Property management marketing has two jobs that pull in different directions. One is winning owners: investors and landlords who hire a manager to look after their homes or buildings. The other is filling units: reaching renters quickly when a home comes free. A plan has to do both, and the second job brings rules of its own.
Marketing For Realtor is an independent referral service, not a marketing agency. When you send the form, your details go to an independent marketing agency that prepares any proposal and does any work.
Winning owner clients
Owners search for a manager the way anyone searches for a service: by place and by need. They look for a firm that manages homes like theirs, in their area, and that explains clearly what it does.
- A clear services page for each kind of property you manage, such as single-family homes, small multifamily or condos, with what is included.
- Area pages for the places you manage, each with something real to say. Google’s spam policies treat many near-identical city pages that funnel to one page as doorway abuse.
- An owner inquiry form that asks the address, the type of property and what the owner wants.
- Owner newsletters with market notes and reminders, sent under the CAN-SPAM rules: a valid physical postal address, a clear opt-out and opt-outs honored within 10 business days.
Your Google Business Profile
Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity, and there is no way to pay for a better local ranking. Keep your profile complete and accurate, under your real business name with no added keywords. Keep your office address on the profile; if you also serve owners and renters at their properties, Google lets you enter both your address and a service area.
Reviews from owners and renters
Ask owners and renters for honest reviews and offer nothing for them. Google’s policy bans incentives for reviews and asking only happy customers; the FTC’s rule on consumer reviews bans fake reviews and incentives for reviews that must be positive, and bars managers and officers from reviewing their own business without disclosing it.
Filling units: rental ads and Fair Housing
The federal Fair Housing advertising rule (24 CFR 100.75) covers ads for the “sale or rental of a dwelling”. It makes it unlawful to publish an ad that indicates any preference, limitation or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin. Its examples include the words and photographs used and the choice of media or locations for ads, so it reaches listing text, photos, social posts and ad audiences.
- Describe the home: the rooms, the features, the location, the rules of the property that apply to everyone.
- Avoid words that point to a kind of renter or a kind of household.
- Use the same words and the same process for every applicant.
- Check your state’s and city’s rules too; they may add more. Ask a lawyer for a legal question.
Where rental ads go
Rental listings usually go on your own site, on rental listing sites and on social media. Put every vacancy on your own site first, with full photos and an application path, and link to it from everywhere else. The renter who applies through your site is the one whose details you hold.
What to ask a property management marketing agency
- Will you market to owners, to renters, or both?
- Who checks rental ads against the Fair Housing rule?
- Will the website, the domain and the ad accounts be in our name?
- How do owner inquiries and rental applications reach us?
- How will you report on each audience?
Many of the tools are the same as for sales agents: a strong website, SEO, email and advertising.
Want marketing for owners and renters? Get a written proposal.
Questions agents ask
Does the Fair Housing Act apply to rental ads?
Yes. The federal advertising rule (24 CFR 100.75) covers ads for the sale or rental of a dwelling. State and city rules may add more; for a legal question, ask a lawyer.
How do property managers find new owner clients?
Common routes are search, referrals from agents and owners, and a site that explains clearly what the firm does in each area it serves. A complete Google Business Profile helps owners find you locally.
Should we use a service area instead of our office address?
Keep your office address on your Google Business Profile. If you also serve customers at their properties, Google lets you enter both your address and a service area.
Does this site manage property or market it?
No. Marketing For Realtor is an independent referral service, not a marketing agency. When you send the form, your details go to an independent marketing agency that prepares any proposal and does any work.
Request a proposal