Category Archives: selling tips

Filling Rental Vacancies Fast

September 8, 2021moving, property management, selling tips, unit ownerssperling

As a side effect of the pandemic, many rental properties have remained vacant for longer than usual. Whether it is due to college and universities going remote, so students no longer need their rental, or a major shift to suburban living overcrowded city life, apartments that are usually a hot commodity have slowed down in rental allure. Thus, filling rental vacancies has become a pivotal part of property management responsibilities.

Here are a few ideas that may help landlords quickly fill vacancies that may occur over the course of the year.

Keep Your Listings Current on Your Website

According to RentTec Direct, “72% of renters use the Internet when looking for a new apartment according to a study conducted by Apartments.com and Google which evaluated the top avenue renters use to find their next rental property.”

If you are not keeping your vacancies up-to-date on your site, you may be missing a large portion of renters that find their next apartment online.

Evaluate Your Pricing

Your future renters will be doing their homework and shopping around to see which spaces include utilities, which do not, and which ones may offer some sort of amenities such as a yard or outdoor entertaining space.

Be sure to examine what the market is telling you your rent should be according to current situations. Once you have examined you can easily justify why the rent is set at a certain amount.

Utilize Professional Cleaners

Apartments that have been professionally cleaned, including the kitchen and bathrooms, appear better to potential renters. If you hire a cleaning crew you will not only save yourself some time and elbow grease, but also make your property look more appealing to those hoping to rent.

Keep in mind that renters check out every corner of the unit before they sign on the dotted line. By contracting this chore out, you will be maintaining your reputation for having spotless units as well as having renters find the unit above reproach.

Consider Perks

If you want to fill your rental quickly with quality renters, consider some perks.

Offer your current renters (or outgoing renters) referral awards to entice word-of-mouth recommendations. There is nothing better than finding a renter through a referral from someone who has been a quality tenant for years!

Advertise Immediately

If you do not have a referral program, you should try to advertise a vacancy immediately upon getting notice from the tenants.

Most rental units come with a requirement of giving 30 days’ notice to the landlord before moving out. Act immediately upon getting the notice to advertise the unit so that there will not be a vacancy the next month. Every time that unit sits empty you are losing income from that space.

Follow our blogs for more ideas on how to keep your properties well run and efficient now and going forward.

How To Fill a Vacancy Fast

October 21, 2020HOA Board, property management, selling tipssperling

Are you a landlord or property owner and feel the pressure every time a renter gives their notice that they are moving on to another location? This is pretty normal and understandable especially if you have been lucky enough to have tenants that pay on time and are respectful to the property.

Once a renter has given notice there are a few ways that you can work to fill the vacancy quickly. This will result in no gap in payments and allow you to continue the rental agreement with a new person or family.

Act Immediately

If all goes as planned, landlords or property owners should have about 30 days notice when a renter announces a departure. This doesn’t always happen but when it does this time can be used to prep the unit. Take that thirty days and start marketing immediately. Start placing ads in local media outlets as well as online sites for renting.

Use this time to assess if the unit needs repairs, repainting, or any new flooring/appliances. The 30 days notice will give you ample time to make these repairs. The better the unit looks, the more likely you will get a good price and find renters quickly.

Market Appropriately

Once you have assessed the repair needs of the unit, you should begin marketing the property. Use free online sites, such as Craigslist and Zillow. Use signage in the window or on the lawn of the property so people in the vicinity can be first to know that the unit is available.

Other options for marketing include: using a real estate agent, word of mouth, property management companies, and a traditional newspaper ad. These can be placed weeks prior to the vacancy and allow you to fill the unit even before the previous owners leave.

Leverage Technology

Use technology such as digital photography, virtual tours, or 360 degree images of the space to help you rent the unit. Consider shooting a video tour of the interior of your property, as well as the outside of your apartment complex and all common areas.

Technology such as social media can also help you get the word out about the vacancy. Sharing of posts can quickly spread and make for light work of renting the unit.

Create Incentives

If you have multiple units, some property owners give incentives for other renters to attract good renters by bringing in someone they know and can vouch for. Obviously, background checks and credit checks should always still be run for each applicant, but this can help attract good renters.

How do you fill vacancies fast? Drop us a line in the comments or check out our Facebook page.

Advantages of Association Living

November 6, 2019association living, HOA Board, property management, safety issues, selling tipssperling

How would you like all the advantages of being a homeowner without having to deal with lawn upkeep and the maintenance of the building and utilities? Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, living in a homeowners association can provide such a life!

If you are house hunting and condominium living is on your list of possibilities, you will want to examine the advantages that could be a part of your HOA. Many first time buyers, as well as empty-nesters, choose this type of community because the benefits are amazing. Here are a few things to weigh when deciding on purchasing a unit in an association.

Upkeep and Maintenance

As mentioned above, many people who are ready to take the plunge into the housing market are too busy with work and family life to worry about the constant work, maintenance, and upkeep that is needed with homeownership.

While HOA’s do require a monthly fee, most HOAs use that money to invest in top-notch maintenance of all the amenities and ensure your property stays in shape from the landscaping to the pool/gym areas. Imagine all the free time you will have on weekends and evenings to do what you want without the worry of outside maintenance, utility problems, and/or amenity access.

Often, association living allows for a nicer neighborhood with lawn care, gardening, and well-kept parking lots and walkways. This aspect alone can mean a huge benefit for this type of living.

Amenities

When considering purchasing a home vs. a condo, think about the extras that can make your living experience easier and, realistically speaking, happier. Most people can’t afford a pool, fitness center, clubhouse, tennis courts, BBQ/picnic areas, or walking trails on their own. As a part of a community, these amenities are usually a part of your dues. What a great asset to a community!

