This week, we’re highlighting one of our members’ ads that received over 40 phone and email leads in one month… 40! For those who like to keep track of the numbers, that’s less than a buck a lead (Single-family rental ad = $29.99). Let’s breakdown the strong points of this ad that helped to make it a success:

• Photos
• Competitive Rental Rates
• Low Deposit or Incentives
• Widespread Distribution
• Easy to Contact

Read more about each of these 5 rental advertising tips

Some may argue against this, but with the recent announcement of the Google-Twitter search deal and the Bing-Twitter search deal, tweeting your available rentals will now deliver one heaping advertising advantage — search engine exposure.

Let’s take a closer look:

If  Google and Bing search results are now going to pull in tweets, don’t you think it’s a good idea for you to get your rental listings in Twitter?  For example, if a renter searches for “San Diego Apartments” in Google you may now see some tweets in the Google search results that relate to this search, similar to what you see here http://search.twitter.com/search?q=san+diego+apartments. It will be interesting to see how Google displays the rental specific tweets in their search results. Will the tweets display within their regular search or will it be a side option? Will Google be able to filter out all the spam such as what you see in the hijacked Twitter trending topics? I hope so.

So, if you are not already tweeting your available rentals, now’s a better time than any to start.

Remember, RentShout offers a 1-click social network sharing option that allows you to easily share your rental listings on Twitter and other social networks.

• Landlords get a portion of the cost of their rental property back through depreciation, which is spread out or amortized over a number of years. 
• The expenses landlords incur when making necessary repairs or needed improvement to their rental property are deductible in full during the year in which they occurred.  Such expenses may include costs of repainting (indoors and/or outdoors), replacing flooring, fixing a leaking roof, unclogging sewer lines, replacing damaged doors or broken windows and so on. 
• Landlords pay interest on mortgage loans for the rental property, on loans taken for paying the costs of improvements to the rental property, and on open balances of credit cards that are used for maintaining the rental property.  The expenses of these interests (regardless of their rates) are all deductible from the landlords’ total income.  So, his or her income taxes are paid at lower rates.  Since expenses for interests are often extremely high, deductions for interest are also among the highest deduction landlords can claim.  
• Landlords are permitted to deduct their expenses for automotive traveling on any business related to their rental property.  These expenses refer to those sustained during driving to and from the location — gas as well as the vehicle’s upkeep and repair.  Under certain circumstances; car rentals, airfare and expenses on public transportation (buses, trains, trolleys, subways, ferries, etc.) may be considered legitimate business deductions for tax purposes.

When a call is made to this phone number, our system will automatically forward it to your phone number, enabling the renter to connect with the right person immediately. For easy tracking and convenience, the call information is also saved in your RentShout message center.

Rental advertising websites provide the maximum exposure for your property to renters. The rental industry is huge so getting your ad in front of prospects require a lot of effort if you were to do it using traditional methods.

 The following are the types of services which rental advertising companies offer:

 1. Submission to rental directories and search engines.

 One of the main services of apartment marketing websites is submitting your rental ad to its network of rental directories and search engines. The first thing a renter would do to find the ideal apartment is to search online.

 Rental directories receive a lot of targeted traffic. Once you’re listed there, you will get renters seeing your ad with your contact details. The more rental directories your ad is submitted to, the more chances of renters seeing your ad.

 If you’re choosing a rental website, make sure that the company has a network of rental directories to broadcast your rental ads to. 

As well as rental directories, your rental ads will also be submitted to search engines such as Google and Yahoo. With your web page consisting of just your ad, listed on several search engines, you will get a considerable amount of targeted visitors.

 Needless to say, search engine traffic can bring you hundreds of renters to your rental every day.

 2. Video Syndication

One of the most interesting features that rental websites offer is video syndication. The company will create a video to market your apartments using images that you provide.

So after you take pictures of every corner of your apartment, you can upload them to the website and have a professional marketing video created for you. The videos are basically a slide presentation of your apartment with background music.

When renters watch a video of the inside of an apartment, they would find it much more attractive than reading plain text. So videos do increase the response rate to the rental ads tremendously.

Apart from producing the video, the company will also submit it to several video sharing websites such as YouTube and Viddler. These video sharing sites get a lot of searches every day and they also rank well in the search engines.

Creating and submitting the videos by yourself would take many hours.

3. Social Media

Another place where renters can be found is social media sites. Unless you’re living under a rock, you would have heard of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and others. These social websites are an excellent way to market your apartments.

People in these social networks interact amongst each other. If someone sees an ad for an apartment, they would pass on the message to people they know who are looking to rent.

With a broadcast of your rental ad to these social networks, you can expect to receive responses from interested renters quickly.

As you can see, rental advertising websites are a must if you’re looking to find renters for your apartment. The amount of exposure you will get from your ads is much more than traditional methods of contacting agents and placing classified ads. Finding renters for your apartment has never been so easy.

