So, you have a house you are trying to rent out. You’ve put it on Zillow and it just isn’t getting rented out. You are starting to feel that buying this was a bad idea and you’ll lose your money. This really sucks. What can you do?
Take heart: You aren’t a true real estate investor if you haven’t dealt with vacancy in some way. Having a building sit empty while you are paying insurance, taxes, and utilities is really depressing. Remember that you can always sell. Get it off the books, even for a loss, and move on.
Maybe you are considering just lowering the rent to get anybody in. That’s a deadly mentality and usually gets you a bad tenant who trashes the place and costs you more in the long run. Maybe you should just sell. But, if you aren’t ready for that yet, here are some things you can do to get it rented.
Start With Eyeballs
It’s possible that you aren’t getting this property in front of enough eyes to get a good tenant. Are you only on one site? You should really use multiple sites or even a broker to help. There is going to be a cost, but it is small compared to your monthly lost rent and bills.
Sites like Zillow can tell you how many are viewing your listing. If it is only a few, you need to expand your advertising, with either more sites or more advertising budget to get your listing higher. This will get you the eyeballs you need.
Timing
Unfortunately, the rental market swings. There is less interest around holidays and in the winter. Perhaps you are feeling down for no reason; it’s just December, and no one wants to move in the cold holiday season. Consider your regional timing and perhaps be patient before going further.
Ugly Listings
If you are getting the views, but not the showings, then there is something about your listing that is turning people off. The next thing to consider is the quality of your listing. Do you have professional-appearing photos or cell phone garbage? Is the marketing copy on your listing of high quality? AI can help you write it. Spruce up the listing to make the greatest impact.
Additionally, the ugliness can be from your price being too high. If people are seeing your listing, but leaving without doing a showing, the price might be too high. Take time to find other comparable rentals in the area and consider whether you are too high-priced.
Immutables
There are a few things you won’t be able to change, except for a large cost. These include number of bedrooms and bathrooms, the location, other nuisance properties in the area, etc. Either shell out money to solve these problems or sell and find a better location.
Ugly Property
Maybe the listing is beautiful, the price is right, you are getting the eyeballs, and you are getting showings. But after the showing they ghost you and you don’t know why.
This problem is always going to be something that they discovered by physically being present which wasn’t found online. This could be ugliness in the surrounding area, a perception of crime, a foul odor, the actual tour not matching what was in the photos, or even yourself as tour guide. Turn them off in any way, and they often will complete the tour politely, but leave you in the lurch, not knowing why. Have a friend come by and ask them why they might not rent this place. What are they seeing that you don’t? If you can reach them, ask people who walked through why they didn’t lease.
Bottom Line
Correct all these issues step-by-step. Realize that the price is only one component of the issue and is often not the true problem. Follow these steps to diagnose the issue and correct it. Be patient and you’ll get that great tenant.
