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I'm a new landlord trying to rent out a condo for the first time. I post a craiglist ad last week and I haven't received any inquires and was hoping for some tips or alternative sources to advertise.
I think my ad is attractive (I am using Postlets HTML design) and the unit is reasonably priced in a good neighborhood.
The only thing is that the local craigslist has a very high volume, so my ad is way down the que just a few hours after I posted it. But I didn't think that was a big deal since people mostly do keyword searches.
This may not be helpful but I peruse our local craigslist rentals daily so will offer suggestions which pop out to me when I see poorly written ads.
1. Be specific with details such as whether or not utilities are included; internet access and cable/satellite availability; approximate square footage; furnished or unfurnished; appliances; and of course the obvious such as number of bedrooms, bathrooms; parking; smoking or non smoking; pets; location to public transportation, shops, etc. Keep in mind that an applicant may not be familiar with the area.
2. Photographs! Decent quality and content interior and exterior. I see places advertised when obviously a tenant is still living there with post-its all over the 'fridge door; drying towels slung over the shower stall; miscellaneous tenant "stuff" cluttering up the place. Places which boast a "lovely view" but post no photos of it. And the number of ads which skimp on the living space but have several photographs of the bathroom are pretty funny.
A quick response but hope I'm not insulting you by pointing out the obvious. Good luck!
I have found that short, simple ads WITH pictures work best.
Avoid the flowery language that makes your busted ass rental seem like that Taj-Mahal.
Include quality, well shot pictures. Try to get a camera with a wide angle lens so that pictures of the living-room don't come out as "pictures of a corner and a quarter of a window".
Make it simple, within a few sentences, I should know all info I want, where its located and who/where to call, and whether my pet/cigarrettes/death-metal drum set/meth-lab is welcome or not.
Maybe post a link to your ad so that we can give you better feedback.
Thanks, I don't want to post the ad here because I don't want to out myself and my ad has my name, contact information and address.
I just added a hit counter to the ad to see how many people are looking at the ad, but it does have pictures of the unit that are staged, as we moved out except for a few pieces of furniture.
The add has all the requisite details and no flowerly language, except that I have a list of how close the unit is to things like parks, major roads, train station, starbucks, whole foods etc. The neighborhood I live in is very convenient and walkable to a lot of stuff within a half mile.
I'm worried that I missed the Oct. 1 and Sept. 1 windows because that is when a lot of people start new jobs after moving to this area (certainly was hard to find a rental truck available this past month). There is just a ton of rental ads up right now in the greater metro area, though only a few in my neighborhood.
I'm not sure about your area, but we have a lot of scammers on Craigslist down here and most ppl just drive around or contact a property management company when looking for a place. Sorry I wasn't very helpful
How active is your rental market? Do you have a ton of competition? Most areas have pretty healthy rental markets these days because so many people have lost their homes and can't buy again for 2 or 3 years, or just don't want to buy again at all. If your market is healthy, you should be getting calls of your Craigslist ad. We post ours every 48 hours until we sign a lease, and usually each posting yields 4-5 emails (most are scams) and 5-10 phone calls, which all lead to at least a few showings. If you are in a healthy market, and got no response at all, you are either priced too high, or your contact information is incorrect.
Craigslist is the bomb...I put a dryly worded ad with rif-raff filters on it (background/credit check) with a couple pics...rented under 24hr to someone with over 800 credit rating. I'd say put 'just the facts', make sure price is reasonable for area, and some pics and you should be golden.
This really depends on your market - in my area Craigslist is so buried in spam its completely useless. My neighbor had her rental on Craigslist for two months before she found a decent tenant. My unit across the street was filled in less than two weeks using the local MLS. In some areas MLS is junk, in others, it's the only way to go.
This really depends on your market - in my area Craigslist is so buried in spam its completely useless.
Fortunately a few of us in my area do a daily "patrol" to weed out the scammers. We immediately report the obvious ones and, if in doubt, use anonymous email address to make contact with the advertisers and root them out that way. They run in packs and once they start getting dumped over and over again they give up for a while (and we're ready for their return)!
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