5 places to list your rental property for free

It used to be that you put a “For Rent” sign on the front lawn and hoped for the best; and posting an ad in the local paper was the most efficient way to spread the word about a vacant unit.

Today, the options are endless, and it’s the easiest it’s ever been to promote rental listings for free. There are plenty of sites where you can post your listings, drastically improving your chances of finding prospective renters. However, not every option will be the right fit. You might find that one method drives a ton of quality inquiries, while another fills your inbox with spam, and yet another gets single-digit hits each week. The good news is that since these options are free, you can test out exactly what works for your business.

#1: Leverage Your Own Website

Always promote your listings on your own website first, and work on keeping your website up-to-date. Your website can either draw customers in or push them away; so if your website still looks like it did in 1999, it could be time for an upgrade. You want your website to be mobile-friendly, easy for visitors to navigate, and easy for you to update. The better your website, the more people will visit it, and the higher up it’ll appear in search results.

#2: Create an Email List

Creating an email list gives you direct, ongoing access to a whole pool of prospects who might be interested in your property. When you list properties on your website, you can include a subscription link where people can enter their email addresses to receive updates about current and future vacancies. For property managers and owners with smaller portfolios, you can send out individual listings to your mailing list as they come up. For those with larger portfolios, you could send out a monthly newsletter that advertises available units.

For prospects who become renters, a monthly newsletter can also be a great way for property managers to build a resident community and keep renters in the loop.

#3: Use Free Rental Listing Sites

As we mentioned earlier, there’s a multitude of sites where you can market your rental listings for free. After you update your own website, you can decide which of the following sites makes the most sense for posting your vacancies:

Like mentioned before, there are a lot of places online where you can post your listing. After you update your own website, you can work down this list of places to advertise vacancies, figuring out which ones work best for you:

• Apartment Finder
• Apartment List
• Apartments.com
• Craigslist (plus, read our tips for advertising listings on Craigslist!)
• Hotpads
• Lovely
• Oodle
• PadMapper
• Rentdigs
• Rentberry
• Trulia
• TurboTenant.com
• Zillow
• Zumper

#4: Post on Social Media

When it comes to promoting your listings on social media, having a strong presence comes in handy. However, even if you don’t have a large following, putting up a listing won’t hurt. The beauty of social media is that people may share your post, giving it a life of its own with little work on your part.

While you’re at it, we recommend posting regularly on your social media pages even when you don’t have a listing to promote. Try to create a resident community and share fun things about your properties to get your business in front of a larger audience.

#5: Advertise in Your Neighborhood

Posting your listing offline is still effective because sometimes, people who are looking for an apartment are right under your nose. If you don’t promote offline, nearby neighbors who are on the lookout for a new place might not know that you have anything available. Sometimes, it’s the simplest things that get the maximum results. So, keep putting up “For Rent” signs around the block and posting ads at local businesses.

Do you have any tips on how to advertise rental property for free? Share your advice in the comments below!