As of December 2025, about 85% of renters report using online rental listing sites to find their next apartment and home. In other words, we’re far from the days when a simple ‘for rent’ sign posted out front cut it for listing marketing.

Besides helping you reach more prospective renters, many rental listing sites offer additional benefits and helpful tools. For example, some conduct tenant screening to help you spot red flags. Others generate and manage rental applications in-house to keep you organized. And the best options do all this and more. All-in-one property management tools with built-in rental advertising help you run your rentals even after you’ve signed the lease.

With so many listing sites on the market, many landlords wonder where to post rental listings. Read this before you list your house for rent in 2026. Here’s a guide to the best rental listing sites, along with pro tips, common mistakes to avoid, and why TurboTenant is the go-to for top landlords.

Rental Application Fraud is Changing How Landlords Think About Marketing

Before we get into the different platforms, let’s talk about an important shift we’re seeing in the 2026 market. As rental listing sites become more popular, application fraud is more common and harder to spot than ever before. With AI-generated documents that look increasingly authentic, and sophisticated tools for altering records, landlords need better systems to safeguard their investment and verify online renter leads.

As a result, the goal isn’t getting more applications. Today, it’s all about quality. It’s better to get applicants from honest, qualified renters and avoid ‘bad actors’ and fraud attempts. Because rental listing sites all offer different tools and capabilities, many landlords are factoring fraud prevention and tenant screening into their decision-making process.

The 14 Best Places to List Rental Properties Online in 2026

Let’s run through the leading websites to list property for rent in 2026:

1. TurboTenant

As an all-in-one property management software, TurboTenant offers a robust set of tools that help landlords run their entire business: from rental advertising to tenant screening, rent collection, and even maintenance.

When it comes to listing marketing, TurboTenant offers landlords unlimited listings for free. After generating a high-performance listing with professional photography, competitive rents, and listing descriptions, TurboTenant automatically syndicates it across dozens of leading sites, including:

• Redfin,
• HotPads,
• Rent.com,
• Apartments.com,
• Homes.com,
• Apartment List,
• And more.

As a result, you avoid the extra work of creating the same listing across each site, one by one. Once you create the listing, you can easily accept applications and screen tenants from the same interface. Then, TurboTenant can help with everything from generating lease agreements to online rent collection and rental accounting.

Want everything all in one place? Sign up for a free TurboTenant account today!

2. TenantCloud

TenantCloud is another all-in-one property management software platform built to help landlords streamline their operations. Like TurboTenant, you gain listing syndication to many of the same websites, along with the added benefit of property management features like:

• Online leases,
• Digital rent collection,
• Tenant background checks,
• Maintenance and vendor management, and
• Rental applications.

Unlike TurboTenant, TenantCloud offers a myriad of features for both landlords and property managers, including an owner portal and QuickBooks integration. Check out both to understand how each platform can serve you.

3. Rent.com

Owned by Redfin, Rent.com gets over 45 million users every month, making it a great place for high exposure. When you list on Rent.com, it also syndicates to ApartmentGuide and Redfin for additional traffic. Known to be user-friendly, the platform is free, easy to operate, and quick to learn.

There’s also a free rent estimator tool to help you price your units right, built-in tenant screening, and digital applications.

4. Trulia

Owned by Zillow, Trulia is a neighborhood-focused advertising tool. Renters can browse listings by neighborhood and access detailed local insights. Compared to Zillow, the audience is smaller. However, it’s a great addition to your listing marketing lineup because it connects you with renters who are looking into specific communities.

5. HotPads

Also owned by Zillow, HotPads has a great map-based search tool, making it a good option for landlords leasing in large metro areas. Similar to Trulia, HotPads allows landlords to target renters on the neighborhood level. But keep in mind, HotPads doesn’t include any additional tools, such as tenant screening or ongoing management services.

6. Apartment List

Apartment List has nearly 6 million units, making it a highly competitive marketing platform. While standing out may be challenging, Apartment List has unique features that give it an edge, including:

• A rental matchmaker tool that provides personalized renter recommendations,
• AI leasing agents and smart algorithms, and
• 24/7 online tour booking.

If you prefer to stay analog, Apartment List may be too tech-forward for you. Listing a property is free, but landlords pay for successfully initiated tenancies. Because Apartment List requires landlords to have at least 20 units, the cost can become expensive as you grow your business.

7. Zillow Rental Manager

As one of the most popular real estate websites, Zillow Rental Manager has high traffic and a trusted name, which often leads to more applicants. Plus, it offers many all-in-one property management tools, such as:

• Online rent collection,
• Lease signing,
• Online rental applications,
• Tour scheduling, and
• Tenant screening.

In terms of advertising, you may need to pay for premium listings to achieve the best results. Currently, this upgrade costs $39.99 per listing, but it keeps your listing at the top of search results while providing performance metrics.

8. Craigslist

Craigslist is a tried-and-true listing site. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of newer, dedicated platforms, but it’s great for small landlords operating locally. It’s extremely easy to use and free across most of the U.S. If you’re in Boston, Chicago, or New York City, you’ll have to pay a small fee to advertise rental properties.

The main drawback is that Craigslist doesn’t verify users’ identities, which is a major security concern. To offset it, landlords must use their own screening software before accepting rental applications or scheduling tours.

9. PadMapper

As part of the Zumper network, PadMapper is best known for its map-based search feature. It’s easy for landlords to use and convenient for renters looking for listings in a specific region. If you pay for Zumper Pro, PadMapper listings are syndicated to Zumper for better visibility.

However, landlords without Zumper Pro can only list one property for free. And while PadMapper is available across the U.S., it works best in big metros like New York, Chicago, Boston, and Los Angeles.

10. Zumper

Zumper is a solid option for landlords with large rental portfolios. With a paid plan, landlords can market unlimited listings and manage them all through a centralized dashboard. You can also respond to tenant inquiries directly in the app.

However, the most unique feature is Zumper Select, which allows renters to pay a small holding fee to reserve the unit for 24 hours. During this time, landlords can conduct screenings, answer questions, and manage applications. While this option is great for reducing stress, Zumper’s audience is smaller than the other advertising platforms on this list.

11. Apartments.com Rental Manager

As one of the best-known rental marketing sites, Apartments.com offers rental management tools and an easy workflow. Those tools include:

• Online rent collection,
• Tenant communication,
• Tenant screening,
• Online lease agreements,
• Maintenance requests,
• And more.

As it relates to the listing, landlords can include information on whether the unit is pet-friendly and provide a breakdown of utility costs and amenities. Renters can also schedule rental tours, request more information, or submit an application without leaving the website.

Apartments.com syndicates listings across the CoStar Group network, including ForRent.com, ApartmentFinder, and Westside Rentals.

12. Facebook Marketplace

Like Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace also appeals to landlords who want to keep it local. The free service enables instant communication with renters via Messenger, as well as targeted rental advertising.

However, be wary of scams and bots. Similar to Craigslist, there aren’t any security features in place that identify red flags. You’ll need to perform your own tenant screening outside of the app.

13. RentRedi

Realtor.com’s property management software syndicates listings to Zillow and generates shareable links for Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. RentRedi also provides:

• Tenant screening,
• Rental applications,
• Rent collection,
• Maintenance tracking, and
• Accounting.

Everything is available on the mobile app, but the platform’s not free. Currently, plans start at $5/mo and increase depending on the package you choose.

14. Avail

Avail is another property management software. It offers many of the same features you’ll find in its competitors. Those include:

• Rental applications,
• Tenant screening
• Lease agreements
• Online rent collection
• Maintenance tracking, and
• More.

Realtor.com owns it, and it allows landlords to advertise their rentals for free. Avail syndicates across many sites on this list, including Apartments.com, Apartment List, and Zumper. Plus, users access online rent collection tools, digital leasing, and tenant screening.

While the base plan is free, landlords need to upgrade to the paid Unlimited Plus offering to access expedited rent payments and customizable leases. At the time of writing, the plan costs $9/mo per unit.

Key Features on Rental Listing Sites to Prioritize

Remember, not all platforms for posting an apartment for rent are made equal. Before choosing a website, consider its capabilities.

