As a property manager, you know that a significant part of your role is marketing your properties to tenants. In today’s day and age, there are ample websites to list your rentals. Landlordology even has a list of the top 35 listing sites for rental properties. Needless to say, managing 35 listings for one property is a lot of work. So how do you know the best ways to attract tenants? A good starting point is to look at how tenants decide where to live. AppFolio, a leading property management software for landlords with 50+ properties, polled tenants to find out their methods. Here are the top 10 approaches to evaluating properties that they found:
- Searching rental listing sites such as Zillow and Apartments.com- 77.1%
- Searching Craigslist- 58%
- Visiting potential rentals- 57.6%
- Visiting property management company websites- 54.6%
- Talking to friends, family, or colleagues- 49.3%
- Deciding a move-in date- 44.6%
- Driving around neighborhoods- 40%
- Giving notice to current landlords- 39.5%
- Interacting with landlords/property managers- 34.6%
- Browsing social media- 21.5%
Want more insights on renters like their communication preferences and why they move out of their rentals? Check out the AppFolio webinar “Did a Renter Just Pass You By? Reaching Today’s Customers.” Want more tools for property managers? Check out our Property Manager Program.
Related: Landlord’s Guide to Tenant Retention
