Since the end of May this year, the Rentright team have been watching from our office window as the new branch of letting specialist Leaders has taken shape here in Basingstoke.

It has been fascinating to see how MPL Interiors have completely refurbished an old printing shop – rapidly transforming it from a tired old shop-front in much need of a lick of paint to an exciting, vibrant and sophisticated Lettings Agency that catches the eye of all traffic passing through the centre of Basingstoke.

My colleague Dan and I popped down for the grand opening on the 5^th of August – whilst Dan did sterling work recording the proceedings for posterity I met with the party-goers to find out what this new branch means to everyone.

 Local developer and landlord Martin Smith, who has worked with such high-profile clients as Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, cut the ribbon to declare the new branch officially open. Mr Smith was very pleased to have been asked along and was enthusiastic about the stunning new branch.

 Basingstoke branch manager Kim Smith says: “Our new office looks fantastic and gives us much more space to welcome our clients and accommodate our growing business. We are very excited about becoming part of the UK’s largest independent letting chain and launching the Leaders brand here in Basingstoke”.

 It was a great day to invite members of the local community, businesses, landlords and tenants to witness the official opening – all in all it was a highly successful opening event and has placed Leaders firmly on the Basingstoke map!The Rentright Team would like to take the opportunity to wish Leaders Basingstoke the best of luck with their new venture and look forward to working closely with Leaders in the near and distant future.

 Flats to rent and houses for rent through Leaders Basingstoke can be seen on Rentright.co.uk.

 For advice you can trust on all aspects of renting or letting in Basingstoke please call Leaders on 0844 504 9805 or pop in to see the new office and meet the friendly team at 26 Winchester Street, Basingstoke, RG21 7DZ.

The first rule of letting a property in undoubtedly attracting an audience and, like anything, a home has to be aesthetically pleasing for a tenant. You wouldn’t buy an ugly coat, and you especially wouldn’t pay a monthly fee for the privilege. You obviously have to consider practicality; does this coat fit my size? Will it match my shoes? And will it stand the test of time? All important factors, but ultimately, if it isn’t attractive you aren’t going to buy it!

With this principle in mind I have always wondered why some agents just haven’t mastered the art of flattering photography!

1. MESS     

This is pure common sense. As an agent, or a landlord you are trying to advertise and market your property, if it looks like a teenager’s bedroom you can be sure that won’t be happening for a long while. It always amazes me when I see a property advertised that is nothing short of a shambles, broken furniture/dirty clothes lining the floors. Admittedly, it is not the agent, nor is it the landlords fault that the current tenant is filthy/lazy it just astonishes me that some people have no shame. Regardless of who is responsible it is a sure fire way to keep a property vacant for a very long time.

2. Not enough

Another common problem I’ve noticed is the lack of images available for perusal. When comparing a large array of property and committing to a tenancy you want to know what you are getting, every last inch of it.  From personal experience I will say that this little faux paus can lead to all sorts of assumptions, for example, nice bathroom- check, good sized kitchen- check, bedroom-no bedroom? And instantly you convince yourself that the bedroom must be a box, have mould growing from the ceiling and generally just isn’t somewhere you would want to sleep at night! A pretty cynical view but as we all know, a picture paints a thousand words.   

3. Too much               

This leads me on to images that expose maybe a little too much information. Those close-ups of dodgy wires and loose plugs. A little bit of peeling wallpaper, a garish paint job and even worse five images of the same empty room.

I am all for honesty, and bearing every last air and grace of a property can be a sign of a reputable agent but I can’t help wondering if giving it all away at the first point leaves little mystery. If I see a property, with a four poster bed, a ten acre garden and a Cinderella staircase I fall in love with it, if I then see the canary yellow bathroom and red wine stain on the rug am I less likely to view?  If I see the main selling points when browsing, and later go and visit I am probably more likely to forgive the minor flaws because I have now seen the property in the flesh.

In terms of how much or how little to show a searcher, I think a happy medium is the way to go, a few rooms, outside space and anything extraordinary, you don’t want to exaggerate the grandeur of any property as a viewing may result in a complete waste of time.

4. The show home.

When I look at a house, like most people I like to imagine myself and my furniture in it. I see a show home and I totally forget I even have any furniture. With penthouses kitted out with a chaise longue and stylish glass tables it is easy to miss what you are often buying- a shell. I am not criticizing the integrity of an image, as most agents do clarify whether or not the property includes furnishings but I always imagine how disappointing it must be when the house is emptied and you feel you have been cheated. 

5. No exterior image.

This is one I can’t get my head around. Again, the coat analogy, however warm and cozy it is on the inside, if it’s ugly you won’t buy it. And similarlily, if you only saw a picture of its sheep fur lining, (however luxurious it looked) would you really be inclined to buy it?

It is a shame because so many properties are exceptional on the inside but lack that je ne sais quoi on the outside and maybe that is why agent’s don’t publish those image, tenants can be charmed by a property so can accept a less than appealing entrance. However, I do think it must be quite embarrassing when on viewing you see a tenants face drop when they see the house. They have been promised something quite spectacular and lets be honest, first impressions count.

