Traditional ways of advertising rental properties locally include running an ad in a local newspaper, putting up a sign in front of the property and putting up fliers with tear strips.
Today, the Internet allows landlords many more options for reaching potential renters.
It’s now possible to get a much bigger bang for the advertising buck. Newspaper advertising has had to evolve to be able to compete with free Internet sites such as Craigs List.
Submitting a newspaper ad online is now almost standard, and is highly encouraged by the newspapers. After all, newspapers need fewer employees when customers place their own ads online.
It’s still possible to phone in to place an ad. However, newspapers sweeten the pot in online placements by offering free enhancements for an ad. They also offer paid enhancements.
One popular free enhancement is adding a photo. It’s possible to upload a photo or sometimes a multimedia file for no more money. Borders for the ad are available as well at a small charge. Choosing a black background with white lettering is another option available at a small cost.
When describing a house or apartment for rent it’s important to provide as much information as possible. Usually, newspapers charge a flat fee for running an ad for one month for three lines. Beyond that there is usually a per day charge for each extra line.
It’s pretty hard to get many details about a property into three lines, especially when one line must give a phone number. Sometimes it’s possible to squeeze enough information into five lines. But here’s a great trick for getting lots more info into a newspaper ad at no extra charge: create a website for the rental property.
Creating a website isn’t very hard. Buying a domain name is quite inexpensive at GoDaddy and other registrars. Just choose a name for the site that goes well with the property, perhaps one that names its location or area.
Websites have an almost limitless amount of space, and all the features and benefits of the rental property are easily listed, even if there are seventy-five of them.
Using Microsoft FrontPage is one fairly easy way to create a simple website. It’s also easy to put many photographs of the rental property, inside and out, on the site. Don’t forget to put a link to a Mapquest map on the site for the location of the property.
For the free photo in the newspaper ad, take a digital photo of the outside of the property. Using tools available such as Microsoft Paint or Irfan View, turn it black and white. Then, again using the computer tools, print the name of the website in white or black across the top or bottom of the photograph. Then, no matter how short the ad in the newspaper, people can find all the details about the rental home on the website.
Many people are willing to help with a short computer task such as this if the landlord does not have these computer skills him or herself.
When people call to inquire about the rental property, ask them if they have browsed through the website. Having them study the website reduces their many questions and saves everyone time. The same information can also be put in a Craigs List type of ad.
This method assures landlords of an easier experience when trying to rent any property.