Keep these features in mind to make sure you’re getting what you actually need:

 

The main takeaway? Great rental listing sites don’t just help you market your property. They support the entire leasing process, protect your investment, and help you choose a tenant with confidence.

How to Pick the Right Rental Listing Sites for You

If you’re still wondering, “Where should I list my home for rent?” here’s a quick checklist to narrow down the options based on your specific needs.

• Best all-in-one property management platform: TurboTenant
• Best for hyper-local advertising: Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, Trulia, or HotPads
• Best for landlords with large portfolios: Apartment List or Zumper
• Best for map-based searches: HotPads and PadMapper

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Advertising a Rental Property (And How TurboTenant Helps) 

Once you pick the rental listing sites that align with your goals, avoid these mistakes that can slow down the process or attract the wrong applicants:

Only listing on one website

The more eyes on your listing, the more options you have. Software like TurboTenant that automatically syndicates your listing across multiple high-traffic rental platforms is the easiest way to get exposure.

Using low-quality photos and vague descriptions

Grainy images and non-descript write-ups won’t move the needle. Today’s online renters want to feel excitement, and you need your listing to stand out from the crowd. TurboTenant’s flat-fee property management services include coordinating professional photography and drafting engaging descriptions to create a scroll-stopping listing.

Setting the wrong rent price

Renting too high or too low can actually hurt your chances of finding a tenant that checks all of your boxes. TurboTenant eliminates the guesswork by helping you determine a competitive rent price based on comparable listings in your area.

Being slow to respond

Serious renters don’t want to be left hanging. Getting back to prospective applicants quickly helps keep the ball rolling. TurboTenant’s all-in-one software keeps listings, applications, and messages in one place, making it easier to stay on top of every inquiry.

Skipping tenant screening

Tenant screening is probably the most important part of choosing your next tenant. Mitigating risk starts at the very beginning, and TurboTenant gives you the upper hand. Our software conducts thorough tenant screening, including background checks, income verification, and employment confirmation, within 15 minutes.

And now, TurboTenant Pro users get more advanced tenant screening tools, allowing them to:

• Verify a renter’s income and employment directly from the source.
• Detect fraudulent documents with 99.8% accuracy.
• Make faster, more confident decisions with a clear fraud risk assessment.

Ready to streamline everything from rental advertising to daily management? Sign up for TurboTenant to access the best all-in-one property management software, save time, and stress less.

Rental Listing Sites FAQs 

Vacant units can be a landlord’s nightmare, draining cash fast and sparking sleepless nights. But what if you could turn this stress into success? The key lies in mastering lead generation for rental properties.

Lead generation seems simple enough to define: It’s the process of filling the sales funnel with marketing data. The goal is to achieve broad exposure, precise targeting, and responsive follow-up. If you can accomplish these goals, you’ll save thousands in vacancy costs.

Let’s start with a quick look at the marketing side and wrap up with the essential role of sales automation in the ‘leads-to-leases’ leadgen workflow. Somewhere in the middle is a best practices handoff complete with rental property advertising tips that will fill your pipeline and free up your time.

Six Steps for Lead Generation

Here are the six steps in a typical leads-to-leases process. Steps 1 and 2 are the classic Marketing tasks, while steps 5 and 6 belong to Sales. As a small landlord, you may fill both roles. Steps 3 and 4 are less clear but often reflect strategic planning and resource allocations. Chances are, your sweet spot lies in this middle zone.

1. Analyze: Marketing aggregates national and local data to supply fundamental insights into market trends, pricing, and supply.
2. Enrich: Marketing enhances the data with demographics, SEO keywords, source tracking, and lead scoring criteria.
3. Broadcast: Marketing or Sales publishes listings to rental listing sites, social media, and gets the word out on human networks.
4. Automate: Marketing or sales teams utilize property management software platforms for lead capture and scoring, prompt responses, showing scheduling, and pre-screenings.
5. Nurture: Sales leverages the power of human networks, engages with qualified leads, provides valuable resources, and fosters trust with qualified prospects.
6. Close: Sales seals the deal with attention to detail, easy applications, custom lease generation, and smooth onboarding.

Before real estate professionals ever see it, the matheletes in Marketing have already done their jobs — combining government & industry data (e.g., Census, HUD, MLS, NAHB); then cleansing, enriching, and validating it; and finally segmenting, tagging, and modeling it for use by the downstream teams.

Big rental portals rely on such highly actionable data, as do agencies and consultants. However, with the decline of the City-Data demographic portal, small portfolio landlords lost a significant DIY lead generation tool for their regional/local marketing. As a result, syndication is likely your best bet.

What is lead generation for rental properties?

Lead generation for rentals typically involves online ads, engaging property listings, leveraging the power of social media, professional and community networking, and referral incentives — whatever it takes to reach high-intent renters. But how will you know if you’re succeeding?

Marketing metrics will tell the story — lead conversion rates, cost per lead, leads by source, and response rates. These will tell you which channels are delivering the most qualified prospects. Review your results monthly to discover what works best.

To compete with industry giants, small portfolio rental operations must automate every step, from lead capture to nurturing. Become data-driven in your planning, invest in centralized platforms, and don’t rely on generic approaches.

Why Lead Gen Matters for Landlords

Owners are obvious stakeholders, but property managers and leasing agents are often primary stakeholders in lead generation since it’s part of their compensation. They’re typically the ones who monitor lead quality, respond quickly, regularly audit channel performance, and adjust the spending or marketing methods.

Landlords know effective lead generation for rental properties drives steady occupancy, reliable rental income, and lower vacancy costs. This reduces overall risk, fills units faster, and protects everyone’s investments. A strong pipeline also fuels growth, cushions the company against market shifts, and makes it more competitive in crowded rental markets.

How to Prepare Your Property for High-Quality Leads

Preparation is the key to working leads. Positioning your property to match renter expectations sets the foundation for a successful marketing and leasing strategy. You’ll start by preparing your unit for showings with a clear, professional approach to every detail.

Make Your Unit Rent-Ready

Quality leads are a good start, but first, your property listing must be clear and appealing. Share accurate details, highlight what makes your property special, and use good photos. When your property looks & sounds inviting online, the best prospects will follow.

Gather your lease agreements, disclosures, permits, and verification papers in advance. Make a good first impression by being proactive with prospects. Clearly define your rental expectations so tenants will know their responsibilities, payment terms, and property rules in advance.

Gather Accurate Details, Documents, and Images

First, collect all the essential property information such as address, number of bedrooms & bathrooms, square footage, rent price, and amenities. Complete and accurate details help with search filtering and will make your listing stand out.

Then you need to paint a vivid picture of your property by including professional-grade photos that let prospects imagine themselves living in your rental. Seeing is believing when it comes to any unique features, updated appliances, or appealing outside vistas.

The Basics of Photos and Videos

Take professional photos and videos by flooding rooms with bright, natural midday light. Capture exterior views with appealing ‘golden hour’ shots at sunrise or sunset to make your spaces glow. Use close-ups to highlight stylish details or unique amenities that make your rental stand out from the crowd.

To elevate your marketing approach, aim for a ‘hero shot’ — a single photograph that tells a lifestyle story and gives potential renters a glimpse of what living in your property could be like.

When taking those photos, make sure to declutter thoroughly beforehand. That will help prospects visualize their belongings in place. Clean all surfaces, pull back the curtains, and remove distractions such as cords or personal items. DIY’ers can use wide-angle smartphone camera settings to capture sharp images that make the space look roomy and appealing.

Crop out clutter and adjust brightness, contrast, and color balance. Use simple desktop or phone image editing tools to fine-tune your images. Your goal is to show an authentic, clean, and inviting home front that grabs people’s attention.

Remember: great photos generate more inquiries, faster showings, and a smoother leasing process. A little extra effort can transform a good space into a standout, rent-ready home that closes quickly. It’s a must-have for lead generation in rental properties.

How & Where to Post Your Rental Listing

Choose the platforms that publish listings on many top rental websites. With automated tools like our own TurboTenant property management platform, it’s easy to reach the millions of visitors on sites like Rent.com, Craigslist, and Apartments.com.

Remember, it all starts with a concise and compelling description that mentions its premium touches or convenient location. Visualize your ideal tenant and paint a picture of their satisfied life in your special rental.

