Incentives to Attract Good Tenants

Posted by Teresa on October 20, 2009 under Landlord Tips, Marketing for Landlords, Rents and Deposits | icon: commentBe the First to Comment

Incentives to Attract Good Tenants on tenant screening blogIf you’re a landlord with a vacancy or two, fall can be a difficult time or year to fill them. Coupled with the renter’s market we’re in, you could need to think more creatively to turn those vacancies into occupied rentals. Here are some great ideas to try if you want to attract great tenants:

Lower the rent: lowering your rent might be the last thing you want to do, but sometimes it’s necessary. Do you know what the market rents are for similar properties in your area? If you haven’t checked them out lately, you may find that they’ve dropped—while you’re still asking a previum for your property. HUD publishes the Fair Market Rents for every metropolitan area in the United States, which is accessible on their website: http://www.huduser.org.

Landlords can also check out rentometer.com, which uses a proprietary algorithm to tell you if the rent you are charging for a property is too low, way too high, or reasonable. Just enter the address, number of bedrooms, and rent you are considering, and you’ll get an idea of what other units in the neighborhood are renting for. Smart tenants know. You should, too.

Waive one month’s rent: If your rent is where it should be, or you don’t want to set the precedent of lowering it, offer a free month’s rent to a qualified tenant. Mathematically, it could work out the same for your bank account, but psychologically, “free” is a major enticement to the tenant. It’s up to you to give the free month up front, in the middle, or at the end of the lease.

Upgrade or pray the utilities:  If your rental property has basic cable, offer to pay for an upgrade to premium. Or give the tenant high-speed wireless Internet access for six months or a year. You could even pay the water bill, with a monthly dollar limit to discourage waste.

Replace the carpet, blinds, or an old appliance: If you have a great prospective tenant that you’re afraid will walk away, offer new carpeting if your unit needs it, or upgraded mini-blinds, or install a new stove or refrigerator. Most of these upgrades can be amortized over several years’ worth of tenants—but might be just the thing to entice one to move in now!