Spring, summer, winter or fall – you need good tenants through it all. Pardon our little diddy, but it’s true. Keeping your rental units occupied with the very best tenants is key to your real estate investment’s success. Every day, week or month your unit is sitting vacant costs you money – money you should be earning instead of spending.
Ideally, you’ll be filling your units with renters who plan to stay for years at a time, but leases can start and end any month of the year. When they do, you’ll need to hop to it to fill those vacancies. Hiring a property management company that is familiar with the local market is one effective way to help you target tenants even in the off-season. Here are some other factors to consider:
- Plan ahead – Most markets have at least some seasonality to them. Here in Columbus, summer is typically our busiest time for rental turnovers due in part to the weather, as well as being a university town and other factors. Knowing how your vacancies might ebb and flow can help you plan ahead when strategizing how to fill them and when calculating your investment property’s cash flow.
- Consider your marketing strategy – Finding good tenants can take some effort, but there are effective marketing strategies you can use to locate new tenants no matter the time of year. Your efforts may need to be more targeted if you’re listing in January or February versus June or July, but it’s worth being patient to find the right fit for your property.
- Offer incentives – Consider your typical lease agreement and rental fees and see if there are terms you can flex on just during the off season. Perhaps it’s offering one-time discounts or making adjustments to your pet policy to entice new tenants.
The off-season might also be an opportune time to make upgrades to your rental property if it hasn’t been hitting the mark with renters.
As always, you want to do everything you can to retain existing tenants so you can reduce the frequency of turnovers no matter the time of year. For help filling your Columbus rental units with quality tenants, give us a call at RL Property Management.
