| How to Attract Good Tenants

Your investment property is one of your most valuable assets.  Having good tenants can make or break you when it comes to renting out an investment property. 

To sum it up – You need to have a high quality property in a good location at the right price.

Working closely with a good quality property manager will make your life measurably better.

Who is your ideal tenant?
You need to clearly define what your ideal tenant looks like.  There is no such thing as perfect.  But it is a great idea to list out what criteria you would like and what you definitely won’t accept.

This will also help pre-qualify prospective tenants – Especially with issues like pets, children, and smoking.  You also need to be careful not to be on the wrong side of discrimination laws.

Don’t just create this list, make sure you back it up by rigorously screeningg prospective tenants.

Make sure Your Online Listing is Compelling
Most prospective tenants start their search online.  So it is now vital you ensure your online listing is as good as possible.  Your online listing could make or break your chances of enticing them for a viewing.  

A good listing needs to be descriptive and paint a picture of what it would be like to live in the home. It needs to (without exaggerating), highlight all the positives of your property.

Please see our separate detailed article about this.

Use Professional Photos.
When searching online, often the first glimpse they’ll get of your home will be via photos. Given the wealth of choice offered by most property websites it is easy for people to pass over pictures which look unattractive or don’t have the ‘wow’ factor.

Use a professional photographer. Even consider a video or virtual 3d tour.  It can make a world of difference. First impressions count.  If your photos don’t come up to scratch you shouldn’t accept them.  It will be a worthwhile investment, you can use the same photos each time you need to advertise the property.

Ensure Your Property Maintenance is Spot On
By making your property more attractive to potential tenants, you will attract and be able to choose higher quality tenants, reduce vacancy time and possibly achieve a higher rent.  You may need to spend a little money, but it will provide you a great return on your small investment.

If you have a new investment property, or a rental property that is vacant, it is a great time to make it attractive to quality tenants by taking care of some important maintenance details.  You don’t have to have a big budget, but by taking care of some details you will attract better tenants and possibly a little more rent.

It helps to do these odd jobs when your rental is empty and you are not disrupting tenants.

Simple Add-ons
There are many improvements that if you can make will not only entice quality tenants but also possibly allow you to increase the rent while adding value to your property.  Things like a dishwasher, air conditioning, extra storage space or nicer lighting can add a lot to the value of your rental property.

Be Easy to Communicate With
Being a good landlord by being flexible and easy to get hold of when needed will go a long way to get and keep good quality tenants.  If you are hard to deal with, don’t expect your tenants (or your property manager) to be easy to deal with.

The easier you are to communicate with the more smooth the running of your rental property will be.

Golden rule – Look after your tenants and they will most likely look after your property.