Social Life

For many people, their friends are usually located near their homes. For the lucky ones, community living allows for interactions and friendships that they would not normally be able to cultivate. From community BBQs to meeting people at the pool or fitness center, HOAs can help friendships blossom.

Mediators for Disputes

On the other side of the coin are neighbors who have disputes. Any time there is an issue with a dog barking too much, loud parties, or parking issues, an HOA can address the situation in a non-threatening manner. HOAs are great mediators for disputes.

Take these aspects of community living into account when you are deciding on your next home.

Selling Your Condo? Learn How Paint Can Help!

May 22, 2019decor rules, good neighbor, property management, selling tipssperling

Looking to sell your condo and want to get the best price possible without breaking the bank on improvements? Paint may be just the trick that can help you sell fast and for the price you want.

According to online real estate listings like Zillow, there are 920 condos for sale in and around Boston (as of this writing). With the median price of single home properties has increased by 44% in the past five years, many young people are hoping to step into the real estate market through a condominium purchase.

This is good news for Bostonians hoping to sell. However, there are still some things that you can do to help make your condo stand out from the rest when potential buyers come for an open house. If renovating your kitchen or bath is not in the cards due to budget or time, then paint may be a great option to make your condo look and feel fresh and new.

Painting is one of the less expensive and most impactful improvements you can make as you prepare your condo to sell. Here is why:

Fresh Paint Gives Positive First Impressions

A fresh coat of paint can be a positive first impression to house hunters. The largest square space of any home are the walls and ceilings. If there are chips, stains, scuff marks, or peeling paint, the potential buyer could be turned off. A new coat of paint can give a room a new look that appeals to many buyers. Making a good first impression is important since most buyers make up their minds within the first few minutes if they are even going to consider your condo a potential option.

Fresh Paint Means A Well Maintained Home

Paint has a way of conveying a message to potential buyers that the home is well maintained if it shows no signs of wear-and-tear. Buyers like to know that the interior of a condo has been properly cared for and well-painted walls, ceilings, and trim communicate that message clearly.

Proper Colors Let in Natural Light

House hunters today are looking for light and airy spaces to call their own. Even if your condo is not especially light-filled or airy, paint can help make it feel that way. Choosing light or neutral colors can lighten up a space, and make it feel more open. Cover up dark paints that can close in a room or make it feel dated or small.

Paint Appeals to a Wide Range of Tastes

In order to make your house appeal to a large number of potential homebuyers, painting interior walls with neutral paint colors is advisable. Neutral colors like white, beige, tan, and cream provide a blank canvas for homebuyers. Try not to pick a color that is trendy, or may be off-putting to certain groups. Outdated paint colors negatively affect the overall appeal of your real estate property, so a new coat of paint modernizes and updates your home.

While it is hard to estimate the return on your investment when it comes to painting, realtors do agree that it is worth the time, effort, and cost to have a fresh coat of paint on the interior of your condo before placing that for sale ad. Check with your association and your realtor before beginning any improvements so you can make the most of your budget and efforts.

Selling? Check Out These Condo Staging Tips

May 8, 2019decor rules, property management, selling tipssperling

Spring is prime time for selling in the Boston area, so this month we are focused on helping our association members take steps to sell their condos. The guidelines for staging your home or a condo are fairly similar with a few notable exceptions. Here are a few of our tips on how you could stage your condo to sell as quickly as possible and get the price you want.

Boost Your Curb Appeal

As a condo owner, you don’t have a whole lot of control over the appearance of the outside of your building, but you can do a few things that can make your condo stand out. For example, make sure your entranceway is well maintained, clean, and well lit. This may mean a few potted plants or even a welcome sign that could perk up the entrance to your condo. If lighting or cleanliness is a problem, inform your association that lighting or cleaning is being requested.

Declutter

Practically all realtors and home staging experts will tell you to declutter your condo. This will make the space look larger, more open, and allow house hunters to easily envision their furnishings in the space. If you need to, place boxes of your items in a short term storage container to keep the area looking clean and uncluttered. Remove personal photos and keepsakes that may distract the potential buyers from seeing the space.

Arrange Furnishings

Arrange your chairs, tables, and couches so that the rooms flow easily and the condo shows as open as possible. This may mean removing some furnishings so your space looks more open or rearranging where the items currently reside.

Open the Closets

Storage sells! Take a long hard look at all of the items in your closet. Are there items you could donate or pack up before you have an open house? If so then clean out that closet as much as possible. Potential buyers like to see open space when it comes to storage.

Stage Your Extra Room

If you use an extra room as an office, a den, or something else, it may be worth it to stage it as a bedroom so that buyers can see that your space can be used for such a purpose. Don’t let home buyers get confused about the purpose or potential purpose of each room.

Clean, Clean, Clean

Before any open house or walk through, clean every room. This includes the showers, sinks, and toilets so that they sparkle. A clean house sends a message that the home has been well maintained.

Set the Table

Whether you have an eat-in kitchen or a formal dining room, set the table like you have company coming. Show off your best dishes and stemware so that the rooms look inviting and welcoming.

Let There Be Light

Open the window curtains and turn on the lights before each open house so the rooms look light and open. Don’t forget, if you are opening shades and curtains, wash the windows so that streaks and smudges don’t distract the homebuyers.

Need more help staging your condo for sale? HGTV and other online sources give so many amazing and simple ideas that can help your condo sell fast and at the price you want.

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