Complete Marketing Plan

Independent Landlord’s Guide to …. Increasing Rents and Decreasing Tenant Turnover

Make a $100 investment and increase rents by at least $100 per month

TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Goal
The Beginning, The Middle, The End
The Middle
The Beginning and the End
The Changing Rental Marketplace
The Plan – The Old Way
The Plan – The New Way
       Define some goals
       Set some goals and develop a plan to meet them
Review Your Property
Three Best Selling Features of Your Property
Long Term Rental Strategy
The Marketing Plan
      Where to Advertise
      The Search Site – The good and the bad
      Need for a “Safe Haven” Website
      Content to include on your Safe Haven Site
      Once and Done
      Tips on writing the ad
      Yard Sign
      Printable Flyer
      Information Box
The Marketing Plan Budget
The End
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Independent Landlord’s Guide to …. Increasing Rents and Decreasing Tenant Turnover

Make a $100 investment and increase rents by at least $100 per month

THE GOAL

The Goal of this booklet is to help the Landlord go from just “Renting the Property” to “Renting the Property at the Highest Rental Rate with the Lowest Tenant Turnover”.

We will lay the process out … step by step. Many of the pieces of the process are inter-related. One piece will increase the effectiveness of the others. So it is important to review the entire process as we lay it out. Do not skip steps as you will diminish the help that is available to you.

THE BEGINNING, THE MIDDLE, THE END

THE MIDDLE

The Independent Landlord has many places to turn to for help. There are many books offering help and

advice and the internet has a lot of useful resources that should be explored.

You will find a lot of material giving you guidance on how to: select a tenant, background checks on tenants, State specific forms including tenant applications and rental agreements. It is very important to research these topics.

Both the individual States and the Federal Government have laws regulating the rental of property. You need to know what topics you should avoid both verbally and on the forms. Some questions may be allowed in one state and not in another. There may be restrictions on the amount you may charge a tenant for a background check. There may be restrictions on how much you can charge for a security deposit. There may be specific information that may be required in a rental agreement.

This is all very important information that a landlord must know when renting property. Again, the best source for this is on the internet or found in books on the subject of being a landlord

All this information is contained in what you may think of as “The Middle”. It is the middle of the process. What you will have a hard time finding is information about “The Beginning and The End”.

THE BEGINNING AND THE END

This is the information we bring to you…. The Beginning and The End. The Middle assumes that you have a stream of tenants lined up ready to rent your property. If this is you and you are already getting top rent and keep your tenants for three or more years then you are one of the lucky few. If not then we will show you how to do it.

THE CHANGING RENTAL MARKETPLACE

The rental market has changed dramatically since the housing crises brought so many foreclosures to the market. A great many of those foreclosures become rental units. People’s attitudes have changed about the importance of owning their own home. Many are discouraged about the loss of value in their homes and wonder if it still makes sense to own.

One prospective tenant related the following when asked why they wanted to relocate and move 35 miles closer to the major worksite city….. “We are tired of driving 2 hours each way to work. We are tired of allocating so much of our income to housing expense. We want to have a life”. Another prospective tenant stated that “he was tired of driving 2 1/2 hours to work every day. He was having babysitting problems because he was so late getting home. He was underwater on his home and decided to let the home go and move to within 5 minutes of work”. Many higher income individuals have decided not to own but to rent.

This creates both opportunity and difficulty for landlords. If you rental home is near a worksite city then you may see new potential renters moving to your area. You will also see more homes become rental units which will mean more competition. If you are several hours driving distance from a worksite city you may be losing potential renters. In either case it means more competition for existing landlords.
Landlords will need to have a plan to capture and keep the attention of qualified tenants. You can’t afford to lose them at the last moment as they are making their final decision on which house to rent. We will help you develop that plan.

THE PLAN – THE OLD WAY

In the past a landlord may have had a plan something like this: Do as little as possible to get the property ready to rent, after all it is just a rental. Nail a For Rent sign to a tree in the front yard. Put an ad in the local newspaper with a monthly rental rate lower than most of the other rental properties in the neighborhood so you can get it rented quickly. Then screen the tenants, sign them up, let them move in, and hope they stay for more than a few months.

