Are you frustrated with the quality of tenants you’re attracting or the length of time your property is void? The advertising stage of your rental process can be easily overlooked and not properly taken advantage of in your efforts to find reliable and quality tenants.
Preparing your property
Your property should be in as near perfect condition as possible before you let. This includes everything from freshly painted interior walls and if necessary the exterior as well, clean windows, well maintained garden and cleaned or new flooring. Having all this work done right will prepare you for the most important step in your advertising process - your photography.
Photography
In the current market, most landlords will find that their properties are being rented regardless of whether or not the tenant has even seen any photos or not (not really, but it is crazy out there right now). However, if you find that your properties are not shifting as fast as you would like, or the right clientele are not applying, then the most likely culprit is the images or other media you are choosing to advertise your property with.
Once you have your property looking its best, it’s time to take some photos. We’ve had our own professional photographer send over some tips for anyone who fancies giving it a go themselves on a budget.
Lesson 1 - No Portrait Mode (mostly)
When using a phone camera to take photos of your property, at least have the phone in Landscape mode as this will show off a much wider view of the space. The only exemption from this rule would be any tight spaces like small bathrooms etc. A portrait shot here may provide much more information than a narrow landscape attempt.
Lesson 2 - Chest Height
Hold your camera/phone at chest height when shooting property photography. It may not seem very intuitive, but definitely makes a big difference and can help give a better sense of space. Try it out!
Lesson 3 - Lighting
Depending on the quality of your camera/phone the level of light should be ok once you make sure to have all interior lighting on despite the time of day. Without a professional lighting setup in place, this will at least make sure lighting is at a minimum in those dark corners etc.
Lesson 4 - Keep It Level
This can be trickier than it seems, but there are many cheap tripods etc that can help you make sure your photos are level and straight. Lines should always be as close to horizontal or vertical as possible.
Some great tips there for anyone thinking of taking on the challenge themselves. Of course there are other mediums being used by landlords these days such as Video tours or the latest trend - particularly since Covid - the 360 Virtual Tour. These can be wonderful assets to help promote your property, but they are best left to the pros to produce.
Where To Advertise?
When you finally have your property ready to go and your shiny new promotional assets like photos and virtual tours, where is the best place to advertise? Well there isn’t a simple answer to this really. Everywhere would probably be the most appropriate. Obvious powerhouses like Daft and MyHome should be used, but don’t overlook other outlets such as Social media groups and traditional print media.