Use a Rental Listing Syndication Tool

The right tool means you enter property details once and broadcast them immediately to dozens of top rental sites. Automation will save you hours compared to manual posting, plus your listings update everywhere with just a few clicks.

Automated publishing tools provide maximum exposure to vast pools of potential tenants. That broad exposure is what improves your odds of filling vacancies with your future best tenants.

Centralized feed management is another bonus, allowing you to monitor, analyze, and update listings within a single dashboard. You won’t miss opportunities and can respond instantly while maintaining consistent branding everywhere.

Plus, automation will improve your entire sales workflow. Expect reduced vacancy expenses, real-time application tracking, and a more professional reputation. Simply put, sales automation is the key to high-performance rental marketing campaigns.

Top Listing Sites for Rental Leads 

TurboTenant is a top listing site for rental leads because it syndicates a single listing to each of the following. We utilize these sites to distribute your listing to a massive audience. Then, our automated leadgen follow-up process will easily handle the flood of good leads from platforms like these:

• Apartments.com attracts tens of millions of monthly visitors seeking apartments, condos, townhomes, and single-family homes.
• Craigslist is a longtime classifieds giant, but its mostly manual processes can be daunting without sales automation.
• Dwellsy boasts around 10 million listings across a wide range of property types.
• Realtor.com has a 29% share of the U.S. rental market and offers rental compliance tools, applicant screening, and AI-powered listing descriptions.
• Redfin is a top national housing search site that attracts millions of rental seekers monthly.
• Rent.com attracts millions of monthly visitors and is part of a network that includes Redfin and Apartment Guide.
• Zumper covers residential rentals, from apartments to vacation stays, and boasts more than 178 million annual visits.

Learn more on our detailed Major Syndication Partners page.

Don’t Forget Local and Niche Platforms

Don’t overlook Craigslist just because its listings require so much manual entry and follow-up. Their huge audience warrants the effort, so utilize property management ‘wizards’ that make their listings as fast and hassle-free as possible. TurboTenant takes the manual work out of working with Craigslist.

Nextdoor and Facebook Marketplace listings also can’t be fully automated, but may reach relevant audiences for your rental properties. Again, use powerful tools like TurboTenant to clear the listing hurdles and review your response rates at least quarterly.

How to Optimize Your Listing for Better Tenant Leads

Write listings that use precise, keyword-rich descriptions that highlight amenities and upgrade details. Include compelling photos, clear floor plans, and accurate pricing. Tag the property with location-specific terms, pet policies, and lease incentives to ensure a seamless experience for all parties involved. Update all platforms regularly for better visibility and search hits.

Write a Clear and Engaging Title

Action words and essential details create eye-catching and search-friendly titles. Try combining property type, location, and its strongest features — such as “Modern 2BR Apartment w/ Balcony near Downtown” or “Pet-Friendly Ranch w/ Garage.” Avoid vague adjectives and keep the title short — under 60 characters.

Use SEO-Friendly Descriptions

Write SEO-friendly descriptions using keywords that renters actually search for, such as “pet-friendly,” “in-unit laundry,” or “near public transit.” Match the pulldown menu labels from major listing platforms and use target terms in image filenames and metadata. Prioritize must-have amenities and location-specific features to attract and convert the best tenant leads.

Set a Competitive (and Fair) Rental Price

Research comparable rentals based on location, square footage, neighborhood growth, changes in seasonal demand, and amenities. Don’t set your price too high or too low. Utilize market reports or rent estimate tools to reflect local pricing benchmarks accurately. And don’t let your ad go stale!

Highlight the Best Features First

As they say in Journalism, “don’t bury your lead” — start your listing with your strongest selling points, such as new appliances, spacious layouts, prime location, or pet-friendliness. To capture more eyeballs, mention these in the opening lines, title, and primary images. It works.

How to Use Social Media and Referrals to Your Advantage

Posting property photos and targeted ads on social media platforms isn’t as targeted as on rental portals, but it’s a valuable supplement. Ask current tenants for sincere testimonials that you can share with potential tenants. Word of mouth is probably the most effective form of lead generation for rental properties.

Promote Your Property on Facebook, Instagram, and Nextdoor

Facebook, Instagram, and Nextdoor are also worth considering. Utilize paid ads with targeted geographic and demographic specifications. Regularly update posts, respond promptly to inquiries, and encourage sharing among friends and community members.

Social platforms vary widely in engagement rates, so it’s essential to monitor key metrics, including post impressions, click-through rates, inquiry volumes, and cost per lead. Nextdoor is considered strong for targeting neighbors and local renters, while Instagram favors visual branding.

Tap into Past Tenants and Local Connections

Reach out to past tenants and trusted local contacts and be prepared to offer incentives. Personal recommendations from former renters, friends, and community members typically yield higher-quality leads and can help grow your reputation as a landlord.

Consider a Referral Incentive

Offer current tenants cash bonuses, rent credits, or gift cards for each successful referral that results in a signed lease. Tiered rewards or double-sided incentives for both the referring and new tenant tend to boost participation. But be clear in communicating the program details to avoid misunderstandings.

Tips for Screening Leads Efficiently and Legally

Use standardized forms to pre-screen leads, require online applications, and run background checks. When it comes to lead generation for rental properties, respond promptly, apply fair criteria, and always adhere to local, state, and federal anti-discrimination laws.

Use Property Management Software for Tenant Applications and Screening

Property management software like ours automates tenant applications, screenings, credit & background checks, as well as collecting documents and centralizing communications. The results include quicker decision-making, legal compliance, reduced manual errors, and access to reports from a single dashboard.

Set Up Standardized Pre-Screenings

Effective property management software provides customizable pre-screening forms that collect information on income, employment, rental history, and pet details. With these, you can filter applicants instantly, define consistent selection criteria, and make sure every lead is evaluated fairly and legally.

Use Online Rental Applications and Background Checks

Online rental applications and tenant background checks save time, automate the screening process, and ensure security. Landlords appreciate the organized vetting while applicants value the convenience, privacy, and quick responses. It’s a fix for what has traditionally been an awkward stage of the process.

TurboTenant: Qualified Leads With Less Hassle

Lead generation for rental properties starts with detailed Marketing datasets that are handed off to Sales. If that hand-off isn’t smooth, leads will get lost, follow-up becomes erratic, and too many leads can swamp traditional manual processes. Without sales automation, the wheels can come off.

For landlords, the rental listing stage is often their sweet spot. By combining the best practices listed above with TurboTenant’s powerful automation features, not much can fall through the cracks. You’ll be able to reach and manage the millions of views from our syndication partners, then filter and nurture the strongest leads.

See for yourself — sign up for a free account and publish your first listing within hours. We’ll walk you through the whole process and automate your most time-consuming tasks. Your response times with applicants and tenants should improve dramatically, leaving you more time for your favorite task — signing leases with top tenants.

Lead Generation for Rental Properties FAQs

If you’ve tried to rent your property online, you know what a pain that can be. For DIY landlords, it’s often the toughest task in the ‘patchwork of frustration’ known as their job description. And without the right tools, the process can stumble and fail.

If you’re still using a patchwork of tools — spreadsheets, multiple site logins and email systems, hardcopy forms, manual imports & exports, outsourced services, and ‘cross-your-fingers’ legal compliance — then you’re probably barely treading water in the online marketplace.

Here’s a better way: switch to a single automated system that eliminates all that manual effort and frees up many hours of your workweek. You’ll have much more time for the essentials, including writing better listings, pushing them out to a larger audience, screening applicants, and approving leases with your ideal renters.

How to List Your Property Online

Listing your property online can be both simple & effective, provided you have the right tools. Here’s a best practices workflow:

Choose the Right Property Management Software

Evaluate and choose an automated property management platform that fits your needs. The options range from full-featured and pricey to covering the basics at little or no cost. Choose wisely.

The tightly integrated features of TurboTenant cover all the property management basics, and then some. With more than 800,000 registered users, it’s a de facto standard and a good baseline for comparison. We’ll use its workflow as our case study. Here’s where you’ll start…

Add Your Property Details

First, collect all the essential property information such as address, number of bedrooms & bathrooms, square footage, rent price, and amenities. Complete and accurate details enhance search filtering and will catch the eye of your preferred tenants.