This process may still work. But it attracts the low end of the tenant pool. It attracts tenants who only care about the “lowest rate” available. They may not care about the condition of the property and may neglect the property during occupancy. They may leave it in much worse shape than they found it. You will deduct a large amount from the security deposit to make some repairs. But the property may still not be in as good a shape as when you started the cycle. But it was rented for a period of time and so you start the process over one more time. It is a process that is doomed to failure in the long run as it becomes a downward spiral. As the property deteriorates you can get less rent each time you rent it or are unable to increase the rent as needed in the future. Your property sets unrented as your competitors seem to somehow always “get lucky” and rent their properties.

Perhaps they are successful at renting their property and attracting financially stable tenants that stay for longer durations…… because they are following a different plan !

THE PLAN – THE NEW WAY

Define some goals. Are you happy with your past results? Could they stand some improvement? The following goals are attainable:

* Attract financially strong tenants
* Receive a higher monthly rent
* Achieve on-time monthly rental payments
* Reduce turnover – Attract tenants who will stay 2 to 3 years
* Maintain and improve the quality of the rental property

Set some goals and develop a plan to meet them. If your goals include the above your plan may look like the following:

* Review the physical aspects of your rental property.
* What are the 3 best selling features of the property?
* Long Term Rental Rate Strategy
* The Marketing Plan
* Marketing Plan Budget

REVIEW YOUR PROPERTY

Start by applying some of the same principles that are used when SELLING a house. Take a look at the other rentals in the neighborhood. How does your property stack up to the competition?

Rental rates in most neighborhoods vary 10% to 20% for similar size properties. Many landlords settle for the low end or the low end of the middle. Many do this out of fear….. fear of not renting the property quickly. Why should you settle for this? Why not strive to move up the range and eventually reach the top of the range and still rent it quickly?

Does your property have good “curb appeal”? Is the lawn and vegetation well maintained? Is the driveway free of dirt and grease spots? Is the driveway free of grass growing between the concrete sections? Are all the weeds removed from the lawn and flower beds? Now review the interior of the home. Are the carpets clean and in good repair? Does the home need to be painted inside? Is everything in good working order? What can you do to move one step up in desirability on the inside?

You should be trying to attract tenants who were former homeowners or who think like a homeowner. They should take pride in the home they will be living in. They will need to be comfortable inviting friends over. The property should say “home” when you drive up and not “rental”.

Each time you rent the property to new tenants you should strive to move the property up one notch in desirability. The more desirable the home the higher the rent it will command. You want to start an “upward spiral” and not a “downward” spiral.

THE THREE BEST SELLING FEATURES OF THE PROPERTY

If you were buying or selling the property, what are the 3 most desirable features you would be looking at? The same features should be important to a prospective tenant.

Is there something about your home that sets it apart from most of the other homes in the surrounding area? Has it recently been remodeled? Does it offer a unique floor plan? Does it have really big bedrooms? Is it really close to a Blue Ribbon Elementary School? Is it close to walking trails or shopping areas? Is it on a quite low traffic street? Is it a short driving distance to a worksite city.

All of these things are important and you should gather as much information as you can. Part of your ongoing plan should be to develop feedback from current tenants and prospective tenants. If you will ask and listen they will tell you what they like and what they don’t like about the location and the specific property. Develop a questionnaire to use with both current tenants and prospective tenants.

As a tenant is moving out you should be doing a walkthrough with the tenant and completing a checklist on the condition of the property to determine if you will be deducting money from their security deposit. This is a good time to ask them… What did you like about the property while you were staying here? What did you not like about the property? Try and get specifics. Write it down and keep it for future reference. Ask them if they would be willing to refer a friend to rent the property. If not… why not?

Ask prospective tenants similar questions. After they have seen the property… ask them what they think about it. What do they like? What do they not like? What is important to them? If they decide to rent the property… ask them why they chose this property. Sometimes a landlord so caught up in completing the paperwork that they forget to ask these important questions. The answers to these questions may be the key to increasing the rental rate next time around!

LONG TERM RENTAL RATE STRATEGY

Now that you have completed the review of your rental property and the competition in the neighborhood and it is time to set the monthly rental rate.

Let us assume that the going rate for a home of your size (3 br, 2 bath, 2 car garage, 1800 sq ft.) is between $1,000 and $1,300 per month.

