Have you heard the term “accidental landlords?” It’s a phenomenon that’s always been somewhat present, but since the recession hit, the situation has become common enough to warrant its own name.

An “accidental landlord” is where a homeowner has to move, but they are unable to sell their old property. So, they end up renting it. And usually, since they have often moved too far away to effectively manage their property, they hire a property management company like us to oversee it.

But since our accidental landlords never intended to become landlords, in some cases it’s not cost-effective in the long run to continue to rent out the property, and they intend to sell whenever it becomes feasible.

How Do You Sell a Home You’re Not Even Living In?

An accidental landlord is in a somewhat difficult situation. Their house is tenanted by strangers who have no motivation to allow it to be shown, even if their lease is month to month. And the landlords are most likely not in the area.

So what’s an accidental landlord to do?

Real Estate Videos

This works best with a bit of foresight on the part of the homeowner, but ideally, here is what you’d do:

Getting a home ready to rent and getting it ready to sell are two processes that are very similar. You pay attention to curb appeal, paint the walls, fix up little problems and perhaps install new flooring.

Nowadays, in order to sell a home, it’s very popular to create a real estate video or a virtual tour of panoramic stills. You can hire a videographer if you have deep pockets, or DIY it with a digital camera and some editing skills.

Get your real estate video done before the rental tenants move in and you’ll have it on hand when the market gets less sluggish or the property values rise.

How To Promote Your Real Estate Video

So, some time has passed since you became an accidental landlord. Your property management company handles it well for you, but having too mortgages troubles you. Perhaps you couldn’t even get a mortgage after you moved, and you’ve been renting all this time. And perhaps the lease is winding up with your renters. So you decide to try your luck at selling.

Whether you go with a Realtor, or For Sale By Owner, YouTube is by far the best way to promote your video. It’s free video hosting, and you can embed that video on nearly any website. Most Realtors even use YouTube!

Don’t forget to use #hashtags and keywords in the video description as well as anywhere else you post it. These short descriptors help searchers find what they are looking for. Mention the location, type of home, and any particular features such as #indoorspa or #oceanfront. These hashtags not only work on YouTube, but also Google, Twitter and Facebook.

Then, share, share, share. You can share in lots of places, not only social media. Your Realtor, if you use one, will have access to several specialty sites, but there are also sites available to FSBOs as well.

We hate to see our accidental landlords go, but we rest assured knowing that they had a positive experience with us, and hope they’ll recommend Real Property Management to any of their friends, family or co-workers who find themselves accidental landlords themselves.

Ways to Promote Your Real Estate Video