Single Family Home Rental: The New American Dream?

When you think of the American Dream, an image of a white picket fence likely comes to mind. What if you rented that fence and the property behind it, instead of owning? More and more Americans are choosing to rent. Why are people renting single family homes, and how can you leverage this opportunity?

The Single Family Home Rental Shift 

There are certainly some unpleasant reasons for the shift to rental properties. Economic uncertainty and past experiences with falling home values have made people wary of investing in the housing market again. According to MarketWatch, "some Americans remain concerned about home prices falling more, while others remain uncertain about the stability of the job they have."

However, many people are also turning to rentals for positive reasons, and this is something to embrace in your rental property management business. They've watched housing prices fall and no longer see homes as a default venue for investment. Instead, they're making a logical judgment based on their needs right now. Seniors may choose to have the luxury of travel rather than being tied down to home maintenance. Millennials enjoy being free to move from place to place. In these scenarios, renting becomes a lifestyle choice, one that allows renters to achieve their personal goals.

Working With Newcomers to the Rental Market

You need clear lease agreements and plenty of information available online through a tenant portal. For some, a shift from home ownership to rental means that they're entering the rental market later in life. Seniors may not be comfortable accessing all of your information online, but they'll still need help navigating their first rental. Contact centers where they can call to get assistance are particularly helpful for these renters.

Rental Property Management: Marketing to Your Audience 

How can you cater to the emerging group of people who've chosen to pursue the new American Dream of freedom and choice through renting, not buying? As you develop your marketing materials, develop buyer personas that account for these audiences and their diverse interests. For instance, you might focus on the features that a neighborhood offers to Millennial renters, with houses like the ones where they grew up, but close to transportation, in a trendy neighborhood, and with an urban vibe.

Highlight the diversity of your listings to show how rentals open up options for your tenants. As you develop your business branding, make sure that you position renting as something that is a positive lifestyle choice, and even those who are renting for reasons of economic uncertainty may be reassured and uplifted by your company.

The American Dream is changing, and rentals are changing with it. As your tenants work toward their dreams, make sure that your company is able to both reassure new renters and position itself as an enjoyable choice.

"Without Propertyware, I don't think we would have been able to add 400 units in the last 18 months." - Eric Wetherington / Carolina One Real Estates

When you're looking for software to support your rental property management business, contact Propertyware. We'll help you develop the processes and cloud-based products that you need to attract and keep new tenants. Get pricing today.