Include clear, high-quality photos that highlight your rental’s best features. Highlight any unique features, updated appliances, or pet policies so your property stands out from the crowd.

Create Your Rental Listing

Write a concise and compelling description that makes your rental sound special; for example, its convenient location or premium touches. Visualize your ideal tenant and paint a picture of their satisfied life in your special rental.

Again, include all essential info, including monthly rent, lease terms, and how to apply. Be transparent and you’ll build trust and encourage honesty in good applicants. The goal is to filter out unqualified applicants and cultivate renters who are a good match for your property.

And if you’re looking for a good place to start, get an assist from TurboTenant’s AI property description feature.

Post Your Rental to Dozens of Listing Sites

Once your listing is complete, take advantage of platforms that publish listings on the top rental websites. With automated tools like TurboTenant, it’s easy to rent your property online by posting to sites like Rent.com, Redfin, and Apartments.com.

The right listing on the right mix of platforms means your rental will reach millions of prospects. That’s what you want: a large crowd of qualified renters to choose from. Then you can be picky and select the best match.

Watch the Leads Roll In

Once your listing goes live, follow up on the inquiries quickly. Your best prospects will be eager to rent, so schedule their tours, answer their questions promptly, and get applications in front of them.

Savvy property owners choose automated tools like TurboTenant to manage their showings and communications efficiently. That’s the vital first step to converting a healthy stream of leads into signed leases and lower vacancy rates.

Where Your Rental Listings Will Appear

Here’s a list of TurboTenant’s major rental syndication partners, the top high-visibility sites you’ll want your listings on.

Apartments.com

Apartments.com receives tens of millions of monthly visits from renters seeking apartments, condos, townhomes, and single-family homes. Listings created with TurboTenant will auto-post directly, and all leads, communications, and screenings are managed in TurboTenant’s unified dashboard.

Craigslist

Craigslist is a giant in listings for apartments, houses, and room shares. Alas, Craigslist doesn’t allow automated postings, so TurboTenant’s wizards walk you through creating an optimized listing for your copy-pasting. All your inquiries will flow back into TurboTenant for easy management.

Dwellsy

Dwellsy delivers exposure on the largest rental marketplace, with 14 million listings ranging from affordable units to unique homes. TurboTenant lists your property on Dwellsy with no fees, and all Dwellsy leads are managed centrally inside of TurboTenant.

Realtor.com

Realtor.com has a 29% US market share and offers powerful features like compliance tools, applicant screening, and AI-powered listing descriptions. TurboTenant integrates simply and seamlessly while managing your property listing end-to-end with its unified dashboard.

Redfin

Redfin is another leading rental search site, attracting millions of prospects every month. TurboTenant easily posts and manages your listings on Redfin, which can then cross-post to its network partners, Rent.com and Apartment Guide. Our dashboard centralizes lead management, applications, and screenings.

Rent.com

Millions of renters also browse Rent.com, another facet of the Redfin network. Again, TurboTenant offers instant, automated listing syndication. All leads, messages, and application activity from Rent.com are unified and actionable, vastly simplifying communications and screenings.

Zumper

Zumper is visited by 75 million renters every year because of its breadth: everything from apartments to rental houses to vacation stays. TurboTenant syncs Zumper listings in real-time via its flexible dashboard that includes support for Zumper’s strong in-platform messaging.

And Many More…

TurboTenant-generated listings also reach many thousands of additional prospects, thanks to the power of cross-posting and industry networks — think Homes.com, ForRent.com, Apartment Finder, ApartmentHomeLiving.com, HotPads, Trulia, StreetEasy, and Rentals.com, to name just a few.

How to Attract Good Renters

Think like a renter and boldly showcase your property. Paint a vivid image of why your property is both comfortable and trustworthy. This kind of transparent, renter-friendly approach will attract tenants who respect your space and pay on time.

Know Your Market and Find the Pricing Sweet Spot

Before listing, research comparable rentals based on location, square footage, and amenities. You don’t want your rent price to be too high (a deterrent) or too low (may not attract your ideal tenants). Use tools like market reports or rent estimates for realistic, localized pricing benchmarks.

To attract the best tenants, avoid headline-grabbing rents and stay flexible. Factor in neighborhood growth, changes in seasonal demand, and amenities. Then, regularly adjust pricing to reflect updates and market trends, and don’t let your ad go stale.

Take High-Quality Listing Photos

Lighting is everything — flood rooms with natural midday light to show the details, including close-ups of noteworthy features. Capture the outdoor views (big windows, yards, balconies) with evocative ‘golden hour’ shots around sunrise or sunset. Make your listing leap off the page.

And don’t forget to declutter first so viewers can imagine ‘their stuff’ in place. Clean all surfaces and pull back the curtains. DIY landlords can use smartphone cameras with wide-angle settings for sharp, professional results. Enhance your photos by cropping or adjusting brightness as needed.

Write a Compelling Property Listing

Make part of your listing a short story that answers the question, “Who thrives here?” Maybe a traveling nurse or a growing family. Mix that story in with the dry essentials of lease terms, price, pet or parking policies, etc.

Steer clear of cliches or generic terms. Instead, highlight recent improvements, neighborhood perks, or the joys of a nearby park. End with a plausible warm tone by extending an invitation to apply, and you’ll soon be scheduling showings with high-quality future tenants.

Post to as Many Trusted Listing Platforms as Possible

To rent your property online, syndication is a must. Expand your reach by simultaneously publishing your rental to as many trusted platforms as possible. That gives you the best odds of attracting renters actively seeking a property just like yours.

Evaluate each platform’s strengths: some excel at apartments or house shares, others draw families or professionals. Keep your profile updated everywhere so prospects can easily find you, and always monitor which sites drive the best leads your way.

Respond Quickly to Leads

Prompt follow-up can seal the deal. When a renter inquires, reply within hours (not days) to demonstrate your reliability. Prompt replies will elevate your reputation for professionalism, which most desirable applicants have as a top priority.

Timely follow-up is challenging, and wise landlords use automated tools or message templates to manage multiple inquiries. Scheduling showings in batches or offering virtual tours can save a lot of time and increase your chances of securing a signed lease and lowering your vacancy rates.

What To Do Once the Leads Start Rolling In 

Respond promptly, maintain professional communication, prioritize applicants who meet your criteria, and guide them throughout the process. Here’s what that looks like in the real world…

Schedule Showings

Let serious prospects schedule property showings at their convenience by using TurboTenant’s integrated tool. Customize your available times and share a booking link to reduce the back-and-forth. Being proactive will limit no-shows, saving everyone time.

Automatic reminders help boost show-up rates and keep appointments organized. Notes and renter details are attached to each slot, so you remember who’s next and avoid paperwork headaches. The process is streamlined, professional, and renter-friendly.

Resource: Scheduling Software for Rental Showings

Send Rental Applications to Interested Parties

After a successful showing, invite interested prospects to complete TurboTenant’s secure online application. This streamlines the process, is mobile-friendly, and helps you keep all applicant data, documents, and communications in one place.

Applicants can provide income details, references, and background consents in minutes. Once received, you can swiftly screen and compare candidates, advancing the best prospects to the next step in the leasing workflow.

Resource: Free Rental Application – Online Forms & Templates

Screen Potential Tenants

Protect your investment with TurboTenant’s comprehensive screening tools. Review every tenant’s credit, criminal, and eviction history. No manual data handling or paperwork is required.

You’ll quickly receive reports that contain everything needed to make informed decisions. This is a reliable strategy to avoid costly tenant issues and boost your confidence in selecting the most responsible and stable renters.

Resource: Tenant Background Checks & Screening Services

Create a Lease Agreement

Once you’ve selected a tenant, use TurboTenant to generate a state-specific and legally-compliant lease. It only takes a few clicks to customize the templates that handle all the essential terms, from rent and deposits to special pet or policy clauses.

Now you can forward the agreement for e-signature approvals. All contracts and related documents will be securely managed and stored online, capturing every stage of your landlord-tenant relationship.

