Selling and listing rentals online has become a popular alternative to in-person house hunting. Listing online has never been easier, thanks to a number of listing websites that cater to tenants for all their rental needs.
Facebook Marketplace is a relatively new option when compared to other websites such as craigslist and was introduced in 2016, and as of 2021 it has more than 1 billion users. Facebook Marketplace listings have several advantages over platforms, including ease of use and a lack of anonymity which helps avoid scams because all messaging is done through users’ personal Facebook accounts.
Facebook Marketplace listings are a free option that connects you with hundreds and thousands of potential tenants in your area. However, there are guidelines to sell on Facebook marketplace that need to be followed and it can take a bit of effort to know how to stand out on Facebook marketplace.
Can I Advertise Rental Properties on Facebook Marketplace for Free?
Short answer- Yes. In September 2017, Facebook announced dynamic ads for real estate that would allow property managers to advertise their listings on the social media platform. Perhaps encouraged by its success, two months later, Facebook announced that it was adding housing as a category on Facebook Marketplace. The initial launch was in collaboration with Zumper and Apartment List, two of the most prominent listing sites. Syndicating with these listing sites saw Facebook Marketplace acquire in thousands of quality listings in a very short period of time.
Shortly after, Facebook ceased all syndications and now is a stand alone listing service. Listings are free of charge and there are no hidden fees like commission fees and the like.
Is Facebook Marketplace good for apartments?
Facebook Marketplace has been gaining popularity and there are very good reasons why.
- Facebook has a whopping 1 billion users as of 2021, more than any other listing site.
- It is easy to use with a fairly basic user interface
- Their real estate listings site allows you enter all the necessary details with custom filters for location, price, sq feet, rooms and pet friendliness etc.
- You can easily upload 360 degree photographs of your property.
- Listings are public, reaching a much wider audience.
- You receive inquiries from personal accounts, allowing you to fete out quality prospects.
- Facebook Marketplace is well integrated with Facebook's other services, allowing you to 'boost' your listing. In other words, you can use Facebook Ads to advertise your property seamlessly.
- Facebook Marketplace is well adapted for mobile use, allowing people to access listings from their mobile phones, all the while reaching a larger audience.
However, every rose comes with its thorns and there are some cons to Facebook Marketplace as well. With a bigger reach, come more inquiries as well and not all of them are ideal tenants. Further, properties on Facebook Marketplace tend to sell/rent for less than the asking price. The loss is offset by not having to pay commission to a real estate agent.
How to post a house for sale on Facebook Marketplace?
It is relatively easy to upload your properties on Facebook Marketplace. You can do so in 5 easy steps.
- Create an account on Facebook if you do not already have one.
- Go to the menu options on the left and click 'Marketplace'.
- Click 'create a new listing'.
- Fill in the required details, upload photographs and set filters for your listing.
- Click 'publish'.
You can use Facebook Ads Manager to advertise your listing and control who sees your post by geotagging it and setting a target audience.
How to automate your marketplace listings for free?
Facebook Marketplace is one of the largest platforms to advertise your rentals to tenants and the process of listing your rentals on Facebook Marketplace can be made even easier with automation tools and software that work seamlessly. Such tools can automatically list all your rental properties on Facebook Marketplace with just a single click.
With LetHub's Facebook Marketplace listing automation tool, you can do more than just automatically have all your rentals listed, but send instant responses to tenant inquires 24/7 through our concierge service.
Our agents will answer incoming renter inquiries, and pre-qualify them so you don't have to spend hours on answering monotonous questions. Get ready-to-move-in renters and handle high volume of renter inquiries with LetHub's new concierge and Facebook Marketplace automation tool.
Here's what you should know about selling on Facebook Marketplace:
Tip 1: Take great photos for your Facebook Marketplace Listing
The better the photos the more likely that your Facebook Marketplace rental listing will sell. Take high-quality photos using good lighting. Tenants want to see it clearly before they make such an investment. Any damage should be clearly depicted in the photos and stated in the description. Consider multiple angles of the rental unit showing clearly every room so as to avoid repetitive questions that can be avoided. The more tenants know upfront the more likely they will make an offer when they take a tour of the rental.
Tip 2: Be honest in your Facebook Marketplace listing info section
It doesn’t matter what you’re listing on Facebook Marketplace, the info you provide about your Facebook Marketplace listing needs to be detailed and accurate. If there’s damage, mention it. Include anything related to the condition of the listing from being in perfect condition to having damage. And make sure to include measurements, again the more they know upfront the better. Give potential tenants every reason to trust you, and they’ll be more willing to make an offer.
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Tip 3: Always be sure to include search tags
At the bottom of every Facebook Marketplace listing form there is a tag box. Here you should put any word or phrase that someone might type in the search box to find your listing, even adding the location as a search tag helps. This really helps to get it seen by potential tenants looking for something like the rental listing you have posted on Facebook marketplace and ups your chances of selling quickly.
Tip 4: Respond to interested parties quickly
If potential tenants are sending you a message inquiring do not make them wait for a response. Buyers are much more likely to move on to something else if they have to wait for more information. An advantage of Facebook Marketplace rentals is its Messenger chatbot. All queries and purchases happen through Facebook Messenger, ensuring companies connect one-on-one with buyers and renters. However, responding to hundreds of repetitive inquiries instantly requires a lot of time. A Facebook Marketplace automation tool like LetHub can automate the entire process and can respond to messages 24/7 answering any and all queries.
Tip 5: Say that you are open to offers and negotiate
Be clear about your price but be open to negotiation, it’s a part of listing your rentals on Facebook Marketplace. Approach negotiations in good faith. Decide what your bottom dollar is on a rental and be a little flexible. You can price your marketplace rentals a little higher than what your base price is so as to be able to negotiate with potential tenants more.
Tip 6: Choose the Right Category
Don’t spam a completely different section with a post for rental listing. Not only is it annoying, it’s an easy way to get your listing taken down and your account flagged by Facebook. It’s very risky especially if your account ends up blocked by Facebook entirely – and unlike Craigslist, it’s not so easy to create a new fake account to list your Facebook Marketplace rental.
Tip 7: Be realistic and understand it takes time
Even if you do everything right sometimes Facebook Marketplace rentals take time to get legitimate offers. Update your listings regularly, consider lowering the price a little after a week or 2, take new and better pictures, change the listing title, adjust your tags, etc., These are all things you can try over time if you are not able to sell.
How to prevent scams while listing on Facebook Marketplace?
Even though Facebook Marketplace is a great platform for buying and selling backed by the social networking giant, buying and selling items through marketplace can still have some risks.
Buyers and sellers on Facebook Marketplace know little to nothing about each other so it makes sense to be wary of scams on the platform. However, it can all be avoided if you take some basic sensible precautions.
There are several red flags buyers and sellers alike who should be careful of when buying on Facebook Marketplace. Facebook has its own guide for Marketplace users which you should always go through. Below we have listed the two main scams sellers encounter with marketplace rentals.
- Two factor authentication
Online marketplaces can often be a place for identity theft with scammers taking over legitimate user accounts to add authenticity to their fake listings or to pretend to be a potential tenant. Facebook users, even those who never use Facebook Marketplace, can drastically minimize the likelihood of having their account stolen by taking advantage of a security feature known as two-factor authentication.
- Payment Scams
Fake buyers will often try to overpay and then want a refund of the overpayment back. Though this may sound simple this scam involves the buyer specifically using checks.
With a check, the fraudulent tenant tries to trick the seller by sending a fake payment and the seller would send the overpayment refund only to realize later that the check received will bounce. Avoid taking checks and only accept payments after doing a full background check on the potential tenant.
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