The Rental Standard | Tag Archive

Tag Archive - Renter

My Apartment Rental Search: Attending Showings and the Application Battle

By Sarah Gabot on May 11, 2012 in San Francisco with 0 Comments

Photo credit: Ukanda (Flickr)

The rental marketplace in San Francisco is fierce and isn’t forgiving to the unprepared. If you don’t have everything ready to go from the second you step into the apartment during a showing, you’re already too late. If you don’t have a filled application, credit report, and a pre-written check in-hand, you’re going to find yourself out of luck every time. Taking as much time to blink could cause you to lose an apartment.

With the cut-throat competition for every apartment, I had to make decisions about applying for apartments within seconds of the showing.

Location, location, location!

Parking in San Francisco is a nightmare. I once spent 40 minutes searching for parking, only to move my car five hours later for street cleaning. Since I was going to leave my beloved car at my parents’ house, it was important that my future property was walkable.

Since my commute from the South Bay was whopping 90 minutes one way (and I was tired of it!), I wasn’t going to settle for a commute over 30 minutes. I wasn’t willing to compromise this one bit.

The walk to the showing was crucial. I made sure I got to the showing a few minutes early to gander around the area. I asked myself, “Do I feel safe?” “How far is the grocery store?” “How far is work from here?” If I didn’t feel safe in the area or felt that it was in an inconvenient location, I didn’t even bother attending the showing and left. Why waste my time?

Preparedness pays off.

A renter in New York City, where apartments are notoriously difficult to come by, once told me someone advised him to “bring a 6-pack of beer when you view apartments” to win over landlords.

In San Francisco, we’re experiencing the same competitiveness for apartments. Compelled to bring a six-pack to showings, I left it at home. Instead, I used preparedness as my competitive edge.

At apartment showings I was less interested in, renters filled out applications during the showings, and in some cases, handed over an application before the showing even started. Knowing what I was up against, I needed to also have everything ready when I found “the one.” I bundled up a credit report, pre-filled application, and pre-filled checks for the security deposit and first month’s rent.

Then it happened. I found the apartment. It was walking distance to work, the grocery store, a gym, and bars. It had a kitchen you could actually walk into (I previously had a tiny kitchenette). One 30-second glance around the apartment was enough for me, especially since there were 8 other interested parties. The “kit” I created was handed over within seconds of the showing. The property manager’s listing said, “first come, first serve.” As the first applicant with the proper paperwork ready to go, the apartment was mine.

As many apartment hunters say when finding an apartment in a tough market, “I was lucky.”

My Apartment Rental Search: Contacting Rental Professionals

By Sarah Gabot on April 16, 2012 in San Francisco with Comments Off

Photo credit: topgold (Flickr)

Read part II of my San Francisco apartment rental search.

After whittling down the daunting list of apartment listing ads on Craigslist and other online listing sites, I came down to about 10 apartment listings I really wanted to apply for.

The ad had to be compelling and convincing enough to prove that it was worth my precious time. Why would I waste time viewing an apartment that wasn’t up to par with my standards? The apartments that I was interested in had an ample amount of pictures and descriptions so detailed I felt like I was standing in the property.

Phone calls over e-mail.

The San Francisco rental market is intense. If you’re not willing to be aggressive in the apartment search, you may find yourself searching for a long time. I preferred to send e-mails over calling, because I thought that a canned e-mail would be faster and more efficient than talking to people. I was disappointed to find that most e-mails went ignored and I found myself sitting in front of my computer refreshing my inbox.

After a couple days, I couldn’t take the waiting anymore and picked up my phone and started to dial away. To my surprise, after my first few calls, there suddenly open houses penciled into my schedule!

According to the RentJuice study of renters, e-mail is the preferred form of communication with rental professionals. However, calling is faster. In tight rental markets, assertive renters will call for immediate answers. If you require renters to e-mail you to inquire about a property, be diligent about responding. Renters will quickly move on to another listing if they don’t hear from you within a couple hours or days.

Digging up dirt on the rental businesses.

Although I had several apartment showings lined up that I was anxious to attend, I didn’t want to slack on my due diligence. After my experience of almost getting scammed, I was going to be sure these apartments were legitimate.

