How Proactive Should Your Lettings Agent Be?
It can sometimes be disappointing, once the dust has settled, your property has been uploaded to the portals, the initial flurry of first viewings have taken place – and then suddenly, silence. There are plenty of reasons why this happens...
It can sometimes be disappointing, once the dust has settled, your property has been uploaded to the portals, the initial flurry of first viewings have taken place – and then suddenly, silence.
There are plenty of reasons why this happens, the market may have changed, the price could be too high, else simply the agent has other properties easier to rent than yours and suddenly the limelight is moved and your property is left empty. A common misconception with many agents is that all you need are professional photos, some additional portal advertising and the job is done.
However, there are always techniques a good agent will use to encourage viewings:
1. Heads Up Property Alerts - Our prospective tenants all sign up to our GLP property heads up alerts, allowing us to ensure that your property and any updates on your property listing is seen instantly by those who would be perfect tenants for your property.
2. Interactive Virtual Viewing Platform – a new technology created by Gavl whereby the agent walks around your property videoing it live across the world. With potentially hundreds of potential buyers watching the live viewing, they are able to ask questions, request a closer look at certain details of the property and get an idea of the surrounding area. GLP are uniquely the first agent in London to use this platform and already it has become a hugely successful integral part of our Lettings Process.
3. Pick up the phone. At Greater London Properties from Day One we exhaust our Customer Database and phone all applicants looking specifically in your price bracket to inform them of your property. In addition to this they also receive an email and a text alert.
4. A unique software. GLP work with a software which alerts us as soon an applicant has opened our email about your property – this means we can call these applicants immediately to ensure all their questions are answered as comprehensively as possible and we can get viewings booked in.
5. Social Media Campaign. For every instruction, we build a Social Media Campaign across all platforms. This package includes;
a. A paid advertisement with full photos to a targeted demographic and area (this depends on location of property and price point) and is shown as a ‘sponsored post’ on peoples Instagram and Facebook pages.
b. A story with full description posted to our own Greater London Properties pages across all the platforms – Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.
c. We also run local resident groups across Central London made up of hundreds of followers where we are able to promote any properties that are taking longer to move.
6. Feedback. Receiving honest feedback from each viewer or each applicant which has expressed they do not want to view is essential, to ensure that we can provide each landlord with the reason why a property is proving to be popular or unpopular, in order for both the agent and the landlord to make any necessary changes. Greater London Properties request feedback verbally on the viewing itself, however also follow up with an automated email to ask them further once they have had time to think.
These are simply a few ways our Residential Team aim to be as pro-active as possible, sometimes it will simply come down to the price of the property however we would always exhaust all options before advising on a price reduction.
If you would like to discuss your property with us in more detail, please give us a call today on 0207 734 4062 and we will do everything possible to help.
Warm Regards
Kate Hill
Director