One of the questions I am asked time after time is - "What is the best way to rent my property?" This certainly depends on the property, your goals with it, and the economic climate of the area. There are a number of different ways to offer your place so that you can get it filled not only quickly, but with good people. Although some of these are obvious, there are subtle things that you can do to maximize your effectiveness in accomplishing your goals.

For Rent

Well, this one is pretty obvious. However, how do you quickly and easily get this done? First, I am a huge believer in Internet marketing. www.craigslist.org is my favorite. The ads are free, you can put pictures in there, and there are a ton of people that look on Craigslist. My other fav is www.rentclicks.com. It's a pay-for site, but really popular. Others that you can try (but not my favorites) are Yahoo, flatster.com & any local internet listing sites you might have.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is the type of neighborhood your property is in. If it's in a part of town that have somewhat computer savvy type people this will work well. Otherwise, stick to more "base" advertising which I describe below. Also, make sure you have NICE pictures on the sites. If you can't put pictures up, don't bother advertising. It won't work.

If your target renters aren't computer types, For Rent signs, handmade, around the neighborhood work wonders. I use the neon green posterboard I get at WalMart. Then take a HUGE black marker and write:

"FOR RENT

2 bd / 3 ba

555-123-4567"

Depending on your area, hang anywhere from 25 - 50 each and every week around the busy intersections. Remember to put yourself in the place of the drivers. If the sign is 100' up in the air in the middle of a busy street, it's unlikely they'll see it much less write the phone number down. Put it where people stop.

Did I mention the newspaper? I didn't? Well, that's because they're expensive and I don't especially like paying money to extortionists. I'll let the RICH landlords advertise in the paper.

Rent To Own

This is my favorite. I won't go into all the details here, but this is really the all-time best way to get great people into your place. They have an ownership mentality, so pay on-time better and keep your place neater. Advertise basically the same, but "RENT TO OWN".

One note - I'd be more than happy if my people actually bought the house, but in over 50 homes, I've had a total of ONE (count 'em ONE) couple actually buy. The rest of the time, they change their minds, can't get their credit straightened out, etc. The nice thing is they keep the house better, and renew the leases and options year after year after year. All the while, the place is getting paid down more and more, and their price goes up an up.

Owner Carry

This is what I use when I really DO want to sell a house. Generally I've got someone in a house for a number of years that I really trust and like and really do want them to own the house themselves. You lose on the tax credits, but they really get a good opportunity to buy the place. It looks better on their credit (especially if you use a reporting company like National Assoc. of Independent Landlords) to report on-time payments.

Be sure you do this one right, or there could be some legal consequences. Get a title company or attorney to help you do a proper closing.