In the past you only asked $1,100 per month as you wanted to rent it quickly. Your tenants only seem to stay a year and move when you try to raise the rent. You shampoo the carpets, change the locks and need to do some additional repairs not covered under the security deposit. It costs you $300 to $800 each time you turnover a tenant.

Let’s also assume that based upon the condition of your home you think you should now be able to get $1,200 per month. You would like to get $1,300 but there are several other properties at that level that you would be competing with and you would need an edge to close the deal at that rate.

One advantage to asking the top tier in the monthly rental rate is that only the more financially secure tenants will be attracted to you property. They will be more likely to pay the rent on time. That helps us meet 3 of our goals:

* Attract financially strong tenants
* Receive a higher monthly rent
* Achieve on-time monthly rental payments

Why should a tenant be attracted to a higher rental rate just because they can afford it? What is in it for them? How do we help the prospective tenants choose our property over the other properties listed at this price? What edge will we have that will help us close the deal?

Here is where you should be thinking long term and getting the prospective tenant to think long term. If your pricing strategy allows you and the tenant to win long term then you stand a good chance of closing the deal.

Offer the property at $1,300 per month on a month to month basis. Tell the prospective tenant that if they will PAY THEIR RENT ON TIME EACH MONTH THAT YOU WILL NOT INCREASE THEIR RENT FOR 3 YEARS.

You will lock in the highest rental tier for up to three years and reduce the costs associated with tenant turnover. Run a spreadsheet on this. Show the old way… $1,100 per month for 12 months and then turnover costs. Then assume $1,200 per month for 11 or 12 months and again turnover costs and finally $1,300 per months for 11 or 12 months. See what the total net revenue is to you the landlord. Then run the tally based upon 36 months at $1,300 per month with no turnover costs.

There is nothing to guarantee that the tenant will stay for 36 months. But think of it from the tenant’s point of view. Only those tenants who expect to stay long term will be attracted to the offer. So now you have achieved the final part of the goals…. Attracting a long term tenant.

You can take it one step further and offer to finance the Security Deposit in 3 equal payments over the first three months of tenancy. We are assuming that only financially secure tenants will be interested in a home at the top rental tier and should be good risks for the three months of financing.

This is a WIN…WIN STRAEGY. The tenant wins because they will be renting a top tier condition home in a nice area and will not faced with annual rent increases. They will not be forced to move pre-maturely. The landlord wins because they have attracted a financially secure tenant, who will pay the rent on-time and has the intention of staying long term. This gives the highest monthly rental flow to the landlord and reduces the turnover costs.

Now all you need to make this strategy work is a sound marketing plan.

THE MARKETING PLAN

The Marketing Plan is a series of interlinked components that complement and reinforce each other. You need to use each of the components if you want to maximize the probability of success.
The components of the Marketing Plan are:

* Where to Advertise
* The Search Site – The Good and the bad
* Need for a “Safe Haven” Website
* Content to include on your Safe Haven Site
* Tips on writing the ad
* Yard Sign
* Printable Flyer
* Information Box

WHERE TO ADVERTISE

Prospective tenants use several two methods of locating potential properties.

One is to ask friends and neighbors if they know of a home for rent in the area they are interested in. They will also drive the area around a favorite school or other landmark to look for signs in the yard indicating a home is for rent.

Landlords may still put a For Rent ad in the local newspaper. If it still works keep doing it. Today the newspaper has been all but replaced by the internet for most potential renters.

On the internet, many potential tenants will go to Major Search Sites to begin their search for a rental home. As long as they are free or of minimum cost it won’t hurt to get some additional exposure.
You need to understand how a search site can help you and how it may work against you.

THE SEARCH SITE – THE GOOD AND THE BAD

The internet is the current version of the newspaper ads that list homes for rent. The goal of the search site is to bring the landlord and prospective tenant together in a common place. It gives the landlord a place to list their property and the tenant to search the real estate listings for a property for rent.

You need to look at this for a moment from the potential tenant’s point of view. They want to go to a place that has a bazillion listings. They want to “shop” for the lowest price for the features they are looking for. So sites with the most listings is what they are looking for.

