Five Tips for Attracting the Best Tenants
The Holy Grail of the rental sector is attracting the best tenants. It is not enough for letting agents to simply fill properties; to truly offer value for landlords and to retain them as clients, you need to provide good quality renters.
Of course there is no foolproof formula for attracting the best tenants, but you can put in place solid building blocks to give yourself the best chance. Here are five tips for finding high quality renters for your landlords.
Work Out Who the Best Tenants Are
The first step to attracting the best tenants is to know who you are looking for. You could work this out by discussing desirable traits with each landlord. Alternatively, you could come up with a list separately that can apply to each tenancy.
This might contain details of types of employment, renting history, personality traits and so on. By working out who you want to target, you make it easier to find the tenants that will be easiest to work with, who will pay their rent on time and look after the property.
Target Advertising at the Quality Tenants
Once you have identified the types of quality tenants you are looking for, you need to advertise your properties to them effectively. This could mean placing adverts in the sorts of publications that they might read or in the places that they visit. However, it can also mean picking out the key features of the property that will appeal to them most.
If you want to attract young professionals, then pointing out that a property has a large kitchen ideal for socialising makes a lot of sense. Similarly, its proximity to pubs and restaurants would be a key selling point to your ideal customer.
The ideal way of attracting the best tenants is to appeal to their pain points or their aspirations. Are your ideal renters a family? Might they want to have children soon? If so, accentuate the features that fit these needs when promoting the property.
Communication is Key
When it comes to attracting the best tenants, communication is key. The better you communicate, right from their very first enquiry and throughout the tenancy process, the more they will be inclined to reciprocate that respect.
If a tenant knows that a letting agent will consider their requests fairly and give prompt and full answers to their queries, the less likely they are to try and sneak in pets or lodgers, for example, without informing you.
Even if you have to turn down requests from tenants, they are more likely to accept the decision if you have that mutually respectful relationship. It is all about building a relationship and rapport. This can lead to a smoother tenancy and make the occupier more likely to extend their tenancy at renewal time.
If you can supply happy and content tenants, your landlords will appreciate your hard work too.
Ensure the Property is in Great Condition From the Start
Being able to show viewers a clean and problem-free property is a great way to go about attracting the best tenants. These premium renters require their potential abodes to be well presented. They expect to move in and to not have to immediately badger you to fix problems around the place. They want to be able to settle in as soon as possible and that means maintenance issues must be made good before they arrive to look around for the first time.
Cleanliness during a viewing is important too. The best tenants want to know that the property is looked after and marks, stains and dust could suggest a level of neglect. To prevent these potential renters looking elsewhere, make sure the property is looking its best.
We provide a full maintenance service as part of our property management packages. This saves you time and ensures that your properties are always ready for tenants. We also attend to repair jobs swiftly, effectively and professionally. See our Make Lettings Easier page for more information.
Make Sure Tenants Can Afford to Live as Well as Pay Rent
Some letting agents just check that a prospective tenant can afford to pay the rent and look no further. However, there are a number of extra expenses that renters need to deal with, including Council Tax, utility bills, food costs, commuting expenses and more. Ensuring that their wage covers the rent is important, but if they only earn a little more per month, they could soon fall into arrears.
There only needs to be one big, unexpected bill come in or a long sickness absence from work and the tenant might not be able to afford the rent. Every letting agent has to set their own standards for income from their tenants versus the rent they will pay. Some set the bar at thirty times the monthly rental per annum; some more, some less. You should think about what makes sense for you, but beware of accepting renters that have very little wiggle room.
Attracting the best tenants for your landlords means those that will not suddenly stop paying halfway through the tenancy.
Attracting the Best Tenants and Keeping Them
Executive Property Management Solutions can help you attract high quality tenants and keep them too. Outsourcing your property management to us means you can spend more time building a relationship with viewers and tenants. It also means that your properties are well looked after, which helps retain the best renters.
Contact us today by calling 0208 5757630 to find out what we can do for you.
