Shelter is one of our basic physiological needs. People are constantly on the lookout for rental properties; and they do this through many channels—the internet, family and friends, estate agents, and word of mouth.
If you are looking to fill up a vacancy on your rental property, it is vital that you advertise the vacancy via as many channels as possible in order to reach prospective tenants from every angle. Of course, there are other things to consider, like arranging a good photoshoot for your rental property, deciding on the criteria for the tenants you want, and tailoring your adverts to attract them.
Other things you need to consider are the right price for your property, so that you don’t set your rent too high or too low; the important features and facilities that come with your rental property that should be highlighted; and more.
When you are done with these considerations, you then move on to the main part of advertising your rental property, which is placing those beautiful photos of your property somewhere potential tenants will find them and sending out word about the vacancy through the right channels.
Here are some of the ways you can advertise your rental property.
The internet is filled with people looking for one thing or another. It has become a great means of reaching out to prospective tenants. There is no one way to advertise your rental property online, seeing as the internet is very diverse. Making the most of the numerous resources available to you and employing more than one technique are the best ways to guarantee results.
First of all, this is where the pictures you got from your property’s photoshoot will pay off. On the internet, you aren’t talking to tenants face to face. Neither is your rental property across the street for you to point at. So detailed photos showing off great views of your property—its features and its facilities—will come in handy.
There are a number of general classified ad sites like Craigslist.co.uk and Gumtree that will allow you to list a property, however, it's important to remember that these sites are not dedicated property platforms, so instead of just buyers and tenants, you are advertising to anyone looking for anything from computers and clothes to furniture and fittings.
If you want to make sure that your property is seen by a large audience of serious tenants, then you will be much better off listing on a dedicated property website. TheHouseShop.com is the leading property classifieds site in the UK and works in a similar way to GumTree and CraigsList, but has been designed specifically and exclusively for property. Private landlords and sellers can advertise their rental property for free on TheHouseShop and reach tens of thousands of tenants every single day. There are very few other places on the web that can offer you this type of exposure at no cost - so it's well worth checking them out. Find out more about how private landlords can advertise on TheHouseShop here.
Rightmove.co.uk and Zoopla.co.uk are also viable options for advertising your property online, although you can only get to them through an agent, and not directly. They don’t only show off zoom-able photos of your property on their websites, and to their large Facebook and Twitter fan bases, but also provide property listings for top national newspapers like the Telegraph and Daily Mail.
Also, if you are renting out a property, social media accounts can be an excellent advertising tool. If you already have Twitter and Facebook accounts then you are good to go! However if you don't have personal social media accounts you may want to consider setting up an account specifically for promoting your rental properties. These accounts will be helpful when you have built up a community of people interested in real estate. Anytime you have a vacancy in your property, all you would need to do is share some pictures and info about the property and some of your followers, blog subscribers, Facebook friends et cetera will definitely reach out or share and tell their friends.
Pulling in over ninety million visitors per month, Rightmove.co.uk is not only UK’s #1 property website, it also ranks among the top ten busiest websites in the UK. With such impactful statistics, it’s no wonder the website is a choice destination for tenants and online agents.
Unfortunately, landlords can’t advertise directly on Rightmove. The property website only welcomes listings from estate agents and letting agents registered with them. It’s up to you to do your research properly in order to find and use an agent who will get you a listing on Rightmove at a reasonable commission.
Online letting agents have changed the way landlords and tenants find each other; not only are they cost effective, but they actually deliver. What online letting agents do is quite simple. They handle the legwork of attracting tenants for you by advertising your vacancy on various letting sites. Crucially, and online agent will be able to get your ad on both Rightmove and Zoopla for a fraction of the cost of a High Street letting agent.
Some online letting agents simply charge you an upfront fee while some others ask for a percentage commission on the rent of every tenant they acquire for you. It all depends on what works for you. Whichever option you choose will still be considerably cheaper than what high-street letting agents charge.
When you choose an online letting agent, it is important to research them—read and possibly verify their success stories, ask how often you will hear from them, and ask to get a list of the major places they will list your vacancy, so that when you hire them, you can easily confirm your listings on some of those sites.
If you want more help finding the right online agent for you then there are a number of websites that can help you compare the best online agents and find the best fit for you and your property. Find out more about comparing online estate agents here.
As a private landlord who doesn’t use the services of letting agents, there are a wide range of options available to you when it comes to advertising your rental property. Here are some of them