Resource: Lease Agreements & Residential Rental Contracts

Set Up Online Rent Collection

Would you like to simplify your rent collection? TurboTenant lets renters pay via ACH, credit, or debit. The system’s automated reminders and autopay options minimize late payments and missed deadlines. And the funds will be deposited directly into your account.

Payment tracking, easy exports for accounting, and automatic late fee setups will simplify your life while building a professional and reliable process for you and your tenants.

Resource: Collect Rent Online – Best Rent Collection Software for Landlords

Ready to Rent Your Property Online?

Open a Free Account and Publish Your Listing Today.

If you use manual, ‘patchwork of frustration’ systems, they’re holding you back, especially in the vital online area of listing, qualifying, and closing on rentals. Integrated property management platforms are huge time-savers, with cost and feature sets being the primary differentiators.

TurboTenant pioneered freemium pricing for DIY landlords by offering its core technologies as part of the free account registration process. Advanced optional features are also available at affordable rates.

More than 800,000 real estate professionals have registered for TurboTenant accounts, and many of them consider the core features as all they’ll ever need.

Open a TurboTenant account for free and publish your first listing today.

Advertising Your Rental Property Online FAQs

Effective rental marketing is key to reducing vacancy time and finding qualified tenants. TurboTenant makes this process easy by distributing your listing across dozens of high-traffic rental sites with a single click (at no cost to you).

From writing listings to collecting leads, TurboTenant helps independent landlords streamline every step of the advertising process. Built-in tools track inquiries, simplify communication, and connect you with serious renters faster than manual methods or paid platforms.

This article answers the most frequently asked questions about TurboTenant’s marketing tools, listing syndication, and how it compares to competitors like Rentec Direct and Buildium.

What platforms help landlords market vacancies efficiently?

Landlords can use digital platforms to post rental listings, reach more prospective tenants, and manage communications without juggling multiple accounts or repeating the same listing across different sites.

• TurboTenant: Posts your listing to top rental sites like Realtor.com, Rent.com, and Apartment List
• RentRedi: Offers listing tools alongside tenant screening, rent collection, and maintenance tracking
• Facebook Marketplace: Expands reach through local groups and targeted exposure
• Zumper: Connects listings to renters actively searching in real-time
• HotPads: Ideal for metro areas and mobile-first renters

Are there property management platforms that offer free rental advertising?

Yes, several platforms offer free rental advertising, but TurboTenant stands out for syndicating listings to dozens of high-traffic sites, collecting leads automatically, and helping landlords fill vacancies without paying associated fees. Many other options in the industry require a paid subscription before allowing access to rental marketing features.

How can I advertise my rental property using TurboTenant?

Create a listing once, and TurboTenant can distribute it to top rental sites automatically, saving you from frustrating manual copy-and-paste syndication. Here are the steps you’ll need to take:

• Create a free account and add your property details.
• Write a detailed listing with rent prices, desirable features, and high-quality photos.
• Publish it, and TurboTenant will syndicate it to listing sites like Rent.com, Realtor.com, and Apartments.com.
• Track leads and messages from applicants and tenants in one dashboard.
• Share the listing directly via a customized link or through social media.
• Update or unpublish the listing anytime you wish.
• Collect applications and screen tenants with built-in screening tools.

How can landlords quickly fill vacancies with online tools?

Landlords can quickly fill vacancies by using online tools that automate listing syndication, manage leads, screen potential tenants, and centralize communication. Utilizing these online processes saves time by reaching qualified renters across multiple platforms in a fraction of the time you’d spend otherwise.

Can TurboTenant help me market my property faster than Rentec Direct?

Yes, TurboTenant can help you market your property faster than Rentec Direct by streamlining listings and pushing them out to dozens of top rental sites from a single, easy-to-use dashboard.

Not to mention, TurboTenant offers these marketing tools for free, while Rentec Direct requires a paid subscription to access listing syndication and lead management features. This fact alone makes TurboTenant the quicker and more cost-effective option for independent landlords.

Can TurboTenant help me market properties better than Buildium?

Yes, TurboTenant helps landlords market properties better by syndicating listings to top rental sites, capturing leads, and managing communication, all without the steep learning curve or added cost of enterprise-level tools like Buildium.

Unlike Buildium, which targets larger portfolios and requires a monthly fee, TurboTenant gives independent landlords free access to powerful marketing features that make it faster and more affordable to fill vacancies without paying for extra tools they don’t need or want.

Disclaimer: This blog is for informational purposes only and is published by TurboTenant. It is not legal, financial, or tax advice. Laws and regulations for landlords vary by state and locality and may change over time. Always consult a qualified attorney, accountant, or local housing authority before making decisions related to your rental property. The publisher and authors assume no responsibility for actions taken based on the information provided.

Whether it’s a brand new property you’re renting out for the first time or your long-time tenants are leaving, knowing how to advertise rental property smartly and efficiently can make all the difference when finding your next renters.

But marketing your unit isn’t just about finding any tenant. It’s about attracting quality applicants to make sure you’re filling vacancies with the best possible tenant you can find. It’s also about standing out from the pack and convincing potential applicants that your unit is the one they need.

A well-planned advertising strategy helps you reach these goals. It will enable you to fill vacancies faster, reduce turnover, and keep your units flush with quality tenants. So, read on to learn how to advertise your rental property.

Understand the Rental Market

The first step in a successful marketing campaign is fully understanding your unit’s rental market. Learning about the local community, what’s important to renters, and what tenants expect in a rental property are all critical.

• Set competitive prices: Do some comparative research to find out what other landlords are getting for units like yours. Don’t set your rent too high or sell yourself too short. Find the sweet spot to cover your expenses and attract tenants. Consider using our Rent Estimate Report to help eliminate guesswork.
• Know your audience: Knowing your local market’s demographic makeup and trends is imperative to reaching your area’s pool of applicants. Is it mostly students or young professionals? Are you speaking to families or older singles?
• Find your audience: Once you know your audience, find them where they are. Social media might be the best way to reach students or younger demographics. For families, consider sites like Nextdoor or post fliers on local community boards.

Create Attractive Listings

Now that you know who you’re advertising to, how do you convince people that your property is the only one for them? Creating a stand-out, attractive listing is about highlighting your property’s best parts.

• Hire a professional photographer: Everyone with a smartphone thinks they’re Ansel Adams. But, hiring a professional photographer can make a meaningful impact in capturing the highlights of your property. Ultimately, it might mean the difference between someone clicking on your ad or scrolling right by.
• Highlight your property’s best features: Once you’ve captured their attention, sell them on your incredible property. Maybe it’s all about location. Or maybe you can show off the new fixtures in the bathroom. Whatever you love most about the property, there’s a good chance someone else will, too.
• Use your words: Creating clean, concise property details summarizing your unit’s features will go a long way toward rounding out the story and attracting applications.

Time Your Rental Listing for Peak Season

You’ve probably heard the expression, “Timing is everything.” Timing can be critical in deciding when to list your rental since, in many areas, rental prices can swing wildly depending on the time of year.

There are many factors at play when renting out property, but if you can, planning to time your listing in the late spring into summer can significantly improve your chances of landing a quality tenant. During this stretch, more renters actively search for housing, giving you a larger pool of applicants. Additionally, high demand could allow you to charge higher prices.

While not the worst-case scenario, the offseason typically results in fewer people looking for rental properties, which can depress prices due to lower demand. So, if you’re able to, time that listing to maximize those views.

Market Your Rental Across Multiple Online Platforms

More people search for properties online now than ever before, meaning that to reach the widest range of potential applicants, it’s crucial to incorporate online listings into your advertising plan.

Websites like Redfin, Apartments.com, Rent.com, and even Craigslist can deliver a wide range of visibility to your listing and help you connect with tenants looking for exactly the kind of unit you’re listing. The more platforms you utilize, the more eyeballs you’ll reach, meaning you’re more likely to find a qualified tenant to snatch up your property.

One of TurboTenant’s leading features is the ability to advertise your listing across dozens of the most popular rental sites — and it’s completely free.

Utilize Social Media to Reach More Potential Renters

As discussed above, finding potential renters where they already are is a key component of an effective and strategic advertising plan. For many renters, social media is one of the most common places they first turn to find new places to live.

