No matter what stage you’re at as a real estate investor, marketing plays a key role in the success of your ventures. Unless you’re lucky enough to have little to no competition for your properties, the effort you put into diverse marketing efforts will increase the chances of higher occupancy rates and market-driven pricing.
Fortunately, the Internet has made it fast and convenient to market properties, and it isn’t a budget-buster to have an online presence. Sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are free and have a high profile. According to recent statistics, 90 percent of people shopping for a home started online.
Online Real Estate Marketing Tips
These tips can help you get started building an online presence for your property:
Know the competition.
Even when your professional property management company does the marketing for you, it’s important as a property owner to know how your rental properties compare to others in the neighborhood.
Websites like Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, Apartmentguide.com, rent.com, and even Craigslist list rental homes and show photos, list property and community features and give monthly rental rates and deposits.
Even if you’re not involved in the day-to-day work of managing your properties, knowing where you stand and your competitive pricing is important for making educated decisions.
Put together a photo-video library.
Pictures and videos are the mainstay of real estate marketing and it’s worth mastering the art or finding someone who has. You can’t have too many good pictures of your property, from stills to videos.
Mix them up with wide-angle shots and close-ups of the important and unique features of your property. If you’ve recently installed a new kitchen sink and faucet, highlight it in a close-up, catching the sparkle of the faucet. Include community features on or near the property. You can even include pictures of the local schools and shopping areas. Ask for permissions if you’re using photos from another website to avoid copyright infringement.
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Use social media to your advantage. Don’t underestimate the value of social media. As if the likes and shares weren’t enough to reach a wider audience, major search engines take these posts seriously if the content is high quality and relevant to a topic.
Make sure you use good search engine optimization (SEO) guidelines and do not plagiarize any of your content.
Start a blog.
If your properties are located in one particular area, why not write a blog that deals with local issues and events. Some people pay others to write for them, or use software tools that help them master composition basics like spelling and grammar.
A calendar of local events and neighborhood news, along with discussions of local issues could turn your blog into must-reading for local residents.
Offline Real Estate Marketing Tips
Since all real estate is local, you may also want to develop your presence in the real world by:
Identifying local employers.
Unless you’re targeting the retiree or second home markets, the employers near your property can be a good source of leads for your rental property.
Most housing demand, even for rentals, is based on jobs. Almost everyone wants a short commute and if your property is near a few large or important employers, introducing yourself and your property could create a win-win situation.
Sponsoring an event.
Become a good neighbor by sponsoring school or local community events. The arts and athletics at local levels always need more, whether it’s money, materials and equipment, or volunteers for event staffing.
Of course, if you use a turnkey property management company, you won’t have to worry about marketing because they’ll have all the connections and visibility locally to get your property rented for a premium.
Talk to one of our investment specialists to learn how JWB can help you earn passive income through long term real estate investing.