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The first quarter of 2014 has been a busy one for Timothy Real Estate Group and one that has brought many new surprises with it.  The US Buyers are back in the market which is a great sign for the future growth of the area.  I recently saw a tourism report showing that visitors to…

A vacant rental property is expensive. If you have a mortgage to pay on your property and no tenants, a few months can create big financial losses. To keep the window between tenants to a minimum, your marketing strategy needs to be top-notch. You want to attract good, lasting tenants. In a sea of vacancies and a slew of competition, your property has to stand out in the best way possible. Marketing real estate is a serious business, and it’s not one that you can afford to neglect. Much of real estate investment is a people business — communicating, relating and relationship building. A lot of those interactions shine in how you choose to market your properties.

Maybe you’ve been doing everything that you can think of to attract tenants but, for some reason, none of your advertising efforts seems to be bearing fruit. If you’re frustrated by marketing your rental, let us offer a few tips to get your property off of the market and back to making good returns.

Tips for Marketing Your Rental Property

Professional Photos

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. In the case of real estate, a picture can be worth a few thousand dollars. In this day and age, you must have attention-grabbing photos of your rental property in order to attract interested parties. Whether they’re going online or in a publication, though, you need to make sure your photography is effective — which means it’s professional.

Having professional photos of your property not only encourages people to look longer at your property, but can boost your asking price. Even if you don’t hire a photographer, there are a few tips that can add a lot of polish to your property photos.

When using photos, always consider the following:

• The exterior shot is the most important: The first photo should always be an exterior shot, which is best taken either half an hour before or after sunset, or in the early morning. Twilight shots can pop with the exterior lights turned on. A good exterior photo should be the hook that gets prospective tenants eager to see more.

• Keep photos straight: Get a tripod. A wide-angle lens on a quality SLR camera will help your photos out, too. And no smart phone cameras. They aren’t wide enough to capture smaller spaces and will leave your space looking cramped. In most cases, you’ll need a wide-angle lens around 28mm. A travel tripod will assure that you have straight photographs. Few people will keep looking at a property that seems like it’s going to sink into the earth. If not a tripod, get a bubble level and use it to keep your photos perfectly horizontal.

• No flash: Keeping the flash off lets the natural, existing light in the property (whether that’s from windows or lighting fixtures) shine and maintain the atmosphere of the space. Flash photography can overexpose, which can not only make your property seem uninviting and misconstrue depth, but it can highlight any and all visual flaws.

• Think hard …read more