Getting attention in LA isn’t always easy. 

Even when we’re talking about rental properties. If you have a vacant home and you’re trying to find a renter, your marketing must be strategic. There are a lot of competing properties out there, and earning as much visibility as possible will help you gather a well-qualified pool of potential residents to your property. 

So, what can you do to market and lease your home quickly

Online listings are pretty common, and that’s a good starting point. But, smart leasing requires more than that. 

As Los Angeles property management professionals, we invest a lot of time and resources studying the insights and data that we gather in the local rental market. We keep an eye on tenant trends, we follow how the competing properties are marketing themselves, and we make sure we always have immediate access to the information we need to market and lease your rental home effectively. 

Here are some of our tips and strategies for marketing and leasing your rental property.

Pricing Plays a Part in Marketing and Leasing 

It may not seem possible, but good marketing starts with an accurate rental value. 

Most prospective residents are searching listings by price. You want to make sure you’re showing up in a reasonable rental range. Competitive pricing helps you reduce vacancy times. It also attracts well-qualified renters to your property. Tenants are smart. They understand the market and they know what they’re willing to pay. A delicate balance has to be reached. When you price your home too high, you won’t have anyone interested in renting it. If you price it too low, it may rent quickly, but you won’t earn as much from it as you could. 

In our experience, overpricing a rental property is usually the greatest danger. We make sure to price your home for profit, but we’re mindful of the market. That’s the biggest driver of your rental market, so before you list and advertise your home for rent, make sure you’ve studied the market and decided where your property belongs price-wise. Take a look at what similar properties in your neighborhood are listed for on the same sites you plan to use. Or, access reliable rental data from a Los Angeles property manager. We have the best data.

Include your price in any marketing you do. There’s no point in attracting tenants who are not able to pay what you’re asking. 

Prioritize Your Rental Property Photos in Online Listings 

Excellent photos will help you market your property. 

Don’t be lazy when it comes to the pictures you take and post. Residents looking for a rental home will always scroll through the photos before they look at your description or check your location on a map. The photos do most of the selling. So, give prospects a good idea of how the property looks. Provide a first impression that reaches them on an emotional level if you want them to show any interest in seeing or renting the home. 

You’ll need to focus on quality as well as quantity. You want to include as many pictures as you can, and you want them to be from various angles. Camera phones can take high quality pictures, but if you happen to have a professional-grade camera, use it. Every listing should include marketing photos that show:

• The front of the property and any outdoor space
• The kitchen, with some close-ups on appliances, especially if they’re new or stainless
• Bedrooms
• Bathrooms
• Common areas 

If there are any special features, such as carport or garage parking, make sure those photos are included. If you have a garden bathtub or a walk-in closet, show them. 

Virtual Tours and Videos

A walk-through video or a virtual tour will provide a real-time glimpse of what it might be like to see your property. This will help prospective tenants decide whether or not to schedule a showing. It can make out-of-state tenants feel like they’re already there. 

Share your video in listings and on social media sites. Send a link to potential residents who have expressed an interest in renting from you. 

This marketing strategy is a good idea because it saves you time. By doing a virtual tour or watching a walk-through video, tenants can decide whether or not the space is something they want to see in person. If it’s not going to work for them, they’ll know by seeing the video, and they’ll save their own time as well as yours. 

Choose Well-Trafficked Online Rental Sites

Listings belong on the most popular rental websites. You’ll want to write a concise but information-rich description to go with your photos and videos. Then, get that listing online and in front of as many people as possible. This visibility is necessary to get your property leased quickly.  

We recommend you post your listing across all of the rental platforms that we know tenants are using. You’ll find that you have a lot of traffic on sites like: 

• Zillow
• Trulia
• HotPads
• Rent Café
• PadMapper
• Rentals.com
• Apartments.com
• MyNewPlace

It takes some time to get a quality advertisement in all of these places. This is one of the many benefits to working with a professional property manager in LA when you’re marketing and leasing your property. You’ll be able to leverage technology and marketing software that allows for immediate syndication on all these sites.

Introduce a Tenant Referral Program

If you’re renting out more than one property, you have existing relationships in place with tenants. Good relationships can lead to help with marketing your vacant properties. Talk to your residents and offer them a referral bonus or a rental discount if they find a qualified tenant for you. Maybe they have friends or family members who would make good neighbors. 

By enlisting the help of others, you can market your vacant property widely, increase the visibility that your listing gets, and invest in a better relationship with existing residents. Offer a cash referral bonus, gift cards, or a discount on the next month’s rent once the referred tenant is approved.  

Get Social with Posts on Popular Platforms 

Your listing will show up on those online rental sites we discussed, but you have to send it to other places as well. 

Think about social media and the reach it has. According to recent statistics, 4.9 billion people are on social media sites daily, and the average person spends at least two-and-a-half hours of everyday scrolling through Instagram or posting on Facebook.

Social media provides a unique opportunity for engagement. You won’t find that in the Zillow listings.

When you share a listing on Instagram or Facebook, people can comment on what they like about the place. They can tag friends who they know are looking for rental homes. They can repost it and help you promote your property.

You can also field questions and provide answers. This is an excellent way to draw more people towards your listing. 

Set up a social media presence and use it to reach new tenants. You’ll create some momentum and find new ways to share your listing. Facebook Marketplace even has a space dedicated to rental properties. This helps you lease your home faster, and that’s your ultimate goal.

Be Responsive When Prospective Tenants Reach Out

It’s always a surprise to us when tenants say they called or messaged about other properties and never heard back. You cannot rent a property without talking to prospective residents. Don’t avoid those phone calls. Don’t ignore those messages. 

With effective marketing, you’ll find that there’s a good response to your listing. People will want more information. They will try to schedule showings. You can expect them to call, email, and message you, and it’s important that you’re responsive. Otherwise, your property will remain vacant and it will take much longer to lease it to a good resident. You could have the best marketing platform on the planet. If you’re not responsive to your tenants, you’re not going to get very far.

Self-Showings and Los Angeles Tenants 

The days of a leasing agent meeting a prospective tenant at a rental property are long over. Some property managers prefer to do it. A lot of landlords are still making time in their schedules as well. 

There’s an argument to be made for this. Showing your property in person has its benefits. 

However, it can also be inefficient and more complicated than it needs to be. If you cannot seem to align your schedule with the schedules of prospective tenants, invest in self-showing tech. If getting to your property is a hassle because LA traffic is what it is, let the tenants get there on their own time and take a look around.

When you want to market your rental property in Los Angeles in a way that’s intuitive and innovative, you’ll install a smart lock or a digital key so that prospective tenants can see the place on their own. 

This is safe, secure, and convenient. It allows you to track who is coming and going, and you can also gather a little information on your prospective tenants, which will help you with targeted marketing in the future. 

These are some of the best and most effective strategies we can recommend for marketing and leasing your LA rental home. Want more advice? We’re happy to give it. Contact us at El Camino Property Management.