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By Maria Pace
“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”- Dr Seuss, children’s author and life philosopher
With so many properties available in this slow-moving rental market, it’s important for your property to present to a high standard and to have high exposure online so it’s not lost amongst the many other rentals available. Here are five tried and tested steps to polishing up your property.
Step 1: Get it professionally photographed
Statistics tell us that 90% of people across Australia use the internet to search for properties and they rated photos as the most useful tool in their search. So why wouldn’t you invest in some professional photography, to begin with?
Step 2: Record a video/virtual tours
Videos are quickly emerging as a landlord’s top marketing tool. Particularly appealing and useful are the virtual tour types as they give the potential tenant an interactive tour of the property. It lets them experience all the features while providing a realistic idea of what the property has to offer. Another incentive is that these videos can be used over and over again, or at least until any major changes are made to your property.
Step 3: Make your property easy to find
What’s the point of having great photos and videos if prospective tenants can’t find your property? Now that your property is ready to be advertised, the next step is making sure your ad is seen and not blended away with the rest of them. EXPOSURE is key and this means promoting your property on major website portals such as realestate.com.au.
Depending on the device the prospective tenant is searching on (desktop computer or mobile), REA Group: Realestate.com.au – Tenant Search Findings indicate some interesting findings:
44% to 55% only search as far as page 2 on the rental search engine page
26% to 32% will go as far as looking through to page 3 of available properties
Only 17% will go further than page 4 of potential search rental results.
A standard ad can get lost down the list of available properties very quickly — you’ll find it on the third, fourth or tenth page in a very short amount of time. This risks it not being viewed by potential tenants.
Step 4: Boost its visibility
When advertising on major property portals such as realestate.com.au, there are a couple of options that can boost your chances of finding a good tenant, quickly. These are:
Premiere Property —This gives you priority positioning to maximise potential tenant views and enquiries, which helps decrease the days your property spends on the rental market. Your property will be at the top of search results with a larger and more prominent ad and photos for 30 days. This will cost you around $180.
Feature Property — This helps attract more attention as your ad will appear above standard ads for 30 days. This will cost you around $111.
Step 5: I want to see it now!
When a prospective tenant has narrowed down their search results, they will want to see the property. Make sure they can book an inspection time online and provide multiple days/times for them to view the property. Yes, we all want things now! If your prospective tenant has to call or email you or the office to view the property, this can be an instant turn off. What’s even worse? If they have to call or email and then wait hours or days for a response from the property manager or owner.
By following these simple guidelines and, of course, with a suitable rent price on your property, you’ll find your property will be leased quicker than expected — even in the current market.
About the author
Maria Pace is a superhero leasing executive at Empire Estate Agents in Victoria Park. With a passion for property that has lasted more than 10 years, Maria has a vast array of skills in relation to property from trust accounting, property management, sales administration and leasing. Maria advertises, conducts viewings and checks applications on a daily basis so she knows exactly what gets a property leased