Rental advertising

7 Poor Listing Practices That Cost Landlords Thousands

By TenantCloud Team November 19, 2024

Whether you’re a landlord or tenant, it can be easy to tell in an apartment list what separates a reliable rental listing from a less successful one. Sometimes the listing is missing crucial information like contact details or square footage. Other times the property description is cut off or unclear. While you don't have to write the next great American novel in your listing, it's important to know these poor listing practices that could cost you thousands of dollars and drive tenants away.

If your listings are incomplete according to your potential tenants, just imagine what they could do to a property management business in the long term! For those who struggle identifying and fixing poor rental listing practices, you’ve come to the right place. Read on as we explore how to create proper listings so tenants benefit from adequately organized property listings and landlords can continue to thrive in the market.

Let’s start with one of the most common rental listing issues people see today: incomplete property descriptions.

Incomplete Property Listings

Incomplete property listings can be a deal breaker for many prospective renters and often why many landlords struggle to find tenants. Whether you forget to mention the number of bedrooms and bathrooms as well as the square footage of the home, or your description is disorganized, it can cost you precious leads as a landlord.

Remember that potential tenants need to see as much information as possible about your property to make an informed choice. If you’re listing your rental housing online, make sure to take the time to properly fill out the details.

How Do You Optimize a Poor Rental Listing for Better Visibility?

If you’re looking to optimize a poor rental listing to get more traction online, you can take a few steps to make your listing more appealing to potential renters. Be sure to list pertinent details about your rental unit, like the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, amenities in the housing unit and within the community if available, and how much the rent costs.

Whether you’re trying to fill affordable housing or public housing, these tips can help you make your property listing as descriptive and complete as possible!

Poor Quality Photos

So, you have the right details in your property description to attract interested potential tenants, but your listing does not include any photos. Without photos, how will your potential renters see themselves in the unit? Even worse, if you do have photos but they are grainy, blurry, or simply poor quality, then your potential tenants will struggle to see the value in the unit you’re offering.

Just like you’d avoid products with poor product photos on a clothing store’s site, tenants will avoid units that have poor-quality photos. You want your photos to be worth a thousand words about why your rental property is worth renting. That’s why you have to enhance the visual appeal of your rental housing!

How to Enhance Your Unit’s Appeal with High-Quality Photos

For potential landlords wanting better images of their property, it comes down to angles and lighting. Try getting a professional there to take pictures for the best results. If you have to DIY your listing photos, aim to capture images in the morning light when your unit looks vibrant and bright.

Be sure to take pictures of each room and get multiple angles. The more high-quality photos you have, and at the right angles, the better your listing will perform in the real estate market.

Overpricing Your Rental

Even with a proper description and photos to capture people’s interest, landlords could still make one critical error: overpricing your rental. Sure, demand might be high in your area, but how will you make money if your potential tenants cannot pay for your unit?

The Fair Housing Act protects potential tenants from being denied housing or charged unfair prices based on their gender, race, nationality, sexuality, familial status, disability, and other protected characteristics. That’s why you should price your rental housing appropriately to be fair to your renters and follow the law.

How Do You Make Your Rental Listing Stand Out from the Competition?

To ensure you stand out from the competition, do some market research and see how much a studio apartment or three-bedroom house is going for in your housing market. One option is TenantCloud's Rentability Report. You can also look at current housing studies for the region near you to see how they have priced their rentals.

Urban development is another factor that might indicate pricing changes to your unit as demand changes in the region. With that in mind, be sure to do a comprehensive review of your housing market to find the right price for your tenants to pay.

Lack of Contact Information

As a landlord or property owner, communication is critical, and the same goes when talking to prospective tenants. Providing a simple phone number, email, or even address for your offices can be a game changer and connect you to many potential leads. All you have to do is include this somewhere clear on your listing and wait for the messages to come in.

Another option is to provide contact information and resources for your potential tenants through your local housing authorities. They can support and guide you, including details regarding whether your unit is eligible for affordable housing such as the Housing Choice Voucher Program or Section 8. You can also offer details so your tenants can contact the local housing authorities directly to learn more about rental assistance programs.

Best Practices for Including Contact Information in Your Listing

No matter how you compile your listing, you’ll need to ensure that the contact information is clear and visible. Some platforms will make the contact information big and bold, but if you must include it in the description, put it towards the end in big, bold font. If you need any contact information from your potential tenants, you can ask them to share their previous landlord references at the end of your description to help with tenant screening.