Now put yourself in the place of the search site. They only list properties For Sale and For Rent. The For Rent area usually includes Apartments and Individual Homes. They structure the site as a List. Each new listing goes on top on the last listing .... day after day. The top sites may add a hundred new listings per day in a given city. They are a for profit venture and so they clutter the site with ads trying to sell the viewers anything they can.

Now let’s look at what is best for the landlord. The only reason you participate on this site is because you have to as that is where you meet up with the prospective tenants. You know that the site is designed to feature “price” and you don’t want to be caught up in the low price game. You need the prospective tenants to see all the benefits and features of your property in addition to the price.

You need to approach these listings with care and caution. You need to have your descriptions written in advance of going to their sites. You need to know what you want to communicate. Each site will have a different way in which they will allow you to present your listing. You need to read their Terms of Use and abide by them.

You need to wave flags, blow horns and make a splash. Something to get noticed in this sea of listings. Do not fall into the trap of just using a lead line like...... $2,300 / month, 3 Br, 2 bath, 2 car garage, nice neighborhood.......

In a later section we will give more specific advice on writing the ad. For now it is important to understand that when a potential tenants does find you in this sea of listings you need to be prepared to move them immediately away from this site to a “safe haven site”. You want them to stop “shopping” and focus on the benefits and features of your property. You don’t want them distracted with ads for other rental homes or other products. You need to keep them focused.

THE NEED FOR A “SAFE HAVEN” WEBSITE

What exactly is a “safe haven” website? It is a site designed to focus ONLY on your property or a list of properties you own or manage. It can be a site you own or control. Owning and managing the site may be beyond the capabilities of most Independent Landlords. In that case you will need to find a site that will accomplish this for you (FoundMyRental.com is a safe haven site).

You would direct the potential tenant to the safe haven site. You would give them a property ID and ask them to use it to view your property. Without the code they will be unable to view any of the hundreds of properties that may be listed on the site. It is yours or nothing.

You want the safe haven site to be clean and free of distracting ads. It would help if it were upscale in look and feel. You want it to leave a good lasting impression on the potential tenant. An impressive slideshow of your property is also helpful. It needs to provide a printable flyer for the prospective tenant that does not lead them back to the “shopping” search sites. The potential tenants should be encouraged to revisit the site anytime they have questions or want to look at the pictures one more time.

You can also think of the Safe Haven Site as a Search Engine Supplement. You need the search site or search engine to bring you the tenants and you need the Safe Haven Site or Search Engine Supplement Site to keep them once you have found them.

This strategy will help you keep the potential tenants from slipping away.

CONTENT TO INCLUDE ON YOUR SAFE HAVEN SITE

In an earlier section we asked you to identify the three best selling features of your property. Below is a sample listing from the safe haven site FoundMyRental.com The listing starts with price and number of bedrooms as this is critical information. But it is followed with the actual size of the bedrooms as potential tenants had indicated that large bedrooms were hard to find. They can find 3 bedroom homes but they have smaller bedrooms. Quality of schools was also a big concern for potential tenants so this information is featured prominently. Financial Flexibility is very important when you are trying to get the top tier rent for the property.

The safe haven site is critical as it allows you the flexibility to show the description in this way. You can wave flags, blow horns and make a splash. You can use: color, bold, spacing between lines and paragraphs just like any word document. But when you list on some of the major search sites they do not allow you to do this as your description is shown as a block of text (no color, no bold, no paragraphs). That is another reason why you need to direct them away from the search site to a site that you have better control over.

Pictures are a critical component of your site. You should have pictures of the outside of the house, the yard, inside the house and notable features of the surrounding area. The inclusion of a upscale slideshow will also help show your property to its best advantage.

You should list the schools the tenants would use for their children: elementary, middle and high school. Show the distance from the home to the schools. You can get information about schools from the internet. It really helps if you look it up and include it on your page rather than leaving it to the tenant to click on links to look up. It is just another thing that will make your home more memorable when they are trying to make a decision on which home to rent.

