No matter how great a tenant is, eventually, they will move out. While vacancies are part of every Baltimore landlord’s life, your goal should be to ensure vacancy rates are low.

When you know how to advertise your rental properties successfully, you can shorten vacancies and maximize your ROI. A successful advertisement strategy for your rental properties will ensure you reach a large prospective tenant pool, increasing your chances of finding a perfect tenant quickly.

In today’s blog, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know when it comes to advertising your Baltimore rental properties, starting with the critical role photos play in rental marketing!

Why Great Photos Matter

  • “A picture is worth a thousand words” – The expression still holds true when it comes to rental listing. Multiple studies were done over the years that back this up!
  • A study done by Zumper found that rental listing with photos received up to 92 percent more views than those without.
  • A RentPrep study found that property listings with professional photos rented for an average of $200 more than those without.
  • A study by the National Association of Realtors found that 92% of renters decided to rent an apartment based on the quality of photos in listings.
    an over the shoulder view of a landlord holding a digital camera prior to uploading photos of their vacant property to their laptop
    All these studies are a testament to the importance photos bear to the success of any rental advertisement strategy. So, be sure to set aside time and resources to take the best photos possible of your rental property!

Taking High-Quality Photos

Before you start taking photos, we recommend taking the following steps.

Stage your property: Make your property look its absolute best. Clean all surfaces, including furniture, appliances, walls, and floors. Ensure you following end of tenancy cleaning steps and don’t forget to declutter your space.

Make repairs: You want to show potential tenants that you’re a responsible landlord who cares for their tenants. That’s why it’s important to perform property maintenance for things like leaky faucets, holes in the walls, and loose doorknobs.

Update décor Does your rental property look like it has seen better days? If so, it may be time to update it! This could mean repainting faded walls, replacing broken light fixtures, or adding new furniture.

Add personal touches: Your ultimate advertising goal is to stand out from the competition. For this reason, you may also want to add personal touches such as live plants, artwork, and fresh-cut flowers before marketing your property. This will help make the space warm and inviting to potential tenants.
a contemporary living room with a tan couch and a wooden coffee table
Now that you’re ready to take photos of your Baltimore rental property, consider the

Prepare a shot list: Making a shot list ahead of time will help you stay organized and prevent you from missing any important details.

Use natural lighting: This will help make the property look brighter and more inviting.

Take the photos from the widest vantage point: This is often in the corner of a room. Taking pictures that show the whole room can make the space look larger and give renters a better idea of your property’s layout.

Use a quality camera: Make sure the camera or phone you take pictures with has a minimum resolution of 720 pixels.

After taking photos for your ad, it’s time to write your ad copy!

Write a Great Property Description

After you’re done taking photos, the next step should be matching them with a property description. Your ad copy should be accurate, engaging, and interesting. This section is what will help tie your marketing together!

A great rental property description can help with search engine optimization. This means your rental ads will rank higher on search engines like Google, ensuring easy discovery by prospective tenants.
a landlord with red reading glasses drafts an ad copy for their vacant rental
A marketing copy for a rental listing is composed of two sections.

Headline: This is the first thing prospective tenants see when viewing a listing. If it isn’t concise and interesting, renters may overlook it.

A proper headline includes essential details such as the rent price, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, the type of property you have and its location.

Summary Description: After you’re done with the headline, start composing your summary description. This section will allow you to finish telling your story by helping you tie your headline to the photos you took.

Help prospective tenants visualize living on your property by telling them things that make your property stand out. As a property manager we suggest including information related to rental amenities, pet policies, parking access, public transportation access, and if you have built-in security features.

Distribute the Rental Ad

No one will ever know you have a stunning rental property if you don’t let them know about it! Your ad will only be effective if it’s seen by a large pool of prospective tenants.

Put yourself in a renter’s shoes and ask where you would look for a new rental home. Generally speaking, tenants who search online will usually go on rental listings sites like Zillow, Zumper, Redfin, and HotPads.
A tenant with a blond bob haircut sits at an outdoor cafe and reviews for rent ads in the classified section of a newspaper
Conversely, those who prefer more traditional means of searching for rentals will be on the lookout for yard signs, newspaper ads, community bulletin boards, and flyers and posters.

After you’re done distributing your ad, monitor and update it consistently. You may also want to spend some money promoting rental listing sites if you have little success generating leads. This is an especially common strategy in competitive markets.

Bottom Line

Having a great property doesn’t guarantee a steady rental income. To maximize your ROI and find long-term tenants, you’ll need to put in time and effort to create a dynamic rental listing and strategically distribute it. A reputable property management company can help you advertise your rental property effectively!

American Dream Realty And Management offers quality property management services to property owners in Baltimore City and all the surrounding areas.

Our property managers can help you maximize your rental income by taking care of marketing your property, screening prospective tenants, conducting routine inspections, and collecting rent, among other services.

Get in touch to learn more about our services!