Utilizing Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and others on an ongoing basis can build a loyal following that will view and engage with your postings and potentially share them with friends.

Sharing on social media is so easy that encouraging your followers to share the post (especially if there’s an incentive) can be a way to fill your vacant unit right now and gain more followers for vacancies that pop up down the line.

Social media is a must when advertising rental property in 2024, as it allows users to utilize engaging visuals, insightful content, virtual tours, and detailed property descriptions.

Put Up “For Rent” Signs

Digital marketing is all well and good, but that doesn’t mean the classics don’t bear some consideration. A physical “For Rent” sign might feel old school, but sometimes it’s exactly what you need to find the right tenant.

Physical “For Rent” signs are a great way to reach people who frequent a particular neighborhood, especially in highly walkable areas like cities and bustling suburban centers. They allow you to connect directly to people walking, biking, jogging, or driving past the rental, enabling the renter to visualize the location and understand its surroundings.

While a physical sign might feel outdated, don’t sleep on a classic.

Create an Exceptional Tenant Experience

One of the most effective ways to ensure long-term success as a landlord is by fostering happy tenants through an exceptional tenant experience. Happy tenants are more likely to renew their lease, which reduces turnover and lessens the need for constant marketing.

Additionally, a happy customer is more likely to write positive reviews about their experience online, which can strengthen your reputation in the community and build up your store of five-star reviews. The resulting positive word of mouth will help to attract new renters, especially when someone is choosing between your rental and another option.

Finally, satisfied clients are more likely to recommend your units to friends, leading to a strong referral network. Referral business is a massive win for any business, as it reduces the time you have to spend farming for and converting leads, leaving more time for taking care of your existing tenants.

Offer Referral Bonuses to Existing Tenants 

Speaking of referrals, a referral bonus can be a powerful strategy for filling vacancies with applicants who have been vouched for by your existing tenants. If an existing tenant helps you fill a vacancy, you could reward them with a finder’s fee, gift card, or discount on their rent, encouraging them to send qualified applicants your way.

Having your tenants market your vacant units for you is a great way to save time and money on your marketing. It can also help foster a strong sense of community that pays lasting dividends among your tenants. Happy tenants create more happy tenants; a referral chain is a powerful way to start.

Market Your Rental Properties (for Free) With TurboTenant

TurboTenant is a free property management platform that offers owners and landlords a host of features that can streamline workflows and optimize operations. For landlords wondering how to advertise rental property as efficiently as possible, TurboTenant is an excellent choice.

The platform offers a useful rental property marketing feature that allows you to syndicate your listings across dozens of popular listing sites, including Apartments.com, Realtor.com, and Redfin. Not only that, but you can also benefit from a powerful AI tool that will help craft your property listing in less than five seconds.

Aside from rental property advertising, TurboTenant’s all-in-one property management approach offers a number of features that can help take your business to the next level, including:

• Comprehensive tenant screening and background checks
• Maintenance tracking and management
• State-specific lease agreements
• Online rent collection

So, sign up for a free account today and let TurboTenant make your property management life much easier.

Disclaimer: This blog is for informational purposes only and is published by TurboTenant. It is not legal, financial, or tax advice. Laws and regulations for landlords vary by state and locality and may change over time. Always consult a qualified attorney, accountant, or local housing authority before making decisions related to your rental property. The publisher and authors assume no responsibility for actions taken based on the information provided.

With such a competitive and fast-paced real estate market, especially rental markets, knowing how to get property management clients is crucial for starting a property management business and growing it as you scale.

Generating leads and landing clients can seem like a mystery, especially when starting out. But if you work hard, research your rental market, and execute intelligent strategies, you’ll be flush with new clients before you know it.

In this guide, we’ll review some of the best strategies for generating property management leads and developing your real estate investment business.

Reach Potential Clients on Social Media

It’s an evolving world out there, and social media has become one of the most effective ways to find and convert property management clients. Lead generation is all about finding customers where they are, and these days, you’ll find many of them on social media.

Social media advertising is all about creating engaging content and building around the strategies that tend to work best for the platforms you’re utilizing. For example, Instagram works best with visually appealing content, whether photos or videos.

Once you’ve captured some flashy visuals, use relevant hashtags so people can find you. With follows in tow, interacting with them can help outline why you’re the best property management company for their properties.

Alternatively, LinkedIn works better with text-based content and case studies, where you can explore thought leadership ideas related to your expertise.

Once you identify the best platform for you and find some strategies that resonate with potential clients, double down on them and iterate on specifics to fine-tune your approach and connect with more property owners.

Further, success on one platform can open doors to success on others. If you find a client on LinkedIn with a beautiful property, you could take photos of it and share them on Instagram.

Encourage Referrals from Existing Customers

One of the best ways to land new property management leads is to mine the resources you’ve already worked so hard to foster: existing and past clients.

Suppose you use property management software (and you really should). In that case, you can quickly sort through your existing customers, finding clients you think most likely know other property owners who need your experience and expertise.

People are far more likely to work with those they trust and have vouched for, so let others do some of the heavy lifting for you.

You might even consider offering incentives for referral business. A gift card for client conversions or a discount on rent or services can go a long way in encouraging your customers to research their contacts.

Dial in Your Email Marketing

Cultivating a solid email list is one of the most critical elements of modern marketing techniques. Email lists enable property managers to categorize potential customers, opening up possibilities for targeted and highly specific messaging.

A curated email list allows you to send valuable content like market insights, property management tips, or local real estate trends updates. This content should include a clear call to action (CTA) that invites the client to connect with you, along with an easy path to do so.

If you don’t have an email list, start building one immediately. Perhaps you can get emails through your social media accounts by offering incentives. Email marketing is a critical channel because few other ideas on this list offer the kind of direct messaging at scale that email marketing offers.

Learn Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

One of the most important aspects of online digital marketing is SEO. SEO is the practice of optimizing a website to appear as highly as possible on search engines like Google.

When someone enters “property managers in (your city)” into Google search, you want your website on top of the results. It’s more likely to happen if you’ve properly optimized the content on your site. The fact that you’re even here reading this article is likely because you found it in Google search results. After all, we’ve optimized it for SEO purposes.

The best part of a well-optimized site is that it’s essentially free, organic traffic from Google searches by interested clients.

Utilize Paid Advertising

Paid advertising is another effective avenue for attracting the highest-quality property management leads. With more pinpoint control than organic SEO techniques, paid advertising allows you to get in front of the right people for a price.

Whether paid ads on social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram, Google Ads, or even an ad in a local newspaper, you can tailor a paid ad with client-specific messaging.

The most significant consideration with paid advertising is ensuring that the ads you’re paying for align with your budget and will deliver a net profit. There’s no sense in overspending for ads if the clients you convert don’t bring a high enough return.

Start a YouTube Channel

Starting a YouTube channel is an excellent way to connect with potential clients by creating helpful and unique video content. Video content is one of the most common ways to consume information on the internet and is easily shareable across multiple platforms, like Facebook and your own website.

TurboTenant utilizes YouTube to connect with a diverse range of potential clients, providing valuable property management tips from experts, informative insights into rules and regulations, and tutorials on how to use our software effectively.

As an industry leader, we can start a conversation with our customers through informative video content, and our YouTube channel has become a powerful lead-generation tool.

As a subject matter expert, you can leverage your expertise by creating engaging videos demonstrating why you’re the right person for a client’s property management needs.

Start a Podcast

Launching a podcast helps you reach clients who might prefer audio content because they’re always on the more. Podcasts are easy to access with mobile phones or computers, and people often listen to them while in their cars, working out, or in the office.

Like a YouTube channel, a podcast is a great way to showcase your expertise, showing people why you’re the right person to manage their properties without saying so directly. Focusing episodes around your services subtly with CTAs to your website can quickly lead to higher lead conversions when you’ve found your audience.

You can incorporate guests or co-hosts and even film the podcast to syndicate on YouTube, which doubles your content without doubling your work.

Attend Networking Events

We’ve focused a lot on relatively newer, more digitally-oriented marketing techniques so far, but there’s still value in some tried-and-true methods. In-person networking is an excellent way to meet your clients face-to-face and understand their needs.

