Take advantage of 60 days notice.

I know it sounds elementary, but I have found at least for my area, it really isn't.

I'm going to give this one more try before I TOTALLY scrap the idea.

I just received 60 days notice from a tenant who will be moving.

The "idea" I'm going to try again before scrapping totally is advertising early.

I have yet to have the benefits of early advertising come to fruition.

I've had lots of wasted time, tire kickers, list keeping, calling prospects back and having them already found a place or they don't even have the same phone number anymore, blah blah blah.

I really think that people looking for rentals are the spur of the moment type and not the "planning out 2 months from now" type.

Honestly, I really do not like advertising early, because of past results.

But why require a notice if we aren't going to do anything with it?

How do I get a good one on the hook NOW who ready to move in 2 months????

So far it's a unicorn.

WMH, you seem to have it mastered and even though your market is hotter than mine for sure, I'm hoping to learn something here.

However, haha, this is it! If I can't get it to work this time, I'm not doing it again.

A couple reasons other than wasting my time is that prospects don't seem to understand "Available soon" and I really feel that it stagnates your advertising. Especially if it doesn't rent for that time leading up to the vacancy and then you end up sitting empty.

Depending on the condition of the apartment (if they aren't "clean" and tidy then I have a HUGE discussion with them and tell them they need to get it presentable). Then try again. If it's "dirty" or whatever - the prospective tenants are not going to be interested. The last few weeks prior to them moving is usually a "waste of time" because they are boxing things up and my experience is that the prospectives just can't get past "the mess".

I don't take names and numbers and I don't/won't "call them back". I also list it as "available on xx/xx/xxxx". I don't say "available soon".

The only difference is that when you have a discussion with them make sure you ask "when are you looking to move in" because many don't "see" that it isn't available now ... and that's when they want to move in. That way you aren't wasting your own time.

I've done it and had it worked (no vacancy and an "easy flip") and I've had it where it takes another month AFTER it's vacant to fill (or more - depending on the timing).

I wouldn't NOT do it - have them fill out an application and get them to AT LEAST do a HOLD FEE if not signing the lease and paying your move in money. Make sure your hold fee is high enough to make them not want to just walk away.

I have mine set at the SD amount and as long as they pay the remaining amount owed to move in and take the apartment on or by the agreed upon date - then the FEE goes towards the amount owed. If they do not then it stays a FEE and I "thank them" for wasting my time but at least I get another month of income.

NE, advertising early is worthwhile. But you cannot have the mindset that you have wasted your time in the event that they don’t sign a lease.

The person who looks early for available rentals won’t be hurried, they manage their lives so that events are seldom urgent.

I have people calling my signs and ads that are in leases until June or July right now. They have to give 60 days notice, so they are looking now to sign for something.

I do a holding fee agreement of one month's rent, and once they are ready to move in, they just need to provide the move in fee ($300 for my places). If they don't choose to move in, I'm not out that month's rent, just have place not filled that I can continue marketing.

NE, Sisco's advice is good. I recommend following it.

I have one more tid-bit. The first question I always ask a prospect, in pre-screening and on the application, is "When are you going to move?"

NE, I need to start 60 days out because 90% won't qualify in the first place, so a lot of culling of the prospects.

And the responsible tenants out there (my targets) who actually will give proper notice to current landlords can't do it less than 30 days out, so to move in May 1st, they have to give notice by end of March, right? So if I start showing in April for a May 1st vacancy, I have put up a road block to some of the better tenants.

So...with 60 days...I spend a good two weeks sometimes just gathering enough "possibles." Then I schedule a showing day or two for all of them. One weekday and one weekend, usually, or more if current Resident's schedule works with that.

By the end of (in this case, March) I want to have accepted a HOLDING FEE on the place. The Holding Fee is the same amount of the Security Deposit, and it doesn't go into escrow account until they have completed applications, background, credit, etc AND signed the lease. Once all that is done (which as you know doesn't take very long these days) then the HOLDING FEE converts to the Security Deposit and goes into the trust account. First month's rent is due prior to occupancy.

I tell current tenants, "The sooner I get it rented, the sooner I can stop showing and you can on with your lives." 99.9% of the time, very cooperative.

NE,

I bumped up to requiring 60 days notice

-because I can

-it helps me plan

-seldom do they move out exactly WHEN they stated

-legally I can charge them for 2 full months of rent if they skip PLUS the ELT

-very few of our move outs are planned. Most are quick due to life changes, not going to competition.

-I can negotiate back down to 30 and look like I'm giving them a huge break

I do not advertise occupied homes more than '4 Bedroom Coming Soon' because people are flaky on move out timing and I never know what it will look like.

We DO promote APPLY NOW to be pre-approved fro the next available home.

We require 60 days notice and I send a reminder to tenants 75 days in advance of their lease end date.

I don't require 60 day notice. My lease specifies 30 days, but I have never gotten upset if I get only 5 day notice. I do get upset by the midnight sneak-offs, however.

I do not advertise until the property is ready to show. With 60 day notice, what I am going to do for the first 55 days? I don't need 2 months to line up labor/sub-contractors/materials, to meet with an interior designer to discuss color schemes and new fixtures. I like a couple of days advance notice to make sure I have everything ready to go -- sometimes I run low on signs so I might need to get my printer to run off a new batch. But even if I want to do some roofing work or replace some rotten facia boards or ... that just requires a trip to Home Depot after the place is returned to me.

Mike, 60 days on a house needing rehab is one thing. 60 days on a house where the tenants have taken excellent care of the place is another, as they will move out and leave the space "ready to occupy" per their lease...but even with a rehab situation, 60 days gives us time to plan, order stuff online, put together a purchase order for the bid desk at Home Depot, etc.