Palm Springs Rental Property Marketing: Crafting Irresistible Listings for Online Platforms

It’s more important than ever to have a rental listing that really grabs the attention of potential renters. Those tenants are scrolling through dozens of listings at a time on all the same rental sites; it can be easy for them to scroll right past yours. 

Unless you give them a reason to stop.

We’re talking today about how to best market your Palm Springs rental home. There’s a lot that goes into an effective market strategy, but it always starts with an irresistible listing. Online platforms make it easy for you to showcase the home you have for rent. Just remember that there’s a lot of competition out there. 

Here are some ways to stand apart. 

Make the Price Easy to Find

Most tenants looking for their next rental home will sort and separate the listings they find according to price. Every tenant will have a budget, and they’ll only be willing to look at homes that fall within that budget. 

It’s important that you’re transparent and upfront about how much it costs to rent your home. Otherwise, you’ll end up wasting your own time showing your home to tenants who cannot afford it.

Price the property competitively, accurately, and profitably. Most rental property owners have a specific idea about how much they think their home is worth. However, it’s the market that has the most impact on what you can charge. Your property’s condition, location, and size will influence the price, but you cannot overprice it for the current market. If you do, it will be vacant for longer, and you’ll lose rental income. You also don’t want to underprice the property because you’ll have a hard time catching it up to market rental values. 

Instead of pulling random data from online, invest in a market evaluation. Many Palm Springs property managers will provide a full market analysis for free. This will help you price your property correctly. Make sure it’s prominent in your listing, and you’ll also want to include how much of a security deposit you’re asking for. Remember that new security deposit laws will require most property owners to collect no more than the equivalent of one month’s rent. 

Pay Attention to Photography and Video

The most important part of your listing will be the photos. 

Tenants are going to scroll through the pictures before they read the description or peruse the rental requirements. When we’re talking about online rental platforms, we’re working with a very visual audience. Make your photos count because it’s important that you can quickly grab the attention of prospective tenants. 

Include as many photos as your rental sites will allow. Take a lot of good pictures that show the inside and outside of the property. Make sure you have shots of: 

• Your kitchen and its appliances. 
• Show off any upgrades and updates such as tile backsplash, new floors, or lighting fixtures. 
• Living rooms and dens.
• Bathrooms.
• Bedrooms, including photos of any walk-in closets or window views.
• Outdoor space, including the front door. 

You don’t need to hire a professional photographer (although that’s not a bad idea). Just make sure you’ve got attractive lighting, good angles, and all the important features you want to show off about the property you’re renting out. If tenants don’t like what they see in your photos, they won’t bother getting in touch.

Consider video, too. Prospective tenants will enjoy feeling like they’re getting a walk-through just by clicking on your video tour.

Write a Concise and Descriptive Summary of Your Property

Your rental listing needs the words that continue to tell the story that your photographs begin to craft.

There’s no need to be too wordy when you’re writing your descriptions. Prospective tenants won’t want to read long paragraphs; they’ll prefer to digest bullet points and short phrases. You want to be concise, but you don’t want to leave anything out. 

List the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Talk about recent upgrades and some of the features in the neighborhoods. Include the school district if it’s a good one. Mention the fenced yard, the attached garage, and the granite counters. 

Include Your Thoughts on Pets

If you allow pets, make sure your listing reflects that because this will be a huge marketing benefit for you. Pet-friendly properties typically rent faster than those that don’t allow pets. If you’re going to charge a pet fee, list that in the ad as well so the tenant will understand what they’ll have to pay for the privilege of moving in with their cat or dog. 

Maybe you’re willing to consider some pets, but you’re not vibing with the idea of six Pit Bull puppies moving in. When you’re on the fence about pets, make sure your listing says that pets will be considered. This will still bring in the attention of pet-owning tenants, and you can do a careful job of screening those pets before you accept them. 

Optimize Online Advertising and Social Media

There are a lot of rental sites out there, and the best thing you can do to save yourself time is to syndicate a single listing across the internet, allowing multiple sites to pick up your listing. This can be difficult if you’re not working with advanced property management software. Talk to a Palm Springs property manager if you need help. If you can’t syndicate your listing, make sure it’s showing up on sites like Zillow, Zumper, HotPads, Trulia, Rentals.com, and RentCafe. 

Don’t forget the power of social media when it comes to sharing your listing. In many ways, social platforms can work even better for you than those well-trafficked rental websites. On Instagram and Facebook, people can like your listing and share it. They can comment. Potential tenants can ask questions. Be engaging and responsive, especially if you want to cast a wide net for prospective tenants. 

An irresistible listing has all the information that tenants need to make a decision, fantastic photos, and a strong online presence. We can help you put this together. Contact our Palm Springs property management team at Xepco Properties.