When it comes to living situations, everybody’s situation is different. From a consumer’s perspective, you never think about living somewhere for a short amount of time… you only think about 12-month leases or living in your forever home. But from a rental owner’s perspective, you see ALL the different types of living situations but a booming sector is the short-term rental industry.
So many rental owners get caught up in the
12-month leasing agreements that they forget that there are people out there
who are looking for properties to live in for shorter amounts of time… that’s a
whole market that is all too often overlooked. Being the owner of short-term
rental property has several advantages that people don’t even realize.
A profitable way for renting your property is short-term rental and it will come in handy if you ever needed to move back into your property temporarily. It’s also a great thing for when you’re ready to sell it. More importantly, making your property a short-term rental is going to be great for your business because you’ll be meeting a need that not too many rental owners are not meeting.
People need short-term rentals for all types
of reasons but some of the major reasons include:
- Building a
house - Deployment
- Waiting for a
house on the base - Relocating
for a job
All of those are pretty big reasons why people
need short-term rentals and there’s a pretty big market for it. You can check
the rental market in your area to get an idea of where your rental
fits in. As a rental owner offering short-term renting, you have the advantage
of charging a premium. It’s not that you’re trying to get over on potential
tenants but it’s more so that you’re just trying to keep up with your
competition.
Most landlords and apartment complexes charge
premiums for short-term tenants so why shouldn’t you? For the right tenant,
this isn’t going to be an issue… in fact, it’s going to attract them to your
property even more. But this is where the question remains… how do you attract
tenants to your rental property? And not just any tenants, the best tenants!
So how do you attract the best tenants for
your short-term rental property? It’s all about advertising. The way you
advertise your rental is what’s going to bring in the inquiries.
Advertise Exactly What You’re
Selling… Short-Term Leasing
When it comes to short-term rentals, you need to advertise exactly what you’re selling and that is short-term rentals, meaning month-to-month or six-month leasing options. Ideally, you want to stay away from generic descriptions like “beautiful three-bedroom home for rent” unless you’re going to put your leasing terms along with it.
Generic advertising is going to lead to
inquiries from people wanting long-term agreements and that’s not what you’re
offering. Consider your ads starting out with “Six-month and month-to-month
leasing options available.” That’s what’s going to attract your short-term
renters.
Highlight the Nearby Attractions
When advertising your short-term rental, you
not only want to advertise your leasing options but you also want to sweeten
the deal with the local attractions in the area. Potential tenants are already
attracted to your property just by the leasing terms alone but if you add in
the fact that your property is 10 minutes away from downtown and a bike ride
away from the art district, that’s just going to increase interest in your
property even more.
Advertise What Potential Renters
Want to Know
When
someone is in the market for a rental property, they want to know what the leasing
terms are and how much it costs. Whether you’re advertising on social media, through your
personal website, or through a short-term rental platform, whatever marketing
channel you use, you need to make sure it has the cost per month, if credit
will be checked, and the leasing terms.
Those three aspects are important because it
lets them know up front whether or not they can afford the property, if they’ll
qualify for it, and if your leasing terms is something that they can work with.
Putting this information out there from the very beginning is going to weed out
people who you’ll be able to work with or not, saving you time and energy
during the searching process.
Always Remember This…
It’s always better to constantly have someone
in your property than to have your property vacant. When your property is
vacant for extended periods of time, it leaves the window open for vandalism
and breaking and entering. According to a Gallup study, one in four homes
falls victim to acts of vandalism.
Keeping your rental property consistently
occupied might mean that you have to lower the rent a bit or offer some kind of
discount off for the first month. With that in mind, you must also remember
that it’s better to have no tenant than to have a bad one so it’s very
important to maintain good screening standards.
