How To Keep Vacancy Rates Low In A Crisis

Coronavirus and Rental Property

In these new times, people do not know how to react to their investment properties.  Fear is causing a lot of rental property owners to question if they can afford to keep their properties, and wondering what they should be doing to best protect themselves and their investments.  We have compiled a small list of ideas to keep real estate vacancy rates low in time of crisis.  

1. Concessions in the Rental Property Market – One way to attract new Tenants who may be working on a slim budget right now is to give them concessions.  Most people will require first months rent and deposit up front but if you can somehow give them the option to pay a little less to get into the investment property then you will be able to fill spaces a little faster than usual.
2. Audit Your Investment Property – If your vacancy was up prior to the COVID crisis hitting, it might be time to take another look at the market.  We noticed that once the COVID crisis happened Landlords automatically started decreasing rents in our area.  This was done to preempt any issues, however, in my opinion this is leaving money on the table because there are still a lot of good qualified tenants, however, now by default they will get to pay less than trying to attract a high quality tenant at a higher rent price.
3. Bring In New Marketing Strategies – A simple strategy to bring in to help with the marketability of your rental properties is to start doing video tours.  We have implemented a video tour strategy moving forward which will allow for tenants to virtually walk through the property prior to having to actually schedule a showing to see it or it will allow them to apply to the property straight from the website as well.  
4. Maintain Your Investment Properties – We always recommend keeping your properties maintained.  This does not mean that you should be spending hundred or even thousands of dollars on your units on a regular basis but as the work orders come in, it would be best to take care of them still because this will show the tenants that you still care about them having a safe and clean place to live.  

For more ideas on how to attract tenants and keep your properties as good cash flowing assets, please feel free to contact us directly at 6618462112.