How to Show a Rental Property to Prospective Tenants

Showing an apartment or house to prospective tenants is an important aspect of owning or managing rental property. If you make errors during the showing process, you will attract bad tenants and/ or scare away good tenants. Here are some tips for showing rental property to prospective tenants.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Punctuality
• Organizational Skills
• Professionalism

1. Make sure the unit is in good condition before showing it. The home should be clean; with no noticeable damages. A fresh coat of paint is always nice. Apartments in excellent condition will attract the best tenants.
2. Show the unit in time blocks. Set up several appointments at one time. Many apartment hunters are never show up to the appointments, so by setting up two or three showings at one, your time is not wasted. If two or more prospective tenants do show up at one time, this will let them know that they must jump on the opportunity if they want it.
3. Show off the best features of the unit. Apartment hunters may be looking for certain criteria causing them to miss the nice features of the apartment. Make sure you point out appliances, fireplace, balconies, and architectural features. By doing this you will help the apartment to stand out in their minds later.
4. Do not appear desperate. If you are anxious to get the property rented, and let it show, unscrupulous people will try to take advantage of you and good tenants will run in the other direction.

Tips & Warnings

• Be professional: Dress and conduct yourself professionally when showing a housing unit. Be punctual for your appointments never keeping a prospective tenant waiting.
• Do not try to hide problems with the unit. Give the tenant an honest timeline of when the problem will be rectified.