 With the internet now a shop window for advertising it is no wonder letting agents are branching out to new areas for marketing their stock. With around 80% of potential tenants starting their search online, a strong internet base is vital for agents. With the various portals and directories agents are spoilt for choice when finding the most appropriate outlet and many use every last portal/directory to maximise exposure.  As well as advertising their property to a wide audience, this also allows for subliminal advertising and the ability to create a broad client base for the future. The tool that many agents seem to be missing out on is the email newsletter, I think the ability to establish long term relationships and expose your brand further is key to any business and seems to be a cheaper and more forward thinking approach to reaching your audience so lets hope with technology the way it is we may see a surge of email newsletters in the industry.

These are two very different aspects of marketing your letting agency and your portfolio and there are differences in promoting each of them.  Get it wrong on one of these counts and it could result in your letting agency failing or at the very best a reduction in business.  It is very important to engage with your market place and gain distinction between you and your competitors and the only way to do this is to promote your brand and your services and this is entirely independent from your property portfolio.

If you advertise your property in a newspaper or online is this enough to promote your brand? Possibly not, it doesn’t tell the consumer anything about your agency and why it would be better for a tenant to rent a property through you.  OK, it may show your brand (in some instances) and for many this is the mind set, as long as people see the property they will know who and what you do.  If people instantly know your brand and can associate this with quality, great service and other excellent traits then you are more likely to win more clients and have a great retention of landlords and tenants.

It is important to create a budget to both promote your agency and your brand as well as the property in your portfolio, by doing both you are going to win on both counts and gain a competitive edge over your competitors of which for most they are unlikely to be promoting themselves.  By promoting your brand you may well be attracting yourself to potential future renters and this is very important, for anyone who is looking for property for now or the future may associate your brand with that location and ultimately you will benefit.  The internet is a very important advertising mechanism and sites like Rentright allow you to promote your agency via a dedicated profile page and of course your property.  The profile page is a place where the agent can sell their agency branch, what makes you different and why and this is an essential element in promoting your two pronged advertising strategy.

For all your Rental Property needs whether you are a tenant, landlord or letting agent you need to visit rentright.co.uk

Rentright is a Lettings only portal that has chosen to stay with the method of their customers paying a set monthly amount each month for advertising, rather than on a pay per lead basis.

Websites such as Zoopla, who have bought out propertyfinder.com, have chosen the pay per lead basis as has the newer website propertyindex.com. Both sites charge £1 per lead and around £3/£4 per Landlord/Vendor enquiry. It will be interesting to see what happens with the newly acquired propertyfinder.com pricing module. Given that zoopla claim the pay per lead is the way forward, one could assume that propertyfinder.com’s pricing will change. It remains to be seen.

Anyway, which is right and which is wrong? Who are we to judge? However, we at Rentright, have been around Southampton and Portsmouth this week getting the word on the street from both existing and new customers. Very definitely the feedback, all bar one person was that a set monthly amount is much better as it allows an agent to budget their marketing spend annually. Given trying times this seems the most effective option. The one agent who seemed happy with the idea was asked “why do you feel differently to others we have asked” – response being: “I have not had a lead yet, it has cost me nothing, so I can not say”. Interesting stuff?

The main feedback has been as to how you quantify a lead. Is it a specific viewing request, more information required, or a non specific “I’m looking to Rent in Portsmouth, I’m looking to Rent in Southampton?”

Some agents have even suggested that some of the more unscrupulous counterparts would send dodgy emails to the competition. However I have been reassured there are measures in place to contest any discrepancy in charging. All well and good, but here at Rentright we feel that our time money and effort is better spent in genuine customer service, rather than arguing with an agent what is a lead or not a lead. It also helps keep our membership costs at an extremely affordable level.

As we are active in SEO, we have no need for pay per click and neither do we have a need for pay per lead. 

Visit Rentright for all UK rental properties.

Its an interesting point that a tenant made to me the other day and i felt I needed to pass this information on, in a nutshell this prospective tenant went to look at a property, now from the internal pictures and the description it sounded great and as the Tenant did not know the area it sounded and looked great so a visit was arranged through the letting agents. when the tenant turned up in the area she found that the area was not to her liking and she rejected the property, needless to say the agents and the tenants time were both wasted as no matter how good the internals were, the street did not do anything to sell the house. 

If you are a letting agent and are looking for ways to take your business forward during the credit crunch then you will be looking for a cost effective service that provides results to get you tenants into vacant rental property on your books.  There are lots of property rental portals which promise the earth and can not deliver on their promise, Rentright does deliver and gives you much more besides.

As an established website Rentright has excellent positions in the major search engines, whilst also having lots of links with lots of property websites and resources to bring you visitors from a multitude of different areas.  The Rentright coverage is far reaching and continues to grow on a day by day basis, so what can you expect from the site, below is just a few of the services you will get,

• Unlimited Rental Property Uploads
• Unlimited Locations
• Dedicated Profile Page
• Full Agency Branding
• Leads straight to your Inbox
• Logged in Agent Area to view stats, update profile and more
• Offsite Property Promotion
• Full Agency Contact Details

These are just a few of the fantastic services you can enjoy when you are a registered letting agent on the Rentright website.  You can get all of this for a fantastic low monthly price with no tie in contracts, so for cost effective advertising just click on one of the links in this post for further details.

Cost Effective Letting Agents Advertising