It allows you to build rapport and establish trust with potential leads when you make a memorable first impression, and these interactions can build long-lasting relationships and investments.

In-person networking can often be more effective than digital marketing, even though it can seem like a bigger time investment. Finding suitable events through platforms like LinkedIn, Meetup, and even Facebook can result in genuine connections among potential clients, especially if you have plenty of business cards to go around.

Cold Call & Cold Email Potential Leads

If other methods aren’t bringing you the leads you want, sometimes a more direct approach is the way to go. Directly cold-calling or cold-emailing potential leads to let them know about your business and services can be a bold and effective way to gain new clients.

Once you’ve done the research and built your lead list, construct a short and to-the-point pitch. Doing so will incentivize people to connect with you while summarizing your skills and business. Cold calls aim to pique a lead’s interest to secure a follow-up conversation, not necessarily to close the deal on the first interaction.

Send Direct Mail

One classic method of reaching potential property management leads is direct mail. While it’s more costly than email, physical mail can often leave a strong impression on clients, allowing the design and content to outline your business and services clearly.

When creating a direct mail campaign, focus on engaging visuals, clear messaging, and easy-to-find contact information so that people can easily reach out to you. Include a strong CTA with a phone number, website, or even a QR code to provide various methods for clients to reach you.

The more research you do and the better your lead list, the higher your conversion rate will be. Highly targeted direct mail campaigns, which have been a mainstay in real estate advertising for years, can see conversion rates as high as 10-20%.

Next Step: Streamline Your Property Management Operation

Now that you understand how to get property management clients, it’s time to ensure your business can handle the new influx of clients. Finding the right property management software for long-term and day-to-day operations is the best way to streamline your workflow and make it as efficient as possible.

Software, like TurboTenant, can simplify daily tasks to scale the business to new heights with features like:

• Online rent collection
• State-specific lease agreements for all 50 states
• Tenant and lease management
• Financial reporting and accounting tools
• Comprehensive tenant screening and background checks
• Syndicated rental property advertising across dozens of top listing sites

Investing in the right property management software increases your productivity, leaving you more time to find new clients. It also simplifies your workflow, keeping your tenants and owners as happy as possible.

Your rental is filled, your tenant is happy, and the only time you think about your property is when rent hits your bank account every month. Investing in a property was the best decision you ever made—until you find yourself with a vacant unit, and suddenly, your passive income isn’t feeling quite so passive. 

Anyone who’s managed a property has felt the pressure of navigating all the “To-Dos” that come with a vacancy. Listings, marketing, showings, screenings… what are you even allowed to ask on an application anymore? This applicant seems fine, but so did Ted Bundy… And just like that, you’re regretting ever thinking you’d have time to manage a rental property on top of everything else you have going on.

Fear not, TurboTenant’s free tools are here to help you put the “passive” back in ”passive income.”

• One-Click Marketing
• Centralized Lead Management
• Seamless Showings
• Professional Screening & Applications

“I listed my house for rent on Sunday and had a ton of interest thanks to the effortless marketing. The leads were easy to manage, and the screening feature saved me a lot of time. I had a signed lease by Thursday. THANK YOU!” ~ Caitlin | 1 property

One-Click Marketing

Finding a great tenant starts with getting a lot of leads. But how do you get enough leads without the headache of posting to dozens of listing sites?

• Start by creating the best possible listing with embedded insights on what renters are looking for, then leverage our Rent Estimate Report, which compares your property to similar rentals nearby and calculates a suggested monthly rent amount in seconds.
• Not sure how to catch renters’ eyes? Just enter the basic information about your property and TurboTenant’s AI Property Description Generator feature will write a unique, personalized listing for you in less than five seconds.
• When your listing is complete, instantly distribute it to dozens of popular sites with one click. You can also share a custom listing link directly from TurboTenant. Simply drop in a prospect’s email or phone number, and they’ll receive a professional message with all the information they need to view your listing and apply.

Need help getting started? Get a step-by-step walk-through to help you create your first listing.

Centralized Lead Management

TurboTenant landlords average 28 leads per property, so you’re going to need an easy way to keep track of your inquiries. But don’t sweat it—TurboTenant automatically organizes all your leads, whether they found your property on external sites or through your TurboTenant listing page.

From your TurboTenant dashboard, you can message multiple leads at once, see their activity, and invite them to take the next steps (showing, screening, application) so you can find your new favorite tenant that much faster.

Seamless Showings

Phone tag, you’re (done with) it!

Ever typed out all your showing availability in an email only to hear back, “what about the next week”? TurboTenant’s Showing Scheduling feature frees you from the back-and-forth.

Set your availability, then share your unique link with qualified renters. When renters book, you’ll be notified and appointments will be added to your Showings Calendar. We’ll send you and prospective tenants appointment reminders and make canceling easy to help weed out no-shows before you show up.

Professional Screening & Applications

TurboTenant’s applications and screening reports are an easy-to-read, digital record of all the information you need to pick the best tenant for your rental property. Best of all? TurboTenant’s applications and tenant screenings are free for landlords.

TurboTenant’s application is available anywhere, anytime—complete with industry-standard questions. It’s easy to invite leads to apply via text or email and our digital application streamlines the tenant selection process while keeping you compliant and organized.

Fill your vacancies with confidence while providing an easy, professional experience for tenants. By collecting applications with TurboTenant today, you can minimize turnover for tomorrow.

Shorten Vacancy Cycles For Free

With TurboTenant, you don’t have to sacrifice profit for professional property management tools. Create your listing with TurboTenant in minutes and find a qualified renter fast.

Once you find your perfect renter, use TurboTenant’s free fill-in-the-blank lease-builder to quickly create a rental agreement that complies with your state-specific laws. Plus, with tools to support you throughout the rental process—from securing e-signatures, to collecting rent, to tracking expenses, and more—TurboTenant is your free, one-stop shop for finding and managing tenants.

Sign up today!

Disclaimer: This blog is for informational purposes only and is published by TurboTenant. It is not legal, financial, or tax advice. Laws and regulations for landlords vary by state and locality and may change over time. Always consult a qualified attorney, accountant, or local housing authority before making decisions related to your rental property. The publisher and authors assume no responsibility for actions taken based on the information provided.

Gone are the days of an ad in the newspaper finding you great tenants. Perhaps you’ve heard: Virtual tours are unbeatable for getting your rental unit noticed, and for finding you a stellar renter.

The first tenet of marketing is to go where your customers are, and these days everyone is starting their property search online. Between social media and streaming TV, video is king, and nothing will show off your real estate to a prospective tenant faster than a well-made virtual tour.

The Purpose of a Virtual Tour

Beyond just the accessibility of a video walkthrough, a solid virtual tour can save you and your renter a lot of time. The description in a rental listing is paramount, and so are excellent real estate photos, but when it comes to quickly portraying what life in your rental unit would really look like, the video tour is indispensable.

When shot well, a virtual tour:

• Shows the entirety of the rental unit, as well as how the rooms and amenities all connect to each other.
• Gives an accurate feel for the size of the space, as well as the lighting and general feng shui.
• Saves the property owner time by eliminating less-serious renters, or those who decide they aren’t interested after viewing.

The below video is an excellent example of an effective real estate walkthrough video:

Hire a Videographer vs. DIY

The question of whether or not you should hire someone to shoot your virtual tour should be a pretty easy one for you to answer. Are you at least moderately tech-savvy? Does the idea of filming a video fill you with dread, or does it excite you? Have you ever uploaded a video to YouTube and enjoyed the process?

Just as some landlords prefer to do all the maintenance on their rental property by themselves, many property owners prefer to shoot their own walkthrough videos. After all, who knows the property and all of its best angles better than you?

DIY Videography

Nowadays, smartphone cameras are fully capable of filming great video, and you could absolutely shoot an effective video tour yourself using only the phone in your pocket. To take your smartphone videography to the next level, we recommend using a gimbal. These little motorized mounts can make your video buttery smooth, making the viewer feel like they’re floating through your rental unit.

