by Matt Kastner You’ve been trying to lease that apartment for weeks and you finally have an appointment for a showing. The prospective tenant shows up and says how much they love the apartment. Flash forward a few weeks later and the apartment still hasn’t been rented and you are still losing money. What went wrong? Was the unit not right for the prospect? Maybe, but it might also have been you.
One of the hardest parts of being a landlord is finding tenants for your units. And really good tenants are even tougher to come by. Even the highest quality units can sit vacant if they aren’t shown properly. The best pictures and the greatest marketing strategy in town can be wasted if you don’t close the deal. Here are a few tips on how you can make the most of your showings:
- Remember that you are selling the apartment. The apartment will not sell itself. When the tenant arrives, you shouldn’t simply open the door and let them walk around. You should walk with them, pointing out the positive features of the apartment.
- When the prospect leaves, make sure they walk away with a rental application and a flyer displaying all the information they need to know about the apartment. Once they walk out the apartment door, they have already begun to forget some of the details of the apartment. The flyer will serve as a refresher and make the apartment stand out from the others they might have visited.
- Follow the “smells good, looks good, feels good” rule. Try to get to apartment before the tenant arrives. If the unit has an odd or stale smell, put an air freshener in the unit. If the apartment is too hot or cold, turn on the AC or furnace. Turn on the lights beforehand. Make sure everything is presentable. Comfortable. Make the prospect feel like they are at home.
- If a prospective tenant showed even a remote interest in the apartment, make sure you follow up with them in the following days. Renters have busy schedules, just like you, and sometimes they simply forget to call. A simple follow up call or email can make the difference to a tenant on the fence.
Keeping to these rules will help you to make the most out of your showings. Just don’t forget to get the apartment cleaned up and presentable before you even begin showings in the first place. Even if you have to pay someone to clean it for you. After all, each day the unit goes unrented is money out of your pocket.
