Most rental listings get written in ten minutes, right before the owner hits publish. Then the unit sits, the inbox fills with questions the ad should have answered, and the applicants who show up aren’t the ones the owner hoped for. If you own a rental in Long Beach, or anywhere else, your listing is the first piece of marketing a rental property and filling vacancies fast. It also does more screening than most owners realize.
This one is for owners and investors who write their own ads, or who sign off on the ones their agent writes. We’ll cover the headline, photos, description, price, fair housing pitfalls, local rules and timing. No hype, just what tends to work.
One note on “quality tenants.” A listing can’t judge anyone’s character. What it can do is attract people who pay on time, communicate and take care of a home, and put off people who were never going to qualify. The real screening comes later, with objective criteria applied the same way to everyone.
In This Guide
A Listing Is a Filter, Not an Announcement
Your ad has two jobs. Get the right people to click, then give them enough detail to decide before they pick up the phone.
Everything else is decoration.
A slow listing costs real money. Say your rent is $2,000 and the unit sits empty for six weeks. That’s about $2,800 gone, and nobody pays you back for it. We charge a tenant placement fee anywhere from $450 to 50% of one month’s rent, depending on whether it’s full-service management or lease-only, so we see the price tag on a vacancy up close.
“Say your rent is $2,000 and the unit sits empty for six weeks. That’s about $2,800 gone, and nobody pays you back for it.”
We manage around 500 properties for 175 owners, and our vacancy rate sits at 5.0%. Good listings aren’t the only reason, but they’re a big piece of it.
Write a Headline That Says Something
“Nice apartment for rent” tells a renter nothing. Neither does “2BR/1BA, Available Now.” Both get scrolled past in search results by people looking for something specific.
Lead with the detail people filter by. That’s usually parking, laundry, outdoor space, pet policy or a location advantage. Here are a few made-up examples:
| Weak headline | Stronger headline |
|---|---|
| Nice apartment for rent | 2BR/1BA With Covered Parking and In-Unit Laundry |
| 2BR/1BA, Available Now | 2BR Townhome, Fenced Patio, Pets Considered Case by Case |
| House for rent | 3BR House With Garage, Short Drive to the Port |
Put the rent and the bedroom count in the first line or two. A renter who can’t afford it should find out in five seconds, not after a phone call.
Photos: Fewer, Better, Honest
Here’s an opinion some owners don’t like. More photos isn’t the answer. The wrong photos hurt you.
Twenty dark, cluttered shots tell careful renters the place is poorly maintained before they ever apply. One bright photo of a clean main room does more work than a dozen mediocre ones. Good applicants are screening you as much as you’re screening them.
Before you shoot, run through this list:
- Light: Shoot in daylight with the blinds open and the lights on.
- Clutter: Clear the counters and hide the cleaning supplies and trash cans.
- Order: Lead with the best room, usually the living area or kitchen.
- Coverage: Show every bedroom, the bathrooms, outdoor space and parking.
- Condition: If the unit isn’t turnover-ready, wait and reshoot.
If paint is scuffed or a cabinet door hangs crooked, fix it before the camera comes out. We call R3 Pros for handyman fixes and First Painting for paint touch-ups. Either one costs far less than a week of vacancy.
The Description: Answer Questions Before They’re Asked
Picture a landlord who lists a rental without mentioning parking, laundry or the pet policy. The inbox fills with 40 inquiries, most asking the same basic questions. Half the serious applicants drop out once they learn the details didn’t match what they assumed. That back-and-forth can burn two weeks of screening time.
A good description saves everyone that trouble.
What to include
- Parking: Garage, driveway, street or assigned spot.
- Laundry: In-unit, shared or hookups only.
- Pets: Your actual policy, in plain words. We allow pets at certain properties, decided case by case, and we say so.
- Utilities: What the tenant pays and what you cover.
- Lease term and move-in date: Fixed-term or month-to-month, and when the unit is ready.
- Upgrades: The updated kitchen, new flooring or fresh paint, with specifics.
- Location facts: Distance to the freeway, transit, shopping or the beach.
The renter pool here includes people working at the Port, students at CSULB and staff at big healthcare employers like MemorialCare. Commute access, parking and pet rules tend to be the first things those renters ask about, so put them up front.
What to leave out
Skip empty adjectives. “Cozy” reads as small and “charming” reads as old. Facts beat adjectives every time. And keep any language about who should live there out of the ad, which we’ll get to below.
Aim for short paragraphs and a few bullets. Nobody reads a wall of text on a phone.
Price It With a Reason
Imagine an owner who prices a unit $200 above market because it feels right. The ad doesn’t mention the updated kitchen or the walk to the beach, and nothing in it justifies the premium. A nearly identical unit with a stronger listing rents first, and the overpriced one sits.
Pricing a rental shouldn’t be a guess. Pull three to five active listings of similar size and condition nearby. Our managed properties average around $2,000 a month, but your block, your unit and your finishes decide your number, not an average.
A simple decision rule works here. If you’re asking more than comparable units, your listing has to name what earns the premium. If it can’t, lower the rent or upgrade the unit.
