How Your Vacancy Rate Can Affect Your Profitability as a Sarasota Landlord

In Sarasota, Bradenton and Manatee Counties, one of the most critical things for you as a landlord is to lower your vacancy rate. However, you do not want to rent your home so quickly that you end up renting to the wrong person. This could also create a loss in cash flow because you might have to evict that tenant later down the road, or end up in court.

One of the things you want to do is to promote your property appropriately to the market. Generally, when we do our marketing research at Sarasota Management and Leasing, we evaluate the price range that your property will fall into. We introduce the property to the market at the top of that price range and run ads and promotions for about two weeks. During that time, we look at the marketing data to determine whether the property is getting good exposure on the residential rental market. We want to get an idea about whether people are responding to what they are seeing, and then we make any necessary adjustments. We evaluate the number of calls, emails, inquiries and showings that are a result of the initial listing at the highest price point.

The marketing data we collect can tell us a lot. We do a report every two weeks that a property is on the market to show the number of clicks on the Internet as well as the number of calls and follow ups. If we notice that the property is getting a lot of clicks, but very little follow through past that point, we know that the price on the property probably needs to come down. If there are a lot of showings but not a lot of leases, we know that something about the condition of the property may need to be adjusted.

When it comes to getting your property rented to the right tenant quickly, proper pricing is the most important element. Everyone wants the best price for their rental. However, there is a point where you can be asking too much, which will delay the renting of your house. This is the point when you have diminishing returns as a landlord. Be sure it is priced appropriately to the market so you have a good selection of interested applicants. This will give you the luxury of picking the best tenant and ensuring your success down the road.

Being available to show the property is essential. You want to make sure you are able to get to the property quickly in order to show it. If you cannot do it yourself, have a reliable person there to meet the potential tenants. Remember that showings and appointments need to be at the convenience of the prospective tenant. A renter might need to see it in the evenings, after work, on a lunch break or over the weekend. It’s important to have someone on call to get to the property and assess whether the renter will work out for you and your property.

If you have any questions about this, please contact us at Sarasota Management and Leasing. We look forward to talking with you.