Callers who can’t get through to you won’t keep calling back. Have a voice mail system or answering machine with a friendly but professional message providing the move-in details and features of your available property. Make sure the message gives the total move-in costs and informs the caller whether yours is a non-smoking property and whether pets are allowed. You may even provide the address and welcome a drive by, but ask prospects not to go onto the property or disturb the occupant. Let the caller know when the property will be available to view and how to go about making an appointment. In addition, tell the caller what the move-in date is and that you have a Web site or other place to view digital photos and obtain an application.
privately owned paper. The smaller paper is usually read by peo- ple in the area and can be effective and the least costly. It really depends on the type of rental and your specific area. Sometimes advertising in the large city paper costs a lot, but it covers a wide area.
Be sure to review whichever paper you choose and check out your competition. See which ads catch your eye and think about why.
Keep in mind that many newspapers now have online news- papers so that anyone searching will also pull up the newspaper online as well as reading it in the actual paper they pick up at the newspaper stand.
Writing an effective ad
When placing your ad, list the key features. Start by describing the property from the inside to the outside, listing the features that matter. Let prospects know what makes your place unique and better than the others. List items that not all units have, such as a view, a fireplace, a garage, new appliances, and list the condition. Is it newer, does it have upgrades, large bonus rooms, and so on?
Place yourself in the tenant’s position. What would you want to know before calling to get details? What would entice you to call? The hardest part of placing your classified ad is figuring out what is important to the reader. Put in the benefit and value of the property.
■ Location You will find most newspapers list the ads by location. It is a good idea to mention the neighborhood or area that someone reading it may be familiar with. Some locations aren’t for everyone or offer some particular ben- efit like being close to shopping, buses, or schools.
■ Size This is the next important criteria in your ad. You should list the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, as well as any bonus rooms, offices, family rooms, sun porches.
Mention the size of a room or rooms if the bedrooms are large or if there is a large living room or kitchen. Also, it is important to mention whether any part of the property has been newly remodeled. Square footage may be impor- tant if that description is needed to support the rental price being above market for the number of bedrooms and baths.
■ Amenities Next, mention the special features of the property such as fireplace, pool, spa, appliances, laundry, garage, yard, deck, patio. It is important to talk about the view and the setting. Use descriptive words such as “quiet, private.” Consider the time of year. Air conditioning is important when temperatures soar above 80ºF, but not when the furnace is needed. If gardening is provided, this may be very attractive to the person who travels a lot and/
or currently doesn’t have yard-maintenance equipment.
■ Monthly rent and terms desired Include whether a lease is required. Communicate whether pets are allowed.
Mention move-in bonuses.
■ Utilities It is important to mention any utilities included, especially if all utilities are (or aren’t) included in the rent.
■ Cleanliness If the rental is newly painted or has new car- pet, or something has been upgraded, mention that in your ad. I sometimes state, “Clean and ready for immedi- ate move in.”
■ Contact information The last thing in the ad is usually a telephone number where you can be reached or where
Bright idea
Describe the location first, using a catchy word or two to draw in your reader, and then describe from the inside out. List the features, especially those that separate it from other rental properties. End with the price, lease term, and the contact number.
the reader can obtain additional information. I highly rec- ommend you have a answering machine or voice mail sys- tem. Your outgoing message is so important. I also feel this is the time to give the drive-by address and mention any pre-arranged showing times or open houses.
Looking at a typical ad
A typical ad may look like this:
SF—apt 2 bdrm 1 ba w/incredible views frplc, newly remod kit, sm deck, gar. Avail. 6/1. Lse. No pet/smoke
$1,700. 379-9038 Or, like this:
SF/APT, 2/1 w/views, FP remod kit, DK, gar. Avbl 6/1, lse, N/P/S. $1,700. 379-9038.
Don’t be afraid of a short ad. Keep in mind most newspapers will assist you if you tell them you want the ad as short as possi- ble and you want to them to abbreviate wherever possible. Some papers even provide you a list of common abbreviations. Here are the most common ones:
■ Apartment: apt
■ Townhouse: th
■ Bedroom: bdrm
■ Bathroom: Ba
■ Fireplace: f/p
■ Dishwasher: d/w
■ Large: lg
■ Small: sml
■ Room: rm
■ Laundry: lndy
■ Washer and dryer: w/d
■ Garage: gar or 2cr or 1cr
■ Air conditioning: a/c
■ Yard: yrd
■ Renovated: Reno’d
■ Move-in bonus: M/I bonus
■ No pets or smoking: No pet/smk or N/P/S
Check the ads in your local newspaper to find out what abbreviations are commonly used. Your newspaper can help you reduce the ad to get in the important features.
How big to make your ad
Your ad will usually be placed in the classified rental section under the available category, based on the type of property and/or area. In this case, bigger is not better. Placing a small ad that will attract your reader is important. Prospective tenants tend to look for smaller ads in certain areas with quick-and-easy details to read. Therefore, your ad needs to be short, yet packed with the valuable and basic information.
How often and when to run your ad in the paper
Most newspapers give a discount based on the commitment of running your ad for a specific number of days. I feel the best time to run an ad is the end of the week. You can begin the ad on a Friday and run it for ten straight days. This gives you their ten- day rate and hits two weekends.
Find out whether you can change your ad without charge.
After the first weekend, if you didn’t get any calls, consider changing the price or changing the verbiage to get more inter- est. Taking your ad out for a couple of days, and then placing it again with different information may also spark interest.
Watch Out!
It is important to check your ad the day you expect it to come out in the newspaper. Be sure the information is correct, especially the price and phone number. Don’t expect the ad to be correct, and call the paper immediately if you find an error.
I find the busiest days and most active days for rental calls and rental showings is toward the end of the month, with the last weekend before the first of the month being a very good time to advertise and rent your property. Remember, good tenants give 30 days’ written notice to their current landlords. They look around toward the end of the month with plans to find a place and give notice to their current landlords on or around the first of the month when they pay their rent.