Property Management In Colorado Springs, CO - Advertising A Rental Property- Photos

Some people think all you have to do is put a sign in the front yard, post and ad in the American Classifieds, and sit back while all the prospective tenants beat down your door to rent your home.  Unfortunately its not quite that easy.  The internet has taken place of print advertising.  A sign is a great idea and attracts a lot of attention for a small price but when you use a sign make it look nice or you could scare off potential tenants who think it's a scam.

When placing online rental ads for your property there are many things to consider.  Most importantly you need accurate information about the home, pet policy, restrictions on smoking, and your qualifications.  You need high resolution wide angle photos that are recent and accurately depict the home.  Many tenants rent sight unseen so it's important to portray the property as accurately as possible to limit any surprises when a tenant sees the home for the first time.

You can access a few of our ads here http://www.muldoonassociatespm.com/rental_listings we are constantly updating the property photos to high res wide angle photos.  You can see the difference in some of the ads between the standard angle and wide angle photos.  If you are trying to advertise the property on your own and you don't have a property manager you can hire a photographer for about 75 dollars to do this for you.  If you are a property manager you should purchase a digital SLR camera and an adjustable 10mm wide angle lens.  You will need a high quality flash to go with this.  Plan on spending around 1000 dollars for a decent set up.  I don't recommend fish eye style lenses because they distort the rooms too much and make the photos look odd.

When taking photos make sure your lighting is sufficient, close all the doors in each room and turn on all the light fixtures.  Make sure all light bulbs are in working order and open or close the blinds as needed to create the proper lighting.  Take photos from different angles and use the flash in different ways to produce the best photographs for your home.  Make sure you include a front photo and interior photos of all rooms.  I prefer sunny photos for the exterior so if it's a snowy day when you take the initial photos make sure to update the photo with a sunny pic when the weather permits.  Try to include as much of each room as possible when taking photos so prospective tenants get a good feel for the home.

Staging your home for photos can be useful.  I like when properties are vacant because it helps me visualize the size and layout but some people prefer some type of staging.  This is up to you.  Just make sure to have photos without a lot of clutter or distasteful images or furniture.

Since this post is running longer than expected I'm going to stop here and start again next week on where to place your ads and more specifics on what should be included in the ad.  See you next week!!