Advertising & Property Preparation – Best Practices for Landlords in San Jose

Your first two responsibilities when you’re a landlord is to prepare your property for the rental market and advertise that property so you attract good tenants. There are a few things that will prepare you for these steps and ensure you are successful in completing them.

Online Advertising

For advertising today, it’s all electronic. There are no more ads in newspapers or flyers. When people want a rental today, they go to the online marketplace. Sites like Craigslist, property management websites, Trulia and Zillow are most popular. Tenants look for properties online, and that’s where you need to be for them to find you.

Advertising Content

Don’t oversell your property. Make sure what you say is the truth. Nothing looks worse than putting the property in the wrong area when you advertise. Remember that pictures sell. They set your ad apart so when you’re doing online ads, make sure you have good pictures of the home’s inside and outside.

Contact Information

When you’re leaving contact information in your advertising, don’t use your cell phone number. You probably won’t want your tenant to have your cell number. Many landlords prefer to have a seldom-used number or a number just for their business responsibilities. Let that be your phone number.

Prequalifying Tenants

Rather than show the property to everyone who is interested, try to prequalify tenants on the phone. Know your rules and apply them to everyone. Make sure you can never be accused of a fair housing violation because you weren’t consistent. We recommend your income standards are that a tenant earns at least three times the amount of rent. That ratio works well. If a person is paying more than a third of their income for rent, they may have a problem paying over the long haul. Make sure your rules are reasonable, apply them to everyone and you won’t have a problem. You also won’t spend time showing the property to those who don’t qualify.

Preparing the Property

Most people drive by the property before they see it, and if the curb appeal isn’t good – they won’t show up for your appointment. Prepare the property for the tenant you really want to have. Tenants who will put up with a dirty or beat up house will also not take care of it in a way you’d want them to.

These quick rules will get you off to a good start. If you have any questions about this information, please contact us at Aborn Properties.