As soon as I scheduled my showings, I started Googling the agents and real estate or property management companies. One particular real estate company had terrible reviews. There were complaints about misrepresented properties in Yelp reviews. Even worse, the real estate company publicly responded, arguing against each review on Yelp. After reading this company’s Yelp account, I decided that their property wasn’t worth my time and crossed them off my list.

Renters are checking on your online reputation. While not all reviews on rental businesses are going to be perfect, don’t dig yourself a deeper hole with bad public relations. With negative reviews, show your professionalism and handle complaints properly. Show empathy and understanding for your customer’s frustrations (yes, even when they’re wrong). As the common customer service saying goes, “The customer is always right.” They really are. If you show your composure when handling customer challenges, future prospective customers will be encouraged by your positive and professional energy, causing them to consider working with you than avoiding your business.

The Double Take Listing: Renting isn’t a Guessing Game

By Jennifer Chan on February 22, 2012 in Marketing with Comments Off

Titles are important. They are the single item visible on Craigslist that will get you that click you want from renters. Based on this fact, titles should be informative and creative to attract the attention of the renters who are already overwhelmed by the number of caps-lock listings they see running down the page.

This being said, take a look at the title above. While the price for the 4 bedroom unit seems like a steal due to its Section 8 status, it doesn’t reveal much else. The ad succeeds in being eye-catching because it offers a great price for the number of rooms, but it’s also hurting its chances of getting more interested viewers because of its lack of information. Sure, it reveals that it qualifies for low-income subsidized housing, but if you look at the most typical Craigslist posts, the title will include the price and number of bedrooms/bathrooms as well as the unit’s features. This title stops short of giving valuable information, and could definitely use some work.

Now take a look at the body of the listing. There are quite a few problems, most notably the lack of information. When apartment hunters are looking for a place to live, they don’t want to have to call you just to find out exactly how many bathrooms there are (possibly one, but this ad doesn’t make it clear), or whether or not there’s laundry on-site. The search process is already complicated enough without you giving them next to no information.

The field for your listing on Craigslist allows you to enter in more than one sentence — use it! Visitors will appreciate whatever information you give them, and in this case, the unclear, punctuation-free listing only confuses them. Write in sentences or highlight the features in bullet points. Even if your unit is nicely priced, they’ll still pass you by because this listing is absent of all the details that would help in their search. Be clear and descriptive, renters don’t want to guess at your words, they want to know exactly what they’ll be paying for!

Writing a Craigslist ad might not be your forte, but spend a few extra minutes writing a better description and your efforts will definitely pay off.

Renter Profile: Seattle Renter Finds a Home with Character

By Sarah Gabot on February 1, 2012 in Renters with Comments Off

Out in the “Pac-Nor,” Seattle is often referred to the birthplace of the indie rock music scene and the mecca for greener living. Nicknamed as the “Emerald City,” Seattle is surrounded by evergreens that are attracting new residents every year.

Jen Post fell in love with Seattle two years ago. She left her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio to be with a city that had values that aligned with her own. Seattle was city that was environmentally conscious, walkable and close to nature. Seattle had all of these perks without having the congested “big city feel.”

While preparing to leave for her dream city, Post did her apartment research from Cleveland. Unlike many renters who look for properties with new amenities, she had her heart set on finding a unit that had character and fit her lifestyle.

A lifestyle fit.

After returning home from her trip to Seattle, Post was determined to move there. Her hometown Cleveland was built on America’s industrial age, and is full of factories and ports. Seattle, in contrast, focused on greener living and an eco-friendly lifestyle. She also found that so many other activities fit her interests. “There are over 30 things you can do in Seattle any day,” she said, “It’s really alive here.”

Renters aren’t only looking for a property that matches their interest, but they also want an area that fits their lifestyle. When advertising properties, publish amenities that are unique to the area, such as nearby attractions, events and points of interest.

Finding some “old world” charm.

Post listed the various amenities that she didn’t care for that would be on the top of most renters’ lists. She didn’t want an in-unit washer and dryer, parking or stainless steel appliances. She wanted a vintage building, a clawfoot tub and pocket doors. So she searched Craigslist for those keywords. She said, “I felt that these older apartment buildings are sturdier because they were built with materials that were more expensive.”

You may think that all renters think the same and want the same amenities, but they don’t. Add unique keywords to describe your property in your apartment ads, renters aren’t always searching for the same key terms.

“I was lucky.”