Lead With Strengths, Keep the Rules in the Lease
Many owners front-load an ad with restrictions. No smoking, no this, no that. The thinking is that it saves screening time.
In practice it filters out the wrong people. Strong applicants have options, and they move on to ads that feel welcoming. Applicants who plan to break the rules will lie anyway. So open with what’s great about the place, then state the few rules that really affect the decision, like the pet policy or smoking.
The lease is where the full rulebook lives. That’s also where it can be enforced.
If you respond fast to repairs, say so. Renters care about it. One tenant described our team as “responsive, professional and communicative” while handling several maintenance requests at once. Non-emergency requests get a response within about 24 hours here, and emergencies within an hour. Our maintenance coordinator, Sussy Espinoza, keeps those requests moving. A line about that in your ad speaks to what renters worry about before they sign.
A word on pets, since it trips up a lot of owners. If your ad says “no pets,” that line can’t be used against a disabled applicant who needs an assistance animal as a reasonable accommodation. Federal law requires you to consider it. More on that next.
Keep the Listing Fair Housing Safe
This is the part of the listing that can cost you the most.
Under federal law, an ad can’t say or suggest a preference for, or a limit on, anyone because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status or national origin. That covers online listings, social posts, signs and flyers. You also can’t tell someone a unit isn’t available when it is, for one of those reasons. The availability you advertise has to be the same for everyone who asks. State law may add more protected groups, so check the current list.
First-offense fair housing civil penalties in HUD cases can reach up to $26,262 per violation under the 2025 adjusted federal figures. Don’t assume being a small or owner-occupied landlord lets you skip these rules.
Describe the property, not the tenant you want. Phrases like these invite trouble:
- “No kids” or “adults only”
- “Perfect for singles” or “perfect for couples”
- “Ideal for young professionals”
- “English speakers only”
Two more spots deserve care. Don’t write “no Section 8” or “no vouchers” in a California ad. Source-of-income discrimination, including vouchers, is widely reported to be illegal under state law, so confirm the current rule. We manage Section 8/HUD properties ourselves, and a welcoming ad costs nothing. Also steer clear of “no felons” or high minimum credit scores in a listing. They can conflict with state fair housing rules and with protections for people using rental subsidies.
If you want to mention screening, keep it objective and the same for everyone. Verifiable income and rental history are lawful, measurable factors. Check the current cap on application fees before you put any amount in an ad.
A strong listing describes the home and states objective criteria. It never describes the person you hope will rent it.
Local Rules That Touch Your Ad
Some rentals fall under statewide tenant protection rules. Many also fall under the Long Beach Just Cause Ordinance. The two can affect the disclosures you need and how you word lease terms like month-to-month versus fixed-term. That’s why it pays to have an attorney confirm which rules apply to each unit.
Forums are tempting. You’ll find plenty of landlord tips Long Beach California reddit threads, and they’re fine for ideas. They’re a poor source for legal answers, because the rules change and every property is different.
Renters read up too. A lot of them look into tenants rights Long Beach before they sign, so an ad with sloppy or overreaching terms can raise flags before you’ve met anyone.
Staying on top of this is a big part of why owners look at property management Long Beach firms. We charge a monthly management fee based on the property type and the income collected, averaging around 5.9% of collected income. A strong listing is part of the work.
Timing, Speed and a Final Check
Southern California leasing runs busiest from roughly March through August. Listings posted in late winter often face more competition but can draw more serious renters. Fall and winter listings usually need stronger copy to make up for lower search volume.
Speed matters once the ad is live. We use Showdigs for showings and AppFolio for applications, so interested renters can see a unit and move through screening without days of phone tag. Julian Clark, our leasing agent, handles placement full time. It’s his job, not a side task.
One long-term owner put it this way: “efficient in finding tenants and quick in their communication.” That sums up what a good listing should lead to.
Before you publish, run through this list:
- Does the headline lead with a specific, searchable detail?
- Are the rent and bedroom count in the first two lines?
- Do the photos show clean, bright, honest rooms?
- Do parking, laundry, pets, utilities and lease term all appear?
- Is the price backed by three to five comparable listings?
- Is every phrase about the property, not the tenant?
- Has an attorney confirmed which local and state rules apply?
If a listing that sits longer than it should feels harder than it needs to be, we’re open to a conversation.
FAQ
How long should a rental listing description be?
We usually aim for roughly 150 to 300 words, broken into short paragraphs and a few bullets. That’s long enough to answer the common questions and short enough to read on a phone.
Should I put the rent in the listing?
Yes. Renters filter by price, and hiding it only brings you inquiries from people who can’t afford the unit. Lead with it near the top.
Can I write “no pets” in my rental listing?
You can state a pet policy, but it can’t be used to turn away a disabled applicant who needs an assistance animal as a reasonable accommodation under federal law. Many owners find it easier to say “pets considered case by case.”
Can I say “no Section 8” in a California listing?
Don’t. Source-of-income discrimination, including vouchers, is widely reported to be illegal under California law, so confirm the current rule with an attorney before using any wording about vouchers.
How many photos should a rental listing have?
There’s no magic number. Show every main room, the outdoor space and the parking, and only use photos that are bright and clean. A few strong shots beat a pile of weak ones.