When looking at a potential acquisition I have heard a lot of people mention that they place ads to gauge the local market. What mediums do you guys use to place these? Craigslist? Classifieds? Some other site?
Also, when placing the ads do you use the price that you plan to raise rents to or what they are currently?
Any additional information would be much appreciated.
I did test various price points to get a sense of the response, and it was done mostly via craigslist.
One caveat: On one park i wasn’t getting as strong a response from Craigslist as i would have liked, but still went forward with the purchase. Since then, I have found directional signs ($5 at Lowes/Home Depot) have pulled much better than Craigslist for that particular park. I would spend a little $$ and put some signs on the main streets around the park you’re evaluating to get a sense of how many calls are generated. In other words, it’s easy and simple to do online ads, but dig a little deeper.
That’s good stuff Nick. Thank you.
I like Nick’s suggestions of using signs. It is so easy to overlook the “obvious” and perhaps least expensive, yet probably the most effective overall. I would make one suggestion. You may want to consider facebook advertising. You have the ability to choose your geographic and demographic reach and you can budget as little as $1 per day.
Thanks for the input J. Have you had success using the Facebook ads?