Let’s put yourself in the shoes of a renter. Your current rental contract is due to expire in a few weeks and you have to move out. Unless you’re computer illiterate, the first thing you do is search online for available apartments that are in the area you want to rent in.

You can either look for apartments by using the search engines or visit a rental directory which you’re familiar with. Many renters do this when they are looking for places to rent. Since the internet is such a popular place to search for apartment rentals, if you’re not advertising online for your apartment, you’re not marketing properly.

There are many apartment marketing websites where you can list your apartment in their database, and use their service to get your message out to interested renters. An example of one of these websites is RentShout at http://www.rentshout.com

If you have an apartment that you want to rent out, RentShout should definitely be one of your first choices to get the word out.

Their services include:

- submitting your apartment details to rental directories
- syndicate the details of your apartment on popular search directories including Google and Yahoo
- create videos with apartment images you provide them with, and distribute them to video sharing sites such as YouTube
- publish your apartment details through their social network including Facebook and Twitter

Looking at the list of services, you can see that RentShout has covered almost all the possible websites where you can market your apartment. The important thing here is targeted traffic.

This rental advertising company has started to become one of the main websites for apartment owners to fill their vacant apartment units quickly. They are continuously adding new rental directories to their network to provide the best exposure for their clients. Without a shadow of a doubt, apartment marketing websites are effective in helping owners find renters quickly.

Have a great apartment community or single-family rental that needs a great tenant? Be sure to include pictures within your online ad to seal the deal. A recent nationwide study revealed that property photos were “extremely important” to renters searching online.

At RentShout, we allow you to upload up to 24 photos to every listing, and recommend at least five. While the 5-photo minimum qualifies your listing to receive an advertised rental video, it also allows you to show renters different aspects of the property that may help them make their decision.

We’ve seen the proof of this with the rental advertisements at RentShout, as ads with more pictures receive a higher amount of qualified leads. Some studies have shown an increase in leads of up to 80%!

Image Credit: Kavanjin Croatia Apartments

Here at RentShout we understand how important it is to have your rental listings appear on as many rental internet listing services as possible.  With over 90% of online renters searching multiple websites for a place to live, having your rentals on multiple directories increases your chance of capturing those renter leads and closing that lease quicker.

We have recently expanded our network reach to deliver increased online visibility to our clients rental listings by adding two additional websites, Homes.com and Sublet, to our growing catalog of syndication partners.  These additions are on the heels of recently added websites, Apartment Hunterz and Cazoodle, making our reach to 60+ rental directories and video portals.

But that is not all. As part of their apartment marketing strategies and business planning, landlords must also determine whether to rent out their apartments and/or homes as fully furnished, partially furnished or as empty and unfurnished unites. Each one of these options has its own set of pros and cons which landlords should weigh very carefully against each other, against the current rental market, against the functionality and purpose of the property itself and, lastly, against the targeted tenants.

Fully Furnished Rental Units

Understandably, furnished units charge higher rent and they have little to no competition. However, landlords must invest much more in maintenance and realized that the pool of tenants is fairly limited.

• Vacation rental marketing or vacation homes and vacation apartments are probably the most compelling reasons for landlords to fully furnish their units. If the property is intended for short term leasing (usually six months or less) to vacationing tenants, by all means, the units should be fully furnished and preferably decorated attractively. After all, people on vacation will not be carrying furniture along with them and they will want to be comfortable in a pleasant environment.

• Homes and/or apartments which are intended for business people (travelling salespersons and touring lecturers, artists, athletes, etc.) should be furnished elegantly and provide all the personal and business amenities available at hotels such as room service, high speed Internet access, office space and services, gym and spa, and so on.

These units are usually rented out for anywhere between several days to a couple of months and they are most often located in business districts and near airports.

• Historic and vintage apartment units and homes should most likely be furnished to match the unique exterior. Since such furniture would usually include costly antiques, the targeted tenants should be adults who could appreciate such fineries.

• Homes and/or apartments which valiant landlords are willing to rent to students near college campuses should be furnished with sturdy furniture that will, on the one hand, survive lots of abuse while, on the other hand, be cheap enough to replace when its needed. Décor much like college dorm rooms is appropriate for such units.

Partially Furnished Units

• Newlyweds and young people who have had the time to accumulate some furniture but not enough for an entire household would most likely appreciate partially furnished apartments which usually include kitchen appliances such as a stove, refrigerator dishwasher and maybe a piece or two in the living room and/or bedroom.

• Many singles of all ages and both genders have amassed a few pieces of furniture but would, in all probability, welcome whatever else landlords can offer. It is advisable for landlords to provide attractive furniture but as generic as possible so that it does not clash with that which is brought in by the tenants.

Empty, Unfurnished Units

When opting to rent their units as unfurnished, landlords must realize that the pool of tenants is virtually limitless but so is the competition.

• The great majority of tenants strive to make their rental units as homey as they possibly can and they, therefore, want to personalize them. This means that they would want to rent empty, unfurnished apartments and/or homes and bring in their own furniture and miscellaneous decorations.

