opportunity to tenants who may not be able to attend an open house.
How Smart Box Lock Systems Work for Leasing
The smart lock system means we don’t have to be at the property with tenants.
If a tenant wants to see one of the properties we have available but they cannot attend the open house, we ask them to install an app on their phone, which they use to upload their ID and credit card information. Once we have that on file, they are immediately able to spend up to an hour viewing your property.
This can be done according to their own schedules and on their own time. It cuts down on the back and forth that can sometimes occur when you’re trying to schedule an in-person showing. From the information they provide to the app, we know who they are. We also ask them to complete a survey after viewing the unit to let us know what they thought and if there were any problems.
Linking to Rental Property Applications
The app also includes a link to our application, so potential tenants can begin the process of being screened and approved for the home they viewed.
This has been a success for us so far, especially with units that we thought might take longer to get rented. We notice people are applying online faster, and we’re able to rent our vacant units within a few weeks. We believe giving tenants the flexibility and ease of self-showings has really improved our leasing results.
This can help you get the most out of your own leasing process. If you want to know more about the electronic lock box systems we are using and how they can help you rent your home faster, please contact us at California Pacific Realty. We enjoy making life a little easier for landlords and investors.
