Although the general real estate market is still a little sluggish in Seattle, the rental market is a totally different story. Last month, my clients had to re-rent their house on Queen Anne. They posted an ad with only one exterior picture on Craig's list and got over one hundred responses. After setting up an open house and interviewing the best candidates in advance, I was able to negotiate $100 more in rent for them. Since they did not have any decent interior pictures, I suggested the following:
1) Make a deal with the tenants allowing them to move their furniture in a few days early with the stipulation that I could re-arrange their stuff. This saved the cost of moving new furniture in just for pictures.
2) Install inexpensive window treatments - less than $200
3) Add some accessories and artwork - I provided this
4) Hire a professional photographer to shoot 6 pictures - this cost all of $75
For under $300, they now have gorgeous pictures to post the next time they need to re-rent. And I bet you they will have their next tenant set up to move in the day after the old tenant moves out. They should also be able to increase their rent by at least $300 a month.
If you would like to find out how to get more rent and better tenents for your rental, call me at 206-781-1724 or e-mail me at Susan@SusanPeters.com.
The Better it Looks...The Better it Sells It also rents a lot better too.....
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