Apartment Listings

Take advantage of apartment listings to expand your investment portfolio

By A.S. White
As much as the media likes to tout the benefits of home ownership, there will always be people who prefer to rent. More and more, these potential tenants are turning to online apartment rental listings to find their next apartment. So if your investment portfolio includes apartments and other multi-family properties, you should utilize apartment listing services to help fill your vacant units.

When you have vacant units in your apartment complexes, you want to fill them as quickly as possible. Many of the online apartment listings offer you the ability to start attracting new tenants immediately, not at the next print date like a magazine or newspaper. And with low-cost, results-based cost models, putting your rental on apartment lists couldn’t be any better.

When looking for the best online apt listings for you, among the key points to consider are:

1. The number of apartment listings on a given website.

2. The ability of your apartment listing to appeal to online renters.

3. The awareness of apartment listing services in your local area.

 

Choose apartment lists with as many rental properties listed as possible

When you're deciding on which websites to list your vacant properties, you always need to make sure that you're not alone. It may seem counter-intuitive, but you want competitive properties listed as well so that more people are attracted to the site. Whether you're one of thousands of Chicago apartment listings for studios or maybe one of just a handful of 5-bedroom Brooklyn apartment listings, you should always choose a busy site that will bring your listing lots of traffic.
Try: Apartments.com is one of the largest websites for apt listings. Their listings reach almost 1.8 million renters. Their FAQs are thorough and should allow you to list your properties quickly. Kijiji and Craigslist are free online classified sites where you can post free apartment listings.

Use pictures and videos to make your property stand out amongst apartment rental listings

On apartment listing websites, it's definitely a situation where you never have a second chance to make a first impression. Make sure that you have strong pictures and even video tours in order to bring in a tenant as quickly as possible. Online apartment searchers won't seriously consider properties that they can't see clearly on their computers.
Try: MyNewPlace.com allows you to upload photos and video tours for your apartment listings, thereby maximizing your properties’ exposure.

Know your local tenants and use online apartment lists appropriately

Only you know your target tenants best. Make sure you research their tastes and where they shop for their next apartment. For example, people looking for a New York apartment listing might be most familiar with one site, while tenants browsing Boston apartment listings might know another. So watch local advertising to see what sites are looking for your potential clients.
Try: Rent.com packs the advertising punch of its parent company, eBay. Plus, they offer an apartment listing that you only pay for when you fill the vacancy.

 

  • If you don't have a high-quality camera with which to take pictures for your apartment listings, find a photographer-in-training to get quality photos for a fraction of the price.