Effective and unique strategies for marketing, then getting a tenant?

OP

New to Real Estate · San Diego, CA · Member since 2024 · 16 posts · 14 votes

Quote from @Hamp Lee III:

Congrats!

Consider going with a property management company now that you’re deploying soon. You may not be able to address issues in a timely manner when they come up. They will help with what I’m sharing below (or should).

Consider your pricing to ensure it’s competitive with the local rents.

Post on military sites as well.

As you said, get professional photos ASAP.

I'm active duty Air Force with four properties. Three are VA loans.

I wish you all the best.

Hamp,

Thank you for your response. Great to see another service member doing this! I'm looking at a few prospective property managers for when the time comes. I wanted to try my hand in self managing for the rest of this year, mainly for the experience aspect. The plan is to have a property manager identified by end of November, then have them in place January.

I have posted them on military group pages associated with the Navy in this area, especially seeing that the Naval base in ten minutes from the property. I'd like to ask if you've ever listed with housing on base? When I was in Norfolk they had a housing assistance office where they would help Sailors find units for rent from their own dedicated list. Any experience in doing that?

Sean HudginsPro Member

Real Estate Agent · Chesapeake Va · Member since 2019 · 150 posts · 100 votes

[email protected]757-844-8215

Congrats Mark,

As Hamp mentioned, getting a management company involved before you deploy is a very smart move. When I was still active, the only time I would consider self-managing was when my tenants were college buddies and shipmates. Get that management company nailed down now, as they should have better marketing strategies so you can take those off your hands, and it allows you and the management company to align and manage expectations from day one.

If you're going to stick to self-marketing the property, get those photos. You can try sites like militarybyowner.com and the groups you mentioned.

best of luck to you!

Hamp Lee IIIPro Member

Real Estate Agent · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 832 votes

I haven’t listed with the base housing office yet. My properties have property managers and are rarely vacant.

Glad to see you’re learning a lot and on your way to financial freedom!

Nicholas Coulter

Real Estate Agent · Southern California · Member since 2019 · 681 posts · 281 votes

I would pay for new photos. I have a person who has done my listings and airbnb. That should pull in a better interest. Are you posting right at market rent? with my last tenants I tried posting rent "discounts" for length of lease. MTM was 1k, 6 months was 900 and 12 months was 800 as an exaggerated example.

OP

New to Real Estate · San Diego, CA · Member since 2024 · 16 posts · 14 votes

Quote from @Sean Hudgins:

Congrats Mark,

As Hamp mentioned, getting a management company involved before you deploy is a very smart move. When I was still active, the only time I would consider self-managing was when my tenants were college buddies and shipmates. Get that management company nailed down now, as they should have better marketing strategies so you can take those off your hands, and it allows you and the management company to align and manage expectations from day one.

If you're going to stick to self-marketing the property, get those photos. You can try sites like militarybyowner.com and the groups you mentioned.

best of luck to you!

Sean,

Surprisingly, I haven't heard of militarybyowner.com. Thanks for the lead! I'll definitely check it out. Definitely planning on finding a PM after some careful consideration today. I already have some leads. Thanks again!

OP

New to Real Estate · San Diego, CA · Member since 2024 · 16 posts · 14 votes

Quote from @Nicholas Coulter:

I would pay for new photos. I have a person who has done my listings and airbnb. That should pull in a better interest. Are you posting right at market rent? with my last tenants I tried posting rent "discounts" for length of lease. MTM was 1k, 6 months was 900 and 12 months was 800 as an exaggerated example.

Nicholas,

Doing some digging now to get a photographer into my property. I don't consider the photos I've gotten "Zillow worthy." By the way, that's a fantastic idea! I'll add that to my toolbox. I've searched around a few websites and searched for properties within the same zip code as mine. I compared size, amenities, whether or not a property was rehabbed, parking, and location. It's odd really, the prices go from as low as $1700 for an apartment up to $2300 for a SFH or ADU. Just from my observations it seems apartments can go for cheaper than a SFH. Is this the usual in SD?