Post landed herself an apartment that had all the “old world” style features she wanted for a bargain price. From her window, she can see the iconic Space Needle peaking through the buildings. Although she sacrificed the luxuries of a large kitchen, elevator and garage parking, she still considers herself lucky for finding this apartment.

Renters have their own tastes and preferences. Just because your property is a walkup, it doesn’t mean that your apartment is difficult to rent. Don’t always feel the need to upgrade your unit to modernize, because you can highlight your property’s vintage qualities as selling points.

The bottom line.

Renters want to find a city and a property that aligns with their lifestyles and beliefs. Some go as far as to leaving their hometowns to be with people like themselves. When advertising an apartment, don’t only sell the property, but sell the lifestyle and culture of the environment.

People fall in love with apartments for different reasons. Renters have different criteria for what they’re looking for, so don’t assume that all renters are the same. If your apartment is older, it’s not always a weakness. Some renters appreciate a building with rich history.

Renter Profile: Jen Post

Hometown: Cleveland, OH

Current neighborhood: Capitol Hill, Seattle

Resources used for researching Seattle: Network and a blog by a couple that relocated to Seattle from Dallas

Keep Good Tenants: Establish a Positive Tenant-Landlord Relationship

By Sarah Gabot on January 6, 2012 in Agent Tips with Comments Off

Send your tenants greeting cards for special occasions.

Photo credit: lindsay.dee.bunny (Flickr)

Send your tenants greeting cards on special occasions.

Every so often, you find the “ideal” tenant that does everything perfectly: pays the rent on time, maintains the property, and causes no problems. You definitely want to keep these renters for as long as possible. How do you entice them to stay? You need to have a positive relationship with your tenants so they don’t want to leave.

You need to be the best landlord they’ve ever had, because renters are also judging you, too.

Use these 3 tips to keep your property filled with good renters:

Tip #1: Get to know your renter.

Nothing is more dehumanizing than being referred to as a nameless “client,” “renter,” or “tenant.” If you don’t know what your renter’s name is, it can make him or her feel insignificant or like just another number. Learn the names of all of people in the family (kids and all), and try to learn at least one fact about them. For example, if you know one of the kids plays soccer, ask how the season is going.

Knowing small facts about your tenants will make you seem personable and likeable. At the very least, know the first name of your tenants and address them by it.

Tip #2: Address renter needs and requests promptly.

A landlord that is unresponsive to concerns and requests comes off as uncaring and unprofessional. When a tenant approaches you with a need, give him or her your full attention and take care of what needs to be addressed. If requests can’t be done immediately, stay professional and calmly explain the situation.

Tenants don’t want to feel unimportant to their landlords. Whether you have one tenant or a hundred, your renters want to be heard.

Tip #3: Be the “nice” landlord.

You want your renters to say, “Oh, that was nice of my landlord.” You can accomplish this by making nice gestures to your tenants every so often. Send greeting cards to your tenants on special occasions like birthdays. Not only is this good public relations, but you’ll learn that your tenants like to be remembered by their landlord.

Taking Professional-Quality Pictures: Rental Photography for Online Listings

By Sarah Gabot on December 22, 2011 in Marketing with Comments Off

To attract prospective renters to apply for your property, you need to have good pictures of it. If a renter is on the fence about applying, your rental pictures could be a final deciding factor.

As stated in our Better Rental Websites Guide, 66 percent of renters said that listing pictures were “extremely” important and 24 percent said they were “very” important. This means, if you fail to post pictures, your listing has a higher chance of being disregarded.

We’ve talked about posting better rental property pictures before, but this one is a little different. This time, we’re going to teach you how to get professional-quality photos, without the professional.

Tip #1: Buy a quality camera.

It’s hard to take a high quality photograph using your camera phone. Computers are able to display high resolution photographs that show the finest details in a picture. Poor quality pictures of properties can appear pixelated or blurry.

Professionals use high-quality cameras. Therefore, invest in a quality camera, such as a DSLr. If those are out of your price range, there are plenty of good point-and-shoot cameras available that take great pictures. Using a high-quality camera makes sure you produce high resolution, sharp pictures of your property. Renters want clear pictures so they know exactly how the unit looks.

Tip #2: Keep the space from looking dark.

Whenever possible, use natural lighting, so open up those blinds or curtains. If you’re using flash, don’t catch the reflection of the flash in the window. The brightness from your camera flash is visually distracting, and will make the rest of your room look dark.

