Are you struggling to find a tenant for your rental property? The two prevalent ways are hiring an agent to find a reliable tenant or posting an online rental listing. Hiring an agent to find a tenant has been the conventional way for many decades until electronic media and social media came into existence.
Since people started to find online solutions for almost everything, it also affected the real estate market and introduced new ways for business and marketing. However, online solutions can not be the ultimate solution for everything.
Conventional and online ways to find a tenant have unique pros and cons which are discussed in this article. Read on to find out which is better for you to find a tenant: hiring an agent or creating an online listing!
Table of Contents
Create a Rental Listing
The easiest way is to create an online advertisement for renting your home. The house owner simply has to create a listing on famous websites. It is only a matter of hours or days that you will be contacted by a number of people who want a home on rent (depending on the website’s reputation).
Famous websites where you can create a rental listing include OLX, Zameen, and Graana. The website requires you to fill in the basic information and provide clear images of the house. Besides, information and images, you will be required to write a description of the property to create the rental listing.
Pros
- You don’t have to pay any fee for creating an online ad for your rental property (or you may expect only a small fee to be charged).
- You will have several options (tenants) to choose from as multiple people will be contacting you.
- You can instantly contact a potential tenant and schedule a visit for him.
- You can save a lot of your time instead of finding a real estate agent.
Cons
- Multiple queries can make you feel too overwhelmed to make the right decision.
- You will have to do the verification of the tenant.
- You will get the Rent Agreement prepared which can sometimes take a lot of time.
- You can never know if the person who contacted you seriously wants to rent your home and often the prolonged discussions end in nothing.
- Negotiating with potential clients can consume a lot of your time and energy.
- If a conflict arises after renting the home, there won’t be a mediator to solve the issue between two parties (which is an agent in usual cases).
Hire a Real Estate Agent
Another reliable and long-tested way to rent out your home is to hire a real estate agent. Closing deals is the forte of Real estate agents. If you hire a real estate agent, your home will be rented out without much fuss (provided you hired an authentic agent).
READ: Top Five Reasons Why Your Real Estate Agent Is Your Well-Wisher
Pros
- You won’t have to worry about responding to queries.
- The agent will take care of the tenant verification process and all the paperwork.
- The agent will arrange a time for the house visit which suits both parties.
- You don’t have to take the strain from incessant negotiations.
- Handing over all the necessary matters to an agent will save you precious time, money, and comfort.
- Their network in their respective area of work helps you get a reliable tenant in a timely manner.
- One of the most important benefits of hiring an agent is that a reliable agent will also act as an intermediary and mediator between you and your tenant. This helps avoid potential conflicts in exchange of security and signing of contract.
- The fee for Real estate agents in Pakistan is only one month’s rent (the house you want to rent). This implies you’ll get long term benefit (rental income) in exchange for a small fee.
Cons
- Hiring a real estate agent might be a costly option for some.
- Difficulty finding the right agent.
- Less control over the process.
Summary
Both creating a rental listing of your home or hiring a real estate agent are good options and have their respective pros and cons. If you do things systematically, you will achieve your goal and find a reliable tenant.
