Landlord Quick Tip #267
Tip #267: Say “Cheese”
This is a good time of year to make sure your rental properties look good — good enough for high def video.
Prospective tenants these days are no strangers to the Internet, and most have electronic media right in their hands with smart phones. If a landlord has been relying on more traditional photography that allows only a few hand-selected shots of their rentals for Internet ads, they may be sad to find out what professional managers are posting — and in full video.
Having lots of pictures is a great way to show off your rental’s snazzy side. Videos are even better, make you look more professional, and help you stay competitive. That’s because tenants are likely to pass over rental ads that show few or no pictures.
In today’s market, some landlords are even hiring professional film crews for the job. For example, Apartments.com, a site that commonly hosts rental videos, is offering its video/photography packages for free to customers in Phoenix, Arizona through June 13th as a way of promoting what the service can do for your vacancy rates.
The more you showcase visually on the Internet, the better the chances that tenants will visualize themselves in the property.
Here’s another twist: Don’t forget about Google Maps. It’s common knowledge that you can look at a street view of nearly any road these days. If you trying to disguise the paper mill in the background in your own photos, you’ll be disappointed to know that when a tenant views the property on Maps, they’ll see the full monty. It’s better to be in control. That way, you can entice tenants by highlighting the good sides of the property in order to de-emphasize the bad. Otherwise, tenants may think you are trying to hide something.
Professional pictures and videos are a great way to show you are proud of your rental’s curb appeal, and that can greatly increase interest from would-be renters.
See last week’s Landlord Quick Tip.
American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services for all your property management needs. Find out more at www.joinaaoa.org.
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