Are you a landlord or property manager who’s trying to rent out an apartment as soon as possible? It’s far harder to rent out apartments in the colder months, so you might discover that your standard marketing tactics are no longer enough to keep potential tenants fighting for your rentals.
One thing that you should do when you’re struggling is to stage an apartment. Staging an apartment is a great way to attract new potential tenants and encourage them to apply after a brief walk-through.
But how can you stage an apartment to appeal to your ideal tenants? We’re here to talk about it.
Keep reading for a few apartment staging tips to get you started.
First: Consider Your Ideal Tenants
Before you start staging your apartments for rent, make sure that you know your target audience. What types of people tend to rent in your neighborhood? What do those people need?
If you live close to a college, it’s likely that you’re going to attract college students. They’ll either live by themselves or with several college-age roommates. What do those people want when they’re looking at an apartment?
You should make sure that bedrooms are staged for adults. Make sure that the living room looks roomy and that there’s obvious space for several adults to cohabitate.
If you’re trying to attract small families, your priorities will be different. Consider setting one room up as a nursery or child’s bedroom. You may want to include several small toys.
Keep It Simple
There’s no need to go overboard when you’re staging an apartment. As a matter of fact, simplicity is often the best choice.
Many landlords opt for minimalistic styles. They use monochromatic furniture, keep simple art on the walls, and don’t include anything “extra” aside from necessary furniture and basic decorations.
This allows people to see the apartment as a blank slate while still seeing how furniture will look in it.
If you’re staging the apartment while a tenant is still there, make sure that they hide any clutter for the photos and walk-throughs. You can use standard furniture while staging as long as it looks tidy.
Don’t Sacrifice Livability
While keeping it simple is important, you shouldn’t sacrifice livability for simplicity. But what does that mean?
In a competitive market, you can leave an apartment completely blank and still attract potential tenants. Some tenants actually prefer the blank space.
That said, many people want to be able to picture themselves living in an apartment (especially people with children). They want to see comfortable furniture and a relaxing environment.
You shouldn’t go overboard with personal items or inconvenient furniture, but make the apartment look like someone could actually live there.
Brighten Up the Rooms
While it’s tempting to use dim and cozy lighting, most of your photos should be as bright as possible. We don’t mean that you should up the brightness while editing the photos. Instead, make the room itself bright and inviting.
Most people won’t use bright lights all the time in their homes, so why would you use them while you’re staging?
You want the apartment to look as large as possible. Bright colors and excess light make rooms look larger (and thus more appealing to most renters). You can also use mirrors to bounce light around the room and make the effect more pronounced.
Extra lights also help prospective tenants get a better idea of what the apartment actually looks like.
Decorating for the Season: Yes or No?
As we approach the holiday season, you might be wondering whether or not it’s appropriate to stage the apartment with decorations. There are pros and cons to this.
On the positive side, decorations will make your apartment look more festive. People may like to see a simple Christmas tree or some lights set up in an apartment and it will feel “warmer.”
Adding holiday decorations is also an easy way to add more pizazz to an apartment without using personal items.
That said, if you want to be able to re-use your apartment photos, or you don’t rent out the apartment until after the holiday season is over, the decorations aren’t a great idea. They’ll make the apartment look dated.
You also have to remember that not everyone celebrates the same winter holidays. Because you want people to envision themselves inside the apartment, this could present a problem.
Don’t Forget Outdoor Spaces
Does the apartment have any outdoor spaces that the tenants can access? Make sure to include them in your apartment staging strategies!
If the apartment has a patio or balcony, even adding some string lights and a few pieces of outdoor furniture can make a huge difference. It lets people envision what they would do with that outdoor space if they were to rent the apartment.
If you’re staging for families and there’s a large outdoor space, consider putting up a few outdoor play areas.
Staging your outdoor areas might seem unimportant, but it could be what finally convinces a potential tenant to send in an application.
It’s Fun to Stage an Apartment for Rent
Apartment staging isn’t as tricky as it seems on paper.
Remember, your goal is to let potential tenants see themselves in your apartment. Stage an apartment for rent the right way by keeping things minimal and livable, using bright lights, staging outdoor spaces, and considering the actual tenants that you plan to bring in.
Start looking at local furniture rental companies to start assembling your perfect staged apartment today!
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