Nicholas Coulter

Real Estate Agent · Southern California · Member since 2019 · 681 posts · 281 votes

Quote from @Mark Torrefiel:

Quote from @Nicholas Coulter:

I would pay for new photos. I have a person who has done my listings and airbnb. That should pull in a better interest. Are you posting right at market rent? with my last tenants I tried posting rent "discounts" for length of lease. MTM was 1k, 6 months was 900 and 12 months was 800 as an exaggerated example.

Nicholas,

Doing some digging now to get a photographer into my property. I don't consider the photos I've gotten "Zillow worthy." By the way, that's a fantastic idea! I'll add that to my toolbox. I've searched around a few websites and searched for properties within the same zip code as mine. I compared size, amenities, whether or not a property was rehabbed, parking, and location. It's odd really, the prices go from as low as $1700 for an apartment up to $2300 for a SFH or ADU. Just from my observations it seems apartments can go for cheaper than a SFH. Is this the usual in SD?

Depends on the area but I have seen multiple people split houses easier than apartments. Not sure if thats driving it.

Keith Mintz

Real Estate Agent · San Diego, CA · Member since 2023 · 189 posts · 88 votes

It depends the location but I recommend Co-living (renting by the room connecting like-minded people to live together) or STR. I specialize in both of these, it has worked well and a great way to maximize rental income!

Mya Toohey

Real Estate Agent · Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 630 posts · 303 votes

One way also is pair with a Realtor to put on MLS. Only pay a portion of first months rent to get you a tenant. Then you don't have the headache of the finding/showing and no show time wasters to deal with. I have found if you do it yourself, you can Facebook, craigslist, Zillow and yard signs. I am in the Tampa Florida area and that is what works for me.

Michael SmytheBusiness Member

Real Estate Agent · Metro Detroit · Member since 2023 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes

@Mark Torrefiel check with local Realtors to find a photographer.

Have that photographer not only take great pics, but find on that also offers floor plans and 3D Tours. Some of them will user Matterhorn software and charge a LOT, but some use other cheaper software.

How much research have you done on your local competition?

Logical Property Management4.9455 Reviews

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Jake AndronicoBusiness Member

Realtor · Reno, NV · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 938 votes

Quote from @Mark Torrefiel:

Good day, BP family! So far, you guys have helped me find the motivation to purchase my first investment property, find the right management software, and now I'm marketing my triplex. The title says it all, I'm looking for effective and unique strategies to market a unit that is available on my property. For background context: I'm interested in a long-term rental with the unit to offset my mortgage while I live in one of the units. The other unit already has a tenant. For now, it is a house hacking strategy. As a note, I am active duty military, scheduled to deploy sometime next year, and I have plans to rent out the unit I am staying in once that time comes around.

So far, I used photos from when the previous owner marketed the unit. They aren't the best, so I do plan to find a photographer that would give better photos of the unit. I'm using the software Avail to collect rent from my other unit, as well as to mass market my available unit to about 20 different websites. Do any of you experienced investors/landlords/property managers have effective strategies you use to make a unit more attractive? Since this is my first rental, I'm not sure I can offer much in the way of rent specials. I am open to any and all suggestions, tips, or experiences anyone would be willing to share! Thanks in advance!

Cannot recommend getting professional photos enough. The lack of them on listings for homes about $500K is pretty astonishing, and a lot of rentals they are non-existent.

It will make yours immediately stand out, and if the unit doesn't change much you can have them for years to come.

If you have those and underprice it just slightly ($50-$100), it will likely get a ton of interest.

Best of luck to you!

415-233-1796

OP

New to Real Estate · San Diego, CA · Member since 2024 · 16 posts · 14 votes

Quote from @Michael Smythe:

@Mark Torrefiel check with local Realtors to find a photographer.

