Recently, I had a property that had become empty and was sitting on the rental market for a couple of weeks with very little interest.
This was unusual: every time it had been empty before it had been let almost instantly. So I took a look at the letting agent’s listing and checked for obvious problems. It was fine: good photos, clear description, all the information needed.
Then I searched for other nearby listings, and the problem immediately jumped out at me: there were two other near-identical flats in the same block being advertised at £50 per month less.
Clearly, no applicant was going to call about mine – they’d enquire about the cheaper ones first. And even if they’d both been taken already, it gave the agent for those listings the chance to show them other properties and mine would never be seen.
So I asked my agent to drop the price by £50 to match the others. Within two days, the property had been rented to someone who seems, on paper, to be the dream tenant.
Small changes, big difference
I’m sharing this story because it demonstrates an important truth: however hot the lettings market is, it’s always highly price-sensitive. Even being slightly mis-calibrated with the local market can kill any potential enquiries.
This is particularly true at the moment, when prices have been rising so aggressively for the past couple of years. Landlords and agents are in the habit of increasing the rent every time a property becomes vacant – so they might not have noticed if market prices have stagnated, or even slightly reversed.
The critical first week
Realistically, you can tell if you’ve got something wrong almost straight away. If your property is an area of strong demand, the phone should start ringing instantly. If you haven’t had any good enquiries after the first week, it’s unlikely that something will magically happen in week two to change the situation.
(There are exceptions to this. For example, if you’ve bought in a new development where many units are completing at the same time, it might take a couple of months for the temporary supply/demand imbalance to work its way through – and that’s fine, because you will have anticipated this and factored it in.)
Whether you’re letting your property yourself or via an agent, the first week is critical: if you’re not getting the right response, double-check that the price is right.
A little about Rob Dix
Rob Dix is one of the co-founders of Property Hub, and now serves as its Marketing Director.
Rob has been investing in property for over 12 years. He started just investing on the side as something to do with his spare cash, but soon became obsessed: in 2012 he started his Property Geek blog as a way of exploring the ideas behind successful investment in more depth.
His own property portfolio has given him the flexibility to travel the world with his family, and the freedom to do what he loves: learn, simplify, then pass that knowledge on.
As Marketing Director of Property Hub, Rob is responsible for producing outstanding educational resources, then spreading them to inform and inspire as many investors as possible.
You can hear Rob along with co-founder Rob Bence every week on The Property Podcast.