Ignoring Maintenance Issues

One of the biggest reasons you may be losing money on your property as a prospective landlord is ignoring maintenance issues in your unit. A poor rental listing includes a property that lacks a maintained appearance. Not only that, but it can lead to issues such as decreased property value, tenant dissatisfaction, and even health and safety risks. As a result, landlords that let this happen could end up with legal issues and bad reviews.

The last thing you want is to find yourself in housing court when maintenance issues are not dealt with. You likely know that Renters have an implied warranty of habitability, so if a landlord fails to provide a safe, healthy environment, landlords can be held responsible by the housing authority. On the other hand, if the poor maintenance of your property is due to tenant issues or you struggle with eviction cases, this can also reflect poorly on the property and lead to lost revenue.

Tips to Maintain and Upkeep Your Property

First and foremost, if you're a landlord, you’ll need to take steps to protect the property’s condition. That means regular upkeep and maintenance, including appliance replacements and improvements to the property. Make sure repairs are handled quickly and efficiently to ensure good reviews, and always be transparent with your potential tenants and current renters.

To avoid losing money to bad rental habits, ask for your potential tenant’s complete rental history and run a credit report check when they first apply to ensure that they’ll be a good tenant. As long as you set expectations for concerns such as rent payment via credit card or check or direct deposit, you can protect your property’s value and your business’s longevity.

Failing to Screen Tenants Properly

Landlords who don't screen their tenants properly may lose money by renting to individuals who either cannot pay the rent, damage the property, or contribute to other rental challenges. To complicate things more, if you skip tenant screening altogether or ignore potential concerns like a tenant's poor credit report, you may be putting your rental property at risk.

Tenant screenings are helpful because they can give you an idea of whether the tenant has excellent, good, or bad credit. Tenant screening can be a game changer to help you avoid situations where flakey renters waste your time and your money.

How to Leverage Tenant Screening to Benefit Both Tenants and Landlords

To leverage the power of tenant screening, you’ll need to use all the tools that you have at your disposal. That means having a comprehensive application that asks about their past rental history and expected income to ensure that they can meet your rent expectations. You should ask for credit checks and credit check apartments before you rent them out. As long as you follow fair housing legislation and regulations, you’ll see an improvement in your tenant selection!

Lack of Flexibility and Incentives for Renters

If you implement each tip in this article, you can ensure complete, thorough listings for your property. However, one additional thing to consider is offering any incentives such as a discounted security deposit or housing vouchers for low-income tenants. Competitive incentives are a major benefit to include in property listings, especially if you can offer features like first and last month free or a specified amount off your first month. These help you stand out compared to other listings in the area.

Additionally, if you’re set up to receive housing vouchers for low-income tenants who need rental assistance, you may be able to attract more customers. You’ll need to ensure that you're staying compliant according to your housing laws, but it could be an added benefit for your property.

How Do You Update a Poor Rental Listing to Attract More Tenants?

If you've updated your listing and are still in a bind for tenants, consider rethinking your rental rates. By decreasing the price marginally to meet the rates in your area, you may see an uptick in tenant applications. You can also work with companies that sell renter’s insurance to make this easier for your clients. (Hint: TenantCloud makes it easy to offer renter's insurance right in the app.) Also, make sure you're using keywords and popular buzzwords in your rental description, such as upscale apartment, pet-friendly condo, subsidized housing, or affordable rental housing to capture the right tenants looking for your property.

Upgrade Your Tenant Screening and Listings with TenantCloud Today

With these tips, you can ensure your property listings are put on the right path to reach more qualified tenants. The more you can attract and retain renters, the better you'll benefit from.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive property management platform for your rental business, TenantCloud is here to support you. Our property management software is a comprehensive solution with all the features you need, and it’s affordable! Its scalability ensures the platform evolves with your business, catering to growing needs—even for new landlords. TenantCloud delivers an all-in-one platform designed to simplify property management tasks by integrating popular tools and offering flexible, tiered plans.

Ready to improve your property management operations? Explore how TenantCloud can revolutionize your workflow and enhance efficiency. Sign up for a free trial today to experience how this user-friendly software solution can benefit your property management business.