Real estate agents have an important role to play when it comes to helping clients find, manage, or maintain single-family rentals. But as the housing and rental markets continue to change, it can be difficult to strategize and remain successful with SFR clients.
If you’re a real estate professional looking to make the most of single-family rentals (SFRs), there are several tips to maximize your success. From understanding the local market to being a resource for clients, here are three tips to provide the best possible service to single-family rental clients.
1. Research the rental market
While the rental market and single-family rentals have different needs than home buyers and sellers, research is still necessary! If you have a client coming to you to list their single-family rental or you’re representing clients looking to rent an SFR, you need to know the market.
Before showing any properties to clients, research your local market to determine the best fit for your client. This includes gathering information about average rent prices, popular amenities, and average vacancy rates for different neighborhoods. You won’t likely make your client happy by showing them any available listing. Clients can search rental listings themselves—they’re coming to you for service and expertise.
Knowing how to market a single-family rental to attract tenants is also key if you’re the listing agent. Traditional marketing methods are effective in the single-family rental market, but creativity and new marketing strategies ensures you find the perfect tenant for your listing.
If you’re looking for more tips on mastering marketing the SFR market, download our Ultimate Market Checklist for Your SFR listing.
2. Offer quality online listings
High-quality online listings can be a huge asset when marketing single-family rentals. A 2022 study by Zillow showed that 60 to 74% of renters searched online for resources, and a quarter of recent renters took zero in-person tours, so it’s vital that your online listing represents the property well.
Ensure all your listings include attractive property photos, detailed descriptions of features and amenities, accurate pricing information, and contact details for potential tenants.
Professional real estate photography
Our 2023 Real Estate Marketing Trends Survey showed that 95% of real estate professionals surveyed use real estate photography in their listings. Not only is using real estate photography essential to attracting potential tenants, but it’s also key to standing out among the competition.
While you or your SFR owner can take photos of the listing, you’re much better off working with a company specializing in real estate photography services. Doing so ensures you have high-quality photos to attract potential tenants, and you’ll typically also have access to additional add-ons, like aerial and drone photography and marketing enhancements.
Virtual tours and floor plans
Along with real estate photography, including virtual tours and floor plans in your online listings will ensure success in generating single-family rental leads and, ultimately, renting out the home. In fact, Zillow found that 71% of renters said they were more likely to visit a home if it included a floor plan they liked.
And as previously mentioned, one in four recent renters forewent an in-person tour in favor of relying only on an online listing. So, if you aren’t targeting your ideal client with a strong online listing, you likely aren’t converting leads!
3. Provide resources
Knowledge is one of the best ways for real estate agents to show their value to clients, including single-family rental clients.
Some resources agents can offer include providing potential tenants with guides on the area or neighborhood, customizing a potential tenant’s SFR search, or even a section of your website dedicated to a rent calculator or rental content.
How Virtuance can help your SFR clients
As online listings are a key part of succeeding in the single-family rental market, partnering with Virtuance takes your listings to the next level, ensuring you provide a superior experience for your SFR clients.
Apart from high-quality real estate photos, every order has access to our Marketing Suite and a single-listing website, giving you full control of your listing.