Being included in their Spark of Genius series (sponsored by Microsoft) makes us extremely proud, since the editors at Mashable are very discerning when it comes to which services and news they decide to cover. The criteria for the Spark of Genius award is as follows:

Each week day we will cover a promising new startup, as part of a series we’re calling Spark of Genius. Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark, each post showcases a promising new software company, and finds the unique feature that separates it from the competition.

We’re so grateful to Ben Parr for his outstanding write-up of our service, and to the entire Mashable team for seeing the value we have to offer!

1. Discover where the fish are. Have you ever heard the sales quote, “Fish where the fish are”? It means that in order to get a successful return on your marketing and advertising efforts, you need to be delivering your message to people that will respond positively (people that respond negatively, or don’t respond at all, are not “fish”). If you’re not tracking the response to your advertising (where leads are coming from, how many from each source, etc.), then how will you know where your advertising is effective and where it isn’t? The answer: you won’t. This is why it is so important to have a system in place for effectively tracking renter leads.
2. Be prepared when you contact leads. Which scenario do you think is more effective? The answer should be obvious:
   a) A potential renter sends you an email saying they are interested in the property they saw advertised, not mentioning address, unit, or location. They have no idea that you are also advertising 20 other properties at the same time. You call them back, but get their voicemail. You leave a message asking which property they are interested in and request a call back. The lead receives the message, but doesn’t remember the address or where they saw the ad. They either call you back and you play phone-tag for who knows how many days, or they don’t call back at all.
   – OR –
   b) Every rental advertisement you place has a unique email address assigned to it. When a potential renter sends you an email inquiry about a property you’re advertising, you’ll know exactly which one they’re interested in. You can call or email the lead back prepared, ready to close the lease in no time.

So, are you tracking your renter leads effectively? Are you fishing where the fish are? Are you calling leads back prepared? We hope so.

So you may be asking yourself “what steps should I take to rent my house”.  Let us now take a close look at all that is involved when a homeowner finds him or herself facing a vacant house. Besides going through the closing transaction of (depending on the particular circumstances) refunding or retaining the security deposits which were submitted when the tenants first signed their rental contract / lease / agreement, landlords must also:

• Inspect the unit for anything that is broken, that is missing and that is damaged.
• Fix anything that is broken, mend anything that is damaged and replace anything that is missing.
• Put on a fresh coat of paint.
• Perform a thorough cleaning.
• Possibly add renovations to increase the value of the newly vacant unit and the entire property.

Following are the most frequently used methods for advertising your house rental:

Internet. In today’s hi-tech world, everybody turns to the Internet for commerce, for information and so on. It’s important to get your house rental on as many rental directories as possible. RentShout.com is a service that can help you with this.

“For Rent” signs. Posting signs in front of your house is an advertising option that is time-proven as it’s been around for many years. It is easy, it is virtually cost free and it works because many potential renters like to drive around neighborhoods to scope out the community and will, inevitably, be alert by such signs.

Box with flyers. Print up informative rental flyers and place them in a box attached to a post in front of your house.

Bulletin boards. Posting flyers on communal bulletin boards at supermarkets, colleges and other public places has proven to be very effective and very inexpensive.

Referrals. Acquiring potential tenants through referrals from friends, relatives and existing tenants usually results in very successful.

Submitting ads. Submitting ads in the classified sections of local and national newspapers may involve a substantial expense but it will widen the pool of applicants.

The website and complimentary social network is packed with resourceful links, informative blog posts, real-world advice, and smart talk from property managers across the nation. Perhaps the most valuable offering that LTPM makes is the ability to connect with other property managers, hear their stories, share your struggles, and learn from one another’s successes and failures

As a quote on the site by Margaret Mead so perfectly states,

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Our team at RentShout will continue to seek out new partnerships with high-quality sites in order to deliver the best and broadest online exposure for rental listings. Find out more about our new syndication partners from their websites, or check out our social media release. Best wishes for your online rental advertising success!

Given budget constraints, Malibu and many other cities with similar laws view the tax as a source of needed revenue.
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Joe is a renter looking for a new place to live in New York City. He starts out like most renters by searching online for “Apartment Rental in New York”, which yields 26.5 million results. This gives Joe lots to choose from, including rental websites and search directories, which is a great place to start. But now he wants to see the most recent results, as well as make sure he can actually see the apartment before contacting the property manager. With Google’s new search options, Joe can narrow down his apartment search by choosing to see only the most recent results that have video included.

RentShout believes strongly that a comprehensive online rental marketing strategy is the best way to reach as many renters as possible, right where they’re looking. Some renters search online rental websites, some use more generic search directories, and some search in Google and other search engines. Your rental listings should be in as many places online as possible!

According to property managers from several states, the availability of high-end properties as rentals has forced them to take a closer look at prospective tenants before turning over the keys. Read Full Story >>

If you visit their homepage today, you just might see us there, otherwise, you can read the full story here anytime. We’d like to extend a special thanks to Erika Schnitzer, Associate Editor for MHN Online, for a great interview and write-up!