When you have a vacant (or soon-to-be-vacant) unit, you need to get new tenants in there, and that means having showings. But what’s the best way to show your property? An open house or individual showings?
I’ll go out on a limb by saying the best way is to have individual showings. But even so, I always hold an open house instead.
Open houses are my preferred way to rent a property.
Do I purposely want to sabotage myself? No. I prefer open houses because that’s what works for me. I’ll tell you my experiences and what I’ve learned, and you can decide for yourself which to do.
Why I don’t like individual showings
When I listed my first rental property, I scheduled individual showings. Guess what happened? Some people didn’t show up.
Scheduling individual showings became a huge waste of time for me, not to mention the process was becoming discouraging, even demoralizing.
I would drive to the property and wait. Since the house was vacant, I would usually lean against the kitchen counter or sit on the floor. When enough time would go by, I would realize I had been stood up. Then, head hanging with disappointment, I would get back in my car and go home. Not a pretty picture and one I don’t intend to repeat.
It’s true that some people did show up when they said they would, but this process was becoming long, drawn out, and inefficient. I found a much better method … holding an open house.
What’s great about open houses
Holding an open house lets everyone who’s interested in the property see it at once. This is great for landlords for several reasons:
- You typically need to have only one or two open houses before you get a tenant.
- There’s excitement and buzz created when lots of people are interested in the property.
- Prospective tenants tend to get their application in immediately (or very soon) after the open house once they see that others are interested in the property.
- If the current tenants are still in the property, you’re disturbing them as little as possible when you combine many individual showings into one or two open houses.
Cons of open houses
Remember I said the best way to show a property is by holding individual showings? Here’s why:
- Individual showings allow you to spend quality time with each prospective tenant. You can give them a personal tour, pointing out all the best qualities of the property. You can’t do that when you have multiple people looking at once.
- There’s a risk of theft when many people are coming through the property at the same time.
- Some potential applicants won’t apply, thinking there is too much competition.
- Not all applicants will be available to attend the open house.
So individual showings work better ... in theory. But not so much in reality. If everyone shows up when they say they will, and if you can schedule all your showings back-to-back, it would be great. But I’ve yet to have that happen. So open houses work better for me, and I have answers to any drawbacks.
8 tips to have a successful open house
1. Visit the property first
If the property is vacant, take care of any problems at this time to get the place move-in ready. If the property is occupied, assess whether it’s in showable condition. If the place is messy and smells bad, wait until it’s vacant and clean before holding an open house.
2. Show up 15 to 30 minutes before the open house This gives you time to prepare the property. Make sure everything is neat and clean, and that the property smells good.
3. Have applications ready
I typically send everyone who’s interested in the property a link to the online application. That way, they have the application in case they wish to apply after the open house. Some applicants apply first and then view the open house. Either way works well. If you use paper applications, make sure you bring enough for people to fill out during the open house.
4. Bring someone with you
I always bring at least one person with me to open houses. All my properties are 2-story houses, so I stay downstairs, and the person I bring stays upstairs. This lets us keep an eye on the entire property, helping ensure nothing gets taken.
5. Make yourself available for questions
When people come in, I invite them to look around, and I let them know that someone is upstairs as well. I prefer to answer all questions myself, since the person I bring might not know the answers. I make myself available to answer questions either before or after people have viewed the property. This works almost as well as giving individual tours.
6. Be willing to work with potential applicants
For people who are hesitant to apply because they fear there’s too much competition, I tell them I can contact them in 24 hours to let them know how many people applied. That helps some people decide whether they wish to apply or not.
7. Schedule two open houses
Set up one open house during the week in the early evening and one during a weekend afternoon. This schedule accommodates the most applicants. If an applicant can’t come to either open house, suggest they send someone over to view the property for them. I’ve rented a property this way. The representative FaceTimed the applicant, asked me questions, recommended the property, and the friend applied.
8. Make a time limit for accepting applications
I usually accept applications for 48 hours after the last open house. At that time, I stop taking new applications, look over the applications I received, and choose the best applicant based on factors I set up ahead of time, such as ability to pay, background check, credit score, and recommendations.
9. Create an attractive listing
Remember that before you host an open house, you have to have prospective tenants. Spending time and effort on your listing can attract quality renters that you might otherwise miss. When you list with Apartments.com, your property will also show up on all twelve of our network sites, reaching millions of monthly visitors. Make sure to highlight special features of your rental and upload high quality photos.
Bottom Line
When you need to get your property rented, do what works best for you. Having individual showings can work well, but so can open houses if you do them right.