If you want to take it up a notch, you could buy a DSLR camera and an interchangeable lens. Just like with real estate photography, you want to use a wide-angle lens (around 15mm on a full-frame sensor) to show off the entirety of your space. There are also gimbals you can buy for your DSLR to smooth out the resulting footage. This option will give you the highest quality video, but will also require a bit more technical know-how on your part.

Another option is to buy a GoPro action camera. They’re generally cheaper than a full-featured DSLR, have stabilization built in, and deliver excellent video quality. Note: If you shoot your walkthrough video with a GoPro, make sure to turn off the fisheye effect. It can do some not-so-flattering things to your rental unit by distorting the edges of the frame.

Hire a Professional Videographer

If none of the above made any sense to you, or if it all sounded like a lot of work, don’t worry! There’s a whole niche of video professionals who specialize in real estate videography, and I’m sure that any of them would love to create a virtual tour just for you.

There are companies like HouseLens that can connect you with a local videographer, or you could turn to your trusty friend, Google. Just search for “real estate videographer” and add the name of your town or city, and see what comes up. Any videographer worth their pay will be readily accessible online.

How to Shoot Your Video Tour

Let’s assume that you’re motivated by the challenge and want to live out your filmmaking aspirations, and you’ve decided to shoot your own walkthrough. It’s important to think of your video as a collection of short clips, since that’s how you’ll be shooting it. Afterwards, you’ll edit all those clips together into one beautiful, seamless tour.

Many of the same principles apply to video tours as they do to real estate photography. You want to declutter every room, turn on all the lights, and clean up. Viewers may not be able to pick up the lingering cat smell from your video, but they will absolutely see that dirty litter box left in the corner. You generally won’t show off closets or the inside of the garage, so those are great places to stash clutter during your shoot.

Beyond making your property look presentable and bright (don’t ever shoot a walkthrough at night), here are 5 suggestions to shoot an excellent DIY video tour:

1. Map out your path beforehand. Start with your most high impact areas, which are typically the master bedroom, master bathroom, and the kitchen. If your rental unit has an incredible backyard or an impressive living room, plan to hit those early on. Your tour should progress from one room to the next in a logical fashion, similar to how someone would walk through it in person.
2. Capture short, purposeful video clips. In addition to the above suggestion about using a gimbal, you’ll want to smoothly walk from one side of each room to the other. Then you’ll turn around and film yourself walking right back out of that room. Once you’ve captured every room this way, you’ll edit them together to create one seamless walkthrough. Editing can be done in any video editor such as iMovie, Adobe Premiere Pro, or Final Cut Pro.
3. If you have stairs, don’t worry about actually walking up or down them – there’s basically no elegant way to do that in a video tour. Instead, just point the camera up or down to show that they’re there, and then start your next video clip on the other side of them. The viewer will understand.
4. Don’t forget the exterior! While the whole point here is to show off the living spaces, many rental units have some excellent outdoor areas. If you have a single-family home, the driveway, garage, and yards should definitely make an appearance in your video tour.
5. For a truly professional product, cut out the audio and replace it with a simple instrumental music track. Non-offensive elevator music is the goal here, and it can really elevate your end product. After all, no one wants to hear your footsteps stomping through the whole rental.

Drone Videos

Drones are simpler and more affordable than ever before, and many models make it simple to get into the air and capture an impressive bird’s eye view. Incorporating drone footage into your video tour can be really impactful, especially at the beginning or end as an establishing shot, but it’s important to ask yourself: Will your rental property benefit from an eye in the sky?

Luxury properties, and especially rental units with expansive outdoor areas or beautiful surroundings, can look truly incredible through the lens of a flying drone. If your rental is in an apartment complex that doesn’t happen to be near a ski slope, though, a drone may be more trouble than it’s worth.

360-Degree Cameras

There are 360-degree cameras designed with a lens on the front and back, with software that automatically stitches the views together. What you’re left with is a 360-degree view of a space, and the viewer can zoom in and move around in that image as if they were standing in the room. It’s a neat effect, but one that could overcomplicate the virtual experience. If you have an open floor plan and high ceilings, this could be a great option.

Matterport

Matterport cameras are large, expensive, and a bit intimidating. The resulting walkthrough, however, is extremely impressive, and can provide an unparalleled walkthrough experience. If you have an expansive interior, a Matterport tour could be a great way to show it off and let your prospective renters experience the space in a fashion similar to Google Street View, where they can tab along and virtually walk the space without ever leaving their home.

Where to Use Your Virtual Tour

Now that you have a gorgeous video tour that shows off your rental unit in all of its grandeur, where do you put it? Thankfully, these days there’s no shortage of places to post your video content, and just about anywhere can be the place that a great tenant finds you.

Here are a few places you can use your video tour:

• YouTube. It’s the king of video content and the second-biggest search engine in the world. Videos hosted on YouTube can rack up organic views, but YouTube’s platform also makes it easy to embed your video anywhere you want. Another option is Vimeo, which will give you much of the same flexibility in sharing.
• TurboTenant. When you market your rental listing with TurboTenant, you can include a link to your video tour on YouTube or Vimeo. All of the listing information you include on TurboTenant, as well as your photos, will be syndicated out to dozens of listing websites to find you the best possible tenant.
• Your website. If your property management business has a website, why not enhance the virtual experience and include your video walkthroughs? You can embed the YouTube video of each property right on your site to show off your whole portfolio.
• Social media. Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok in particular have emphasized video content in recent years, and any of them (or all of them) would be a great place for you to post your brand new walkthrough video. Remember to include hashtags featuring the neighborhood, city, and #forrent to make it easier for renters to find you.

Disclaimer: This blog is for informational purposes only and is published by TurboTenant. It is not legal, financial, or tax advice. Laws and regulations for landlords vary by state and locality and may change over time. Always consult a qualified attorney, accountant, or local housing authority before making decisions related to your rental property. The publisher and authors assume no responsibility for actions taken based on the information provided.

A respectful, long-term tenant can make the difference between steady revenue and losing revenue on vacancies. However, finding that perfect tenant can cause many headaches, especially if you’re using old-school methods like print listings, manual background checks, and DIY applications.

So, how can you simplify your road to a great renter? 

Luckily, finding an exceptional tenant in 2025 can be easier than ever – if you’re using the right tools with TurboTenant. Leveraging a simple application process, quick verification of an applicant’s income, and efficient marketing syndication will simplify your tenant search – resulting in more leads faster.

Let’s dive into these digital gadgets, plus other helpful tips.

Easy, Accessible Rental Applications

There’s nothing that deters potential tenants more than a difficult application process.

Ensure that there are no barriers between a great tenant and their ability to apply for your property by using TurboTenant’s online rental application. Online applications are accessible and preferred by most renters – especially younger tenants.

Not only will your online application look professional and be easy to fill out, but you’ll be able to review applicants more efficiently in one place.

Did You Know?

With TurboTenant’s Premium plan, you can make your rental application even more attractive to potential tenants with competitive application fees.

Verify Your Tenant’s Income in One Click

Unfortunately, bad actors have easy ways to fake pay stubs and employment verification. Be proactive when screening your tenants and double check their income. TurboTenant’s Pro-tier Snappt integration confirms income and employment and uncovers fraud with 99.8% accuracy.

Missing out on your monthly rent can be stressful and detrimental to your rental’s return on investment – let technology do the work for you and feel confident that your new tenant won’t miss a beat on their monthly rent.

Get Your Listing in Front of Renters Online Faster

Tired of creating multiple listings for one rental to advertise across different platforms? Still posting your vacant properties in the newspaper?

Save your precious time and use TurboTenant to create one listing that will be pushed across popular platforms such as Redfin, Apartments.com, and more.

Ready to fill your vacancy and have quicker access to the best tenants? Skip the line and push your properties across dozens of major listing sites in less than 48 hours with TurboTenant’s Premium subscription. Having higher priority for your listings can get your rentals in front of potential tenants’ eyes sooner than your competition.

 

Disclaimer: This blog is for informational purposes only and is published by TurboTenant. It is not legal, financial, or tax advice. Laws and regulations for landlords vary by state and locality and may change over time. Always consult a qualified attorney, accountant, or local housing authority before making decisions related to your rental property. The publisher and authors assume no responsibility for actions taken based on the information provided.