by Attorney William Bronchick
A few years ago, I found myself in the unenviable position of having SEVEN vacant rental properties (ouch!). The typical newspaper ads were not pulling enough calls, and many of the callers were Section 8 tenants (barf!).
Nauseous at the thought of forking out another $4,500 on vacant properties next month, I decided to pull out an old, but underutilized technique… the paper flier. I made hundreds of fliers on my computer in various colors. I included a map with directions on the flier (thanks to www.mapquest.com). I had them distributed on car windshields in every shopping mall, supermarket and church parking lot within a mile radius of the rentals.
Did I get some nasty calls from people who didn’t appreciate the flier on their windshield? Sure, but who gives a hoot? Fliers sell houses! Read all about it in my Marketing For Motivated Sellers Course.
Here’s another bonus for fliers: you can legally discriminate using them. We all know that you cannot advertise for families, because it is discriminatory against single people. We also know that a family with kids is less likely to break a lease early than a single person (I don’t need statistics to tell me this, for I know that the thought of packing up my kids’ crap is enough to make me want to NEVER move!).
HERE’S THE POINT: If you place your fliers in places that families visit, your chances of finding a family to rent are increased. Rather than a blind ad in the newspaper, put fliers on windshields of cars parked at Bennigan’s & Chili’s Restaurants (who else would eat at such horrid places?). Place flyers in church parking lots, schools and Toys ’R Us. The law says you can’t STATE who you want as a tenant in your flier, but it doesn’t prohibit where you distribute the fliers!
Best of luck! If you are just beginning in real estate, having a good mentor and/or attorney can really be of benefit!
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William (Bill) Bronchick is a best selling author, attorney, investor and mentor. Bill is also the son of Top Real Estate Expert, Phyllis Rockower. Before her recent death, Phyllis also ran the Los Angeles Real Estate Investor Club for many years. It was her wish to continue her legacy and to bring current and applicable information to her current and hopefully new, followers.
