Rental Posting - Not many leads

[Nicholas D'Andrea]

Hi BP Community,

I posted my rental 13 days ago and have not had many serious candidates. Unless hiring a listing agent, any ways to boost my leads? I posted on Zillow, Trulia, Hotpads and Apartments.com. I will be posting on FB Marketplace later today.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2232-Manton-St-Philadelph...

Much appreciated. 

Nick

[Diego A.]

Hi Nicholas,

It is common in most market not to get a lot of leads, mainly when the price is high, but it takes around 2 weeks to a month to really find the right person.

Make sure that you are in the ranges that other rental properties are in your area.

[Stuart Udis]

@Nicholas D'Andrea I am not too familiar with the Point Breeze market but it appears the home you are trying to rent, 2232 Manton Street is a 1,060 SF 3 Bed 2 Bath home & is on the market for $2,900. Meanwhile, 2212 Manton Street which is a 4 bed 3 bath home and 1800 SF above ground with a finished basement (2400 SF total livable SF) was leased  in March for $2,925. I didn't conduct a deep dive in to the neighborhood comps but this initial observation points to a pricing issue. Perhaps someone with more knowledge on the neighborhood rental rates can chime in. From my experience, if your rental is priced correctly, is listed on zillow and you are responsive to inquiries with the ability to show the property hiring a real estate agent is not necessary. 

[Nicholas D'Andrea]

Its definitely priced higher, but I tend to weed out weak applicants. My other rental people ask for a lower price and I meet in the middle. But who am I to say. 

[Alyssa Wright]

The photos look amazing, which is great cause that's the first thing people see! My recommendations would be to re-evaluate the price point and make sure it matches other properties nearby. There's also a few things you could do to try and improve the description itself. I've found that adding local neighborhoods and roadways and giving a brief overview of requirements/availability can really help attract people to a listing. Maybe try a few different description formats across your listing sites and see if a certain type gets you any additional leads?  

[Stuart Udis]

@Nicholas D'Andrea I have to say, this is the first I have heard of such a strategy. You are weeding out the good applicants, not the weak applicants. You should re-think your marketing strategy. I rarely negotiate on lease terms with my tenants, and any concessions are going to be tied to lengthier leases. When I ask fair market value I tend to receive it. Again I can't say what is fair market for your home, but I would imagine if you are priced correctly you will receive inquiries from good prospects. Right now, the good prospects are dismissing your home because it's over priced. 

[Alecia Loveless]

@Nicholas D'Andrea I use Facebook Marketplace and generate a ton of inquiries. However expect a significant decrease in the number of people that follow through and even less that will come to look at it.

Recently my market has gotten much looser with more rentals being available. I’ve been trying to rent a 1/1 for about 1.5 months but I expect a premium price because it’s a gorgeous apartment and the other tenants are paying a lot.

You can likely expect the rental process to take longer than it did even just 3-4 months ago.

I’d stay the course especially if it’s a nice unit. I’d rather get the right tenants who want and appreciate the unit as opposed to lowering the price and just getting any Tom, Dick, or Harry.

[Ryan Bakerian]

Quote from @Alecia Loveless:

@Nicholas D'Andrea I use Facebook Marketplace and generate a ton of inquiries. However expect a significant decrease in the number of people that follow through and even less that will come to look at it.

Recently my market has gotten much looser with more rentals being available. I’ve been trying to rent a 1/1 for about 1.5 months but I expect a premium price because it’s a gorgeous apartment and the other tenants are paying a lot.

You can likely expect the rental process to take longer than it did even just 3-4 months ago.

I’d stay the course especially if it’s a nice unit. I’d rather get the right tenants who want and appreciate the unit as opposed to lowering the price and just getting any Tom, Dick, or Harry.

I also recently listed an apartment on Facebook. The amount of unqualified, or people who don't even bother to read the ad is insane. I think they just hit every is this available button hoping that someone bites. Most have pets, I say no pets.. most have them smoking weed in their profiles and my listings say no smoking. It's insane. Facebook is the new craigslist. 

[Cathy B.]

Nicholas,

Its a beautiful property. 

Only minor thing I would clarify is that your listing says there is off street parking but it is not apparent from the photos, nor mentioned in the description.  If this is an amenity, consider elaborating on the number of spaces and/or the proximity to the property either in the description or a photo.

Another thing I noticed with Zillow is that when you list your price as 2850, it rounds up on the Zillow map to 2900.  If you list it as 2849, it would round down to 2800 on the map, possibly drawing more views.

Good luck!

-Cathy

[Chloe Brown]

@Nicholas D'Andrea! I second what many people have already said. The listing and the photos looks great and you are posting on all the top sites.

I would recommend reevaluating the price to see if a price adjustment will drive traffic as well as consider posting to a site like Facebook Marketplace.

I know that our market in San Diego is different than where you are located, but we are seeing it takes approximately 23 days for a property to be leased.