Most people when they have a rental vacancy waste a good amount of time showing the property. We used to do that too, but over the years we have developed some systems to keep wastes of our time to a minimum.
Don’t answer every call that comes in for your property immediately.
When we place an ad in the paper, it is not uncommon to receive 50 calls, yes 50 calls! You will probably make yourself crazy if you answer every call that comes in. You are better off to decide a day or two and time that you will check voice mails and return calls, say Thursday and Saturday at 4:00 pm. This method will also tell you a lot about the person just from the voice mail they leave.
Have a set day and time that you are willing to show the property before making any return calls.
Most people want to see a place in the late afternoon and early evening. So for example, I might make myself available for showing from 5:00-7:00 pm on Monday and Thursday and 10:00-12:00 am on Saturday. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t show it at another time, but more often than not, if you give people your availability they will work with the schedule you have set.
As you are listening to your voice mails, write down the person’s name, contact number and any other key information, such as how many people they have.
When you are scheduling appointments with potential renters, schedule them in 30 minute increments.
For example, I am available from 5:00-7:00 pm; I schedule the first renter for 5:00, the second for 5:30, and so on. If I am going to the place for one appointment I might as well stay for two more. This also has an added bonus of showing people that your place is in demand.
Tell your potential renter that they MUST call or text you when they are on their way to the property.
This is very important and the one tip that saves us a lot of headaches. If they don’t, you will not show up. You would be surprised at just how many people set appointments with us, even hours ahead of the appointment and then never show! This happened so often and even with people that sounded great over the phone that we instituted this policy. It has saved us so much frustration. If you use this tip alone it will make your rental life so much easier!
So that’s it for my tips to help you schedule your rental appointments. What about you, got any great tips to make our property scheduling easier? I’d love to hear them!
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