Advertising Vacancies: How Far in Advance?

[Perry]

I'm curious to know of others' experiences and views
on this. The hypothetical 'scene' I'm setting has no
nasty issues involved. Simply, tenant says I'm leaving
on xx date - some four weeks away: end of FTT.

1. Advertise 1 week out?
2. 2 weeks out?
3. 3 weeks out?
4. Advertise now?

And what are the reasons for any preference? What
past experiences indicated that one option was not
as good as another & why?

[flyernzl]

What I'd do:
Make sure departing tenant gives notice in writing.
Carry out a property inspection inside and outside ASAP. Make a written list of what needs to be done prior to the relet.
Get the outside work done as soon as possible.
Advertise the property when the outside work has been completed - say two weeks prior to becoming vacant.
Give prospects the address so they can drive past. Then they will know the location, rental cost and what it looks like. If they are seriously interested they then phone you back.
Try and talk the sitting tenant into having an 'open home' say one evening or one weekend afternoon. Your qualified prospects can all attend that at the same time. You can explain to them what (if any) work will be done on the property prior to the relet.

Hopefully, at that point, someone will sign up. After the remedial work, they move in.

One of my minor delights using the above sequence was to have one tenant move out of a house at 11am and the new tenant move in at midday.

Of course if the house is a real disaster, you would need to have the major work done after the tenant has departed and prior to advertising the vacancy. Try and not let this happen. My goal is to have all my properties maintained to the point where no more than one week would be necessary.

[Perry]

Some good pointers and some that may be dependent
on the circumstances. A professional carpet shampoo,
perhaps a commercial stove cleaner ($60-00?), and
one or two other tweaks - yes.

It was the pros and cons of how-far-in-advance notice
that had me pondering.

Despite the nice part of in and out on the same day,
past experience with some of mine indicates that a day
or five between tenancies isn't too bad a thing. The
carpet gets to dry fully after shampooing, (important
in winter) and the sprayed weeds get a change to shrivel
closer to being invisible, etc.

A large plus is that the place is spick and span when
being inspected, as well as when the new tenancy starts,
creating (I hope!) the impression that's how it should be
kept - with luck!

[muppet]

Hi Perry

I would advertise as soon as possible.

The tenant you choose may have to give two weeks notice at their present place of residence before moving into your place.
So there is two weeks gone.

Regards

[Niall]

Hi Perry,


I advertise within a week of notice being given. I try to start marketing on a Tuesday to get a good lead up for a Friday Open Home.

The majority of tenants need to give notice to present landlord. So early showing gives them time to give notice.

However If it has not let at first Open Home, I take it off Trademe and leave at least another week. I find that when an add is live for over a week it gets stale and does not get any enquiries. I tested this by leaving adds on after they were let just to guage the response.

*I Advertise for short period early on (about one month before vacancy)
*I dont give street number or a property visual on add
*I readvertise about 2 weeks before vacancy again
*Start throwing in a weeks free rent or sky if not let in the last week. (I have never had a last minute letting so have not had this kind of panic)

All the best,

Niall

[Keys]

*Start throwing in a weeks free rent or sky if not let in the last week. (I have never had a last minute letting so have not had this kind of panic)

Niall

This reeks of overcommittment.

You should be able to stand several weeks empty. If you can't then you need to take measures.

I had desperate times at the start when I needed my rental full. I'll never go there again.

[xris]

I had desperate times at the start when I needed my rental full. I'll never go there again.

Hello keys,

I sometimes like the way you talk, the above being a good example of this.

xris

[Monid]

I was going to say get a room you two, but then seeing as your avatars are an old man and a child perhaps that wouldn't be appropriate...

Cheers
David

[Green Fish]

No problem: I'm going to jump in with the pair of them.

I don't do anything until the old tenant has gone. Even then, I'll spend a couple of days reaquainting myself with the place and deciding whether any work needs to be done. Not so easy if there's a mortgage to pay, I accept. However, I don't believe a landlord should do his sums on the basis that he will get 52 weeks of rent per annum. Got to assume at least 2 weeks without rent.

[Perry]

All interesting perspectives.

Of course, trying to get the place ship-shape,
while the normal chaos of moving out goes on
with the old tenant is quite a challenge.

Over a period of time, I have found that some
time empty is both tolerable and advisable. The
place is shiny-clean and presents well, because
of not having to see past the packing boxes of
the departing tenant.

The biggest snag with that is the notice thing,
as several have adroitly observed.

It does seem to be a matter in which there can
be no right and wrong way.

[cube]

Hi Perry

I would advertise as soon as possible.

The tenant you choose may have to give two weeks notice at their present place of residence before moving into your place.
So there is two weeks gone.

Regards

If they say that they have to give two weeks notice, I'd be reluctant to take them on!

Tenants have rights and responsibilities and a short notice period may indicate that the LL has asked them to move out quickly (illegally) because they are a pain, or they are about to shaft their current LL with short notice!

cube

[Green Fish]

Good point, cube.

If I've found a good tenant (or, rather, if I think I've found a good tenant) then I offer them a one week overlap. So the tenant ends up renting two properties for one week, and I lose two weeks rent.

[artemis]

I've tried advertising on the free sites as soon as notice is given, with future open home and availability dates. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but in practice I collected a large number of emails from people all round the world who might or might not be in Wellington on the open home date, and who seemed to need to keep in touch with me regularly by email.

Have occasionally done open homes before the departing tenant has gone, though always a bit nervous about their belongings. Mixed results.

Best option now would be - free sites with photos no more than a week before the open home. Advertise the open home on the day (Saturday).

PS Gumtree produced a fair few results but most were from overseas or out of Welly.

[Bodmin]

In most cases I have shown people through within a week of the current tenant giving notice. I use the Open Home technique to minimize impact on the current tenant.

In one case this meant showing potential tenants through a damaged house.. Some could not see past the damage but others were practical types and were able to see past the damage. The chosen ones in this case were the best tenants we have had.

Cheers

[Glen]

I'm curious to know of others' experiences and views
on this. The hypothetical 'scene' I'm setting has no
nasty issues involved. Simply, tenant says I'm leaving
on xx date - some four weeks away: end of FTT.

1. Advertise 1 week out?
2. 2 weeks out?
3. 3 weeks out?
4. Advertise now?

And what are the reasons for any preference? What
past experiences indicated that one option was not
as good as another & why?

Just to clarify, you mean that the tenant is wanting to break the FTT part way through, and not to just vacate at the end of their agreement?