Here is the Sample Listing:
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123 Anyplace Lane
$2300 / 2br - **Townhouse** Large 15'x14' Br's *
Near Blue Ribbon Schools: Elementary, Middle and High School
FOR RENT
Financial Flexibility:
  $2,300 per month (Includes Lawn Service)
  NO RENT INCREASES FOR 3 YEARS for renters who pay rent on time
  $1,500 Security Deposit (can be paid over 1st 3 months @ $500/mo)
  No separate pet deposit required
Tenant Pays Utilities: gas, elect, water, trash, telephone, cable.
  Landlord pays for Lawn Service.
Schools:
  Laguna Niguel Elementary School - .14 miles away
  Aliso Viejo Middle School – 4.6 miles (8 minutes)
  Aliso Niguel High School - .86 miles away
  All three are rated 9 out of 10 based upon a comparison of test results for all     schools in California. Find out more at www.greatschools.org
Pets: Allow cat & small dog
   No separate pet deposit required
On a Quite – Low Traffic Street
Two Story
2 Master bedrooms with 2.5 Baths
Both Bedrooms are 15’ x 14’
Master bathrooms have been remodeled
2 Car Attached Garage
Fresh and Clean Interior
Fenced backyard with nice patio
Handsome wood trim fireplace
Rich oak cabinets in the kitchen
New stove and new microwave
Mirrored wardrobe doors in both bedrooms
Access to: Swimming Pool, Jacuzzi and Tennis Courts
See more complete description and pictures/slideshow on the
Web at      www.FoundMyRental.com   property I.D. 1005
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ONCE AND DONE

One big thing in your favor is.........Once and Done !
You invested your time and energy in putting your information on the safe haven website. You used the perfect description and lots of pictures and your information stays in system in case you relist your home in the near future.

So you can think of it as ... Time spent today will save time in the future.
Make the investment..... Take the time..... Do it right the first time..... You will be glad you did.

TIPS FOR WRITING THE AD – List Based Site
You can list your property on a Major Search Site (List) for free. It is a List that is date driven. The most recent listings are on the top of the list. Your listing lasts 45 days and it drops in the listing every time someone posts a listing after you posted yours. So you drop in the listing every day. Some cities will have up to a hundred listings per day.

Time is working against you. You are not allowed to cancel your listing and relist to achieve a new listing at the top. You just watch your listing drop. It is suggested that you do your listing on this type of list last. This will allow you to get practice listing it and fine tuning it on the other sites first. Then when you list it on “The List” you won’t waste time as you will have a better understanding of how you want the ad to look.
In your description on “The List” search site you would want to add the following: For a more complete description and additional pictures go to FoundMyRental.com and use the property code 99 (you actually put in your property code for your listing on FoundMyRental.com).

TIPS ON WRITING THE AD – Map Based Site -- A Major Search Site using a Map Based System
You should also consider listing your property on the Major map based system search site. They do charge a small fee to list your property and your listing will last 180 days.

Your property shows up on a map and will remain the same even though others may list near you at a later date. This is probable more favorable to the landlord than the sites that use the “date listed” approach.
But you still need to get the potential tenants away from this site as quickly as possible and over to your safe haven site. You want them to check back on your safe haven site if they have questions and not go back to the search site where new listings may show up in your neighborhood since they last looked at it.

You don’t want them slipping back into the shopping mode. Keep them focused on your home.
If you have designed your description correctly on your safe haven site you should be able to copy and paste most of it to this map based search site being sure to add the sentence: For a more complete description and additional pictures go to FoundMyRental.com and use the property Code 99 (you actually put in your property code for your listing on FoundMyRental.com).

