How Rentals Help Realtors® Differentiate Themselves in a Shifting Market

As a RentSpree power user, Maya Tuvia has leveraged rentals to grow her real estate business. Maya began with her early work in property management and moved into sales and leasing. Next, Tuvia started working with developers on a new 24-unit apartment building she leased out in over a month. From there, she started making connections that continued to grow her business.

"To lease a new construction building is hard because you need to work with tenants and know how to screen them," Tuvia said.

Tuvia shared the details of her winning strategy on the proptech podcast, It's Closing Time, with RentSpree CEO Michael Lucarelli. The two also discussed the growing relationship between technology and real estate and how real estate agents can put technology to work practically.

Tuvia uses RentSpree to streamline the rental screening process, ensuring that there are qualified tenants to fill the new construction properties she is representing. In addition, she says RentSpree has saved her a significant amount of time previously spent on requesting, collecting and reviewing documents.

"When I started in 2017, screening tenants was difficult because you had to tell tenants exactly what you needed," said Tuvia. "When RentSpree became available, it was a huge time-saver for me because potential tenants could upload everything in one place. For me, that's really valuable."

Clients in the rental space transition into clients in the sale space

For Tuvia, working with renters and landlords has contributed to consistent business growth over the long term.

"I always have rentals in my pipeline," said Tuvia, "all year, mainly with bigger buildings and single-family homes. I think getting clients in the rental space really transitions into having clients in the sales space."

Tuvia said that often, a Realtor can prove the quality of their service with rentals and the client will say, "Look, you did a great job. I want you to sell my house."

Rentals offer opportunities to build relationships

For Tuvia, the connections made during a lease transaction set the stage for future opportunities to manage purchase and sale transactions. In order to make sure that she's the go-to agent when the time comes, she focuses on follow-up.

"I always call, text, and email my clients," said Tuvia, "whether it's Happy New Year, Merry Christmas, or 'Hey, I was just thinking of you because I did X, Y, Z.'" By checking in consistently and seeing how she can be of service, Tuvia builds ongoing relationships that pay dividends year after year.

To keep track of her follow-up, Tuvia says that she favors "Excel. I'm kind of old school. It's super easy to use."

Follow-up is key to staying top of mind

In addition to reaching out during holidays, Tuvia provides highly personalized market information, including stats for comparable properties in neighborhoods where past clients have homes. She shared one of her recent outreach experiences.

"I approached a client and he wasn't really ready to sell. He had a tenant in there, but I said, 'Look, this is the time. The comps support the sale. Let's do it.' And so we were able to get that done and, you know, he was ultimately really happy after."

"It's so individualized because every client is so different. If you have a client and they're not in the market to buy and they don't want to hear it. don't approach them." Instead, Tuvia said you can make a connection by using a shared interest like, "Hey, I was thinking of you because I went on a hike and you mentioned that you love hiking up RSA." This allows you to create more personalized and effective communication. 

Create opportunities by providing market information

Tuvia says that even walking her dog can result in a 10-minute conversation with someone new. When she tells them she's a real estate broker, they ask, "How's the market?" This gives her an opportunity to show her expertise and find out what they need.

"I love getting to know people and talking to people," said Tuvia, "whether it be at my gym or just through people I know. So I think that it's really key to go through your network and see who could I help? Who could I work with? and then go from there." 

"I love meeting people. I love talking about what I do. I really enjoy working in real estate. And I think that translates and helps me develop new relationships and new clients from there."

Add leverage through effective tech tools

According to Tuvia, "I've used RentSpree as a renter and I use it for my clients all the time and they love it. I know how easy it is to fill out an application on RentSpree: it's seamless."

For Maya Tuvia, RentSpree offers the ability to manage a high volume of properties and tenants on the go with an all-in-one portal for maximum convenience. "I use RentSpree on a daily basis because I need to check my portal, see who started an application, who is applying, who did their supporting docs." 

"For me," she said, "it's like everything in one place. I'm not chasing after someone, I can request [information], and then they get an email saying, 'Hey, you need to upload bank statements.'" 

"It saves me a lot of time because the rental industry is hard; it's time-consuming and a lot of work. You need to know how to allocate your time." With RentSpree, Tuvia is able to allocate her time effectively, do more business, and, ultimately, provide a higher level of service to her clients.