Atlanta Property Manager Discusses Why Solid Source Property Management Will Only Market Vacant Homes
As a professional property manager, I get this question a lot: Can you market my property while I am still living in the property? To which I reply “it doesn’t work very well” for several reasons.
Here are the things to consider.
Most tenants are not planners. I can’t tell you how many times we move people days after they apply for a property. They want immediate move in times. Rarely do we have a tenant who looks at a property and is able to wait more than 2 weeks. Most owners don’t want to move that fast. So that actually reduces our chances of being able to place tenants. So we end up wasting our marketing dollars and then the owner isn’t happy because the tenant won’t work on their time schedule.
Most tenants in Atlanta want to view a property on their own time schedule and have the freedom to visit without an agent. We accommodate them with a lockbox and have a system in place for them to self show. If an owner has personal property in the home, we can only show via an agent. While there are more agents now showing rental property, it is because we are in a down market. Once the market turns, agents won’t want to spend their time showing rentals when they can be working with buyers for commissions that pay 10 times the amount of commission. This significantly reduces the number of people who can see the property and therefore, significantly reduces the chances that it will be rented.
There isn’t enough time to make repairs in between the owner’s vacating the property and when a tenant needs to move in. While most owners believe that their homes are rent ready, inevitably, there are items that need to be done prior to occupancy. Cleaning and carpet cleaning are among the typical, but it might also require some touch up paint and other minor repairs. A tenant is not going to overlook minor items. They have high expectations especially in a down market.
So when you add all of those factors together, we have made the decision that it is best for everyone to only market vacant properties. This will allow us to quickly find a suitable tenant, protect the interests of the owner, all the while being able to provide the tenant with a guaranteed date of occupancy.
March 29th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
Hi Anne,
I found your article very interesting with sound advice. I also follow a similar policy of only marketing vacant properties.
Cheers,
Mike
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April 30th, 2010 at 3:48 am
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