Below is the same sample listing we showed earlier but modified to display better on this map based site. Notice that we used all capital letters for important topics and used a series of dots............. to break up the block of text as you can no use paragraphs. This helps but you still want the potential tenants to see your listing in a better format so you direct them to your safe haven site. The potential tenant will leave the safe haven site with a better feeling and memory of the benefits and features of your property than they would have if they just saw it on the search site.
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FINANCIAL FLEXIBILITY:............. $2,300 per month (Includes Lawn Service). NO RENT INCREASES FOR 3 YEARS for renters who pay rent on time. $1,500 Security Deposit (can be paid over 1st 3 months @ 500/mo). No separate pet deposit required................. SCHOOLS:......... Laguna Niguel Elementary School - .14 miles away. Aliso Viejo Middle School – 4.6 miles (8 minutes). Aliso Niguel High School - .86 miles away. ...........All three are rated 9 out of 10 based upon a comparison of test results for all schools in California...............Find out more at www.greatschools.org............. PETS: Allow cat & small dog. No separate pet deposit required............... On a Quite – Low Traffic Street. Two Story. 2 Master bedrooms with 2.5 Baths. Both Bedrooms are 15’ x 14’. Master bathrooms have been remodeled.2 Car Attached Garage. Fresh and Clean Interior. Fenced backyard with nice patio. Ceramic tile entry. Handsome wood trim fireplace. Rich oak cabinets in the kitchen. New stove and new microwave. Mirrored wardrobe doors in both bedrooms Access to: Swimming Pool, Jacuzzi and Tennis Courts.................. See more complete description and pictures on the Web at ...........www.FoundMyRental.com property I.D. 1005
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YARD SIGN

Under the section... Where To Advertise..... we indicated that: Potential tenants will ask friends and neighbors if they know of a home for rent in the area they are interested in. Potential tenants will also drive the area around a favorite school or other landmark to look for signs in the yard indicating a home is for rent.

You may get 20% to 30% of your inquires from the proper use of a yard sign. Do not just nail a red and white For Rent sign to a tree in the front yard with a phone number and think you have done a proper job. You need a professional upscale sign that will promote you safe haven website and let them know that they will need a Property ID to view it. Use the proper wire sign holder as well.

Yes	No	No

PRINTABLE FLYER

The prospective renters will be able to download and print a flyer from your safe haven site (FoundMyRental.com). The safe haven site will not distract them with hundreds of other rental options. The site is upscale in look and feel. It will focus on your home and display all of its best features and leave the prospective renter with positive thoughts and feelings about it.

Do not encourage the prospective renter to download and print a flyer from the “rental search site”. The website address may show at the top of the printed page and again at the bottom of the page. You need to direct them to a site the site that ONLY contains photos and descriptions of YOUR house.

If a prospective renter has contacted you after finding your home on one of the rental search sites be sure to email them one of your flyers and encourage them to visit your site to view all the pictures of your home along with the impressive slideshow. You may also have additional information on your safe haven site that you do not include in the description you post on the search sites.

INFORMATION BOX

You will need a “information box” to hold the printed flyers just like they use when selling a home. You can buy the information box at Lowes or Home depot for under $15. Be sure to also buy the proper stake to hold the sign. You can download a flyer from your safe haven site and have 100 black & white flyers printed for about $10.

The information box/flyers serve several purposes. First of all you will get a lot more responses if you have flyers than if you just offer your phone number. Second it will save you a lot of time. Do you really want to drive down and show the house to every person who is “just curious” about what it looks like on inside. It would be much better to weed out the “just curious” by providing a flyer which directs them to your website for pictures. Then you can meet the real potential renters and show them the inside of your home after you have screened the “curious” from the “serious” ones. Third it provides a way for you to capture and keep the attention of the qualified renters. They can take a flyer home with them and refer to it as they make their rental decision. The flyer is a great sales tool and it does not re-direct them to the competition.

Just be and sure and keep the information box full of flyers.

MARKETING PLAN BUDGET

The marketing plan included some items that are not free.:
• Ad in newspaper
• Ad on the internet at Map Based Search Site
• Listing on FoundMyRental.com - a Safe Haven website
• Printing of flyers
• Information Box and Stake
• Yard Sign and Stake

You should be able to accomplish all of this for less than $100. If you follow this Marketing Plan you should be able to increase your monthly rent by at least $100 per month. Not a bad return on investment !

THE END

Now you are at the end of the process. You have set your goals, established a plan to meet the goals, found a tenant, signed the necessary paperwork and allowed the tenant to move in. We will now remind you of some things we discussed earlier.

Ask your new tenants similar questions. After they have seen the property… ask them what they think about it. What do they like? What do they not like? What is important to them? Now that they decided to rent the property… ask them why they chose this property. Sometimes a landlord so caught up in completing the paperwork that they forget to ask these important questions. The answers to these questions may be the key to increasing the rental rate next time around!

FoundMyRental.com

The Search Engine Supplement

Complete Marketing Plan

Yes

No

No