Have that photographer not only take great pics, but find on that also offers floor plans and 3D Tours. Some of them will user Matterhorn software and charge a LOT, but some use other cheaper software.

How much research have you done on your local competition?

Hey Michael!

3D tours would sound like an awesome addition. This is my first REI property, so I'm trying to find cost effective solutions to this matter. I'm worried on how much that would cost me. Though that is an awesome idea!

As for researching the competition, all I have done so far is check common websites that market properties like Zillow, Realtor.com, Apartments.com etc. Are there any other recommendations you could make as to how I can determine a price or additional amenities to keep me competitive?

Michael SmytheBusiness Member

Real Estate Agent · Metro Detroit · Member since 2023 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes

@Mark Torrefiel how much research have you done on competing rental listings?

Logical Property Management4.9455 Reviews

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Patti RobertsonBusiness Member

Property Manager · Virginia Beach, VA · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes

We advertise on the official military housing website homes.mil. It is a bit of a pain to go through the approval process to become an allowed advertisor, so it may not be worth it for a single unit owner.

757-472-2547

Daniel Afonso

Member since 2024 · 11 posts · 4 votes

Quote from @Mark Torrefiel:

Quote from @Sean Hudgins:

Congrats Mark,

As Hamp mentioned, getting a management company involved before you deploy is a very smart move. When I was still active, the only time I would consider self-managing was when my tenants were college buddies and shipmates. Get that management company nailed down now, as they should have better marketing strategies so you can take those off your hands, and it allows you and the management company to align and manage expectations from day one.

If you're going to stick to self-marketing the property, get those photos. You can try sites like militarybyowner.com and the groups you mentioned.

best of luck to you!

Sean,

Surprisingly, I haven't heard of militarybyowner.com. Thanks for the lead! I'll definitely check it out. Definitely planning on finding a PM after some careful consideration today. I already have some leads. Thanks again!

Hi Mark, I am a Marketing Strategist by trade. One piece of advice that I often give out to people is to find niche microcommunities that fit either your offer or your profile/personality, and this is a prime example of this. The reason why that approach is effective is that those communication channels will be less saturated with competition, and also attract more actively interested people. Similarly, you can look for microcommunities focused on other aspects related to your offer, such as location, type and so on.

Other than that, since you're renting one/two units, it's really not worth it to set up your own website or to try to do very complicated forms of content. You should really go for images and text, but the trick is to really put thought and effort into them. People have talked about improving the photos, and that's absolutely something you need to do. But it's equally important to enhance the text of your ads/listings.

How do you do this? The first thing is SEO. Make sure you include all the variations of search keywords that a prospect is likely to use when they're looking for a unit such as yours in the text; and use the most popular keyword in your headline.

The second thing is the copy itself, that is, the written content of your ads. I started out as a copywriter and I'm huge believer that you can make or break a sale based on copy alone.

The starting point is knowing what emotional drivers (desires, fears, hopes) lead people to spend money on a unit such as yours. You can get highly specific with this if you know the tenant history for your units and what motivated their purchase. But if you don't, you can start from basic assumptions. For instance; depending on the price range of the unit, people may be buying a place to call home; or they may be buying a sense of security that is economically stabe and affordable; or they may be buying, in the case of a luxury rental, prestige and a sense of accomplishment in life. Whatever emotional driver is the best and most intense fit, you should work into your headline.

So, to recap, your headline is built from two pieces: the most popular search keyword for your offer + the most fitting and powerful emotional driver leading people to purchase your offer.

Then, the content of the ad should be written as a demonstration of how your unit fulfills that driver.

Finally, you should write with the principle that each sentence should make the reader hungry for the next, each paragraph end in a sort of cliffhanger. Yes, this is possible to do even in the case of a house listing. You just need to think about it and get creative.

I can review your listings if you wish!

Anyway, those are my two cents when it comes to marketing in your specific case.