Pictures of dark rooms make them look cave-like, not to mention unattractive and gloomy. Although it’s a very small detail, you’ll want to avoid this practice if you want your pictures to look professional to renters.

Tip #3: Stage your home.

Before preparing for a photo shoot, people polish up their image to look good on camera. So does your rental unit. You don’t have to break the bank to stage your apartment; there are plenty of cheap tips to staging your rental property.

Remove distracting items like magnets on a refrigerator and clear the counters. Look at how properties are professionally photographed in magazines, they look homey and tidy at the same time. You need to achieve this balance if you want your rental pictures looking professional.

Renter Profile: Tenant Finds a Safe Apartment in Honolulu

By Sarah Gabot on December 16, 2011 in Renters with Comments Off

Hawaii, where the local hand gesture is a shaka, meaning “hang loose,” and people arrive on “Hawaiian time” (late), you’d think that everything is as easy-going as their attitude. Well, apartment hunting isn’t that simple.

In fact, according to the Honolulu Start Advertiser, Honolulu is the least affordable city for renters.

Anne Villaruz, a registered nurse at Queen’s Hospital, tossed Craigslist to the side and searched for an apartment by foot, looking for a high-rise property with the most safety.

“Paradise” doesn’t always equal “safe.”

The idea of a “perfect” paradise was shattered by Villaruz’s first apartment in Honolulu. Her first apartment was located in Waikiki, a pristine tourist area that’s iconic of many vacation postcards and TV shows.

It was seemingly an ideal apartment; it was away from the busy Waikiki strip, and blocks away from Waiola’s, a popular Hawaiian shaved ice shop. This wasn’t the case when someone started to pry open her living room window one late night.

During a late night of studying, Villaruz heard someone trying to remove the glass on of her apartment window. While she scared off the intruder that night, finding a new, safer apartment suddenly topped her “to do” list. She needed to get out of her apartment as soon as possible.

Renters that need to feel safe where they live. An apartment is where a renter sleeps, eats and lives. Nobody wants to feel threatened in their own home. In a rental unit, once the comfort of safety is out of the picture, the renter will be, too.

Searching for apartments on foot.

After unsuccessfully finding apartments through Craigslist, she decided to forego the online search and do the hunt on foot.

“I didn’t like what I was seeing on Craigslist,” Villaruz said, “I kind of got disappointed.”

Walking around Waikiki, she looked at the bulletin boards of many buildings, hoping to find her next home. She said, “I was surrounded by a lot of high rises, so that’s where I started to search.”

She finally found her ideal apartment in Mo’ili’ili, just outside of Waikiki.

Safety in the high-rises.

Villaruz found safety on the fifth floor in a neighborhood named Mo’ili’ili. Now that she’s behind a security guard, security gate and a long flight of stairs, she feels more protected from potential intruders.

It’s so safe, she’s stayed in her apartment in paradise for three additional years.

The bottom line.

Not everybody resorts to Craigslist when looking for an apartment. Don’t forget about publicizing your properties with “old school” advertising for local exposure. While the majority of renters begin their apartment search online, there are still people that do it on foot. You’ll never know when your apartment catches the eye of a passerby.

Renters looking for their next apartment need the peace of mind that they will be safe. Nobody wants to have their guard up in their own home. Renters who feel vulnerable or unprotected in their homes also feel that it’s their cue to leave.

Make your renters feel safe. Although sometimes you can’t change environmental factors to increase the safety of your unit, you can control the safety of the unit itself. Add extra locks to windows and doors so that you can assure your renters that your property is a safe place. Safe units keep renters sticking around.

Renter Profile: Anne Villaruz

Previous Neighborhoods: Waikiki

“My ‘perfect’ apartment is nearby…”: Work

“My apartment MUST have…”: Air conditioning

Finding “The One”: A Checklist to Finding the Best Tenant

By Sarah Gabot on December 15, 2011 in Agent Tips with Comments Off

Unless you have applicants for your property endlessly flowing in, it’s not an easy job finding the “perfect” tenant for your property. Choosing the best renter possible is critical, because a bad pick can cause you problems, stress and extra work.

Avoid headaches and use the following criteria as a checklist to finding your perfect tenant:

1. Filled out the rental form accurately and fits the basic rental terms.

Accurate information demonstrates a renter’s honesty. Fitting the rental terms, such as the number of occupants, indicates that this is a tenant you may be looking for. If your applicant lied on the application or doesn’t fit your rental terms, stop. Unless you’re willing to compromise, disqualify this applicant.

2. Has the money to pay rent, and can prove it.

Make sure your prospective renter has the income to be able to pay for rent. The industry standard is that the monthly gross income should be triple the monthly rent.

Also, perform a credit check to make sure that your renter has good credit history. You don’t want a tenant’s financial troubles to carry over to their ability to pay rent.

3. Good references.

Call your prospective renter’s previous landlord to get an idea of how responsible your applicant is. Check with the previous landlord to see how the tenant left the last property or if the rent was consistently paid on time. Did the last landlord spend the entire security deposit on repairs? These can help indicate whether this renter is responsible.

Double check your references, also. Some landlords may lie to keep their current tenant. Call more than one landlord, just in case your reference is dishonest. Also, carefully phrase your questions to get unbiased information. A sample script is included in our free Lead Qualification Kit.

4. Good history.

If your prospective renter was previously evicted or convicted of a crime, these are also red flags. Avoid people who have had trouble with the law in the past. Trouble with the law can also mean trouble for you.

3 Effective Website Qualities Renters Want

By Sarah Gabot on November 11, 2011 in Marketing with Comments Off

Photo credit: Addison Place at Boca Raton (Flickr)

Rental websites are made for tenants and prospective renters, making it important to tailor your website to satisfy their needs. First, however, you need to know what renters are looking for to begin with.

We conducted research on renters that gave us some insight to what they’re interested in. Tweak your website in these three ways to give renters the information they’re looking for to boost your chances of closing a deal.

#1: Show your sales tag.

We asked renters what they first looked at when searching for a new apartment, and majority of respondents (45%) said asking rent. This surprisingly beat out other listing qualities such as information on amenities (6.7%) or commute to work (10%). This means that before renters hit the rental marketplace, their wallets point the way.

When constructing your rental website, the asking rent needs to be clear for every listing. Prospective renters have a price range and first filter out available apartments based on their budget. Meaning, the cost of your rental plus additional costs like utilities, security deposit or cleaning fees must be loud and clear on your website.

#2: They don’t care about much else but your listings.

When asked what information was most valuable to renters, 55.8 percent said that they wanted detailed information on individual listings. Other elements like information on rental agents (0.8%) or neighborhood details (7.5%) weren’t as valuable to renters.

With renters’ eyes focused on individual listings, it’s important to provide them with detailed and effective descriptions about the unit.

#3: Post the square footage and floor plan to save time.

When visiting apartments, 42.5 percent of respondents looked at the amount of living space first and 35.8 percent cared about the apartment floor plan. Knowing this, don’t make your renters leave the house. Tweak your website so that it has specific information of your property. Save your prospective renters the trouble of visiting irrelevant apartments and include the square footage and apartment layouts with units listed on your website.

Links for Real Estate Agents

By David Vivero on August 15, 2009 in Agent Tips with Comments Off

In this series, which we’ve been renaming based on feedback from readers, we recap the articles and resources we’ve been posting on the RentJuice Twitter account since we’ve been tweeting a few times per day with the best tips, posts, and resources we can find on the internet. Here’s a recap of the last week:

About 57% of the 30.3 million housing units added from 2005 to 2020 will be rentals:
10 kitchen upgrades for renters:
What did you all think of our customer service post? It got a lot of hits, but no comments so far:
Friendly reminder of various tips you can use if you’re renting a small space:
The @RentJuice Customer Service post – the four pillars for success in real estate customer service:
RT @WomensCouncil: Still time to register for today’s webinar “Building Brands & Credibility in RE” 4pm Central
Our customer service post is coming up! For the next one we’d love your thoughts: what’s some of the best customer service you’ve seen? Why?
Great post coming on our approach to great customer service. Look for that Monday. Meanwhile check out our linkfest:

If you like what you see, follow the RentJuice Twitter account – we’re at @RentJuice and would love to continue being the daily resource for real estate agents doing rentals, leasing agents, landlords, and renters. And of course you can always reach us on Twitter, by commenting on this blog, or by sending us an email here.

Great post coming on our approach to great customer service. Look for that Monday. Meanwhile check out our linkfest:

Page 1 of 312 3 »

Search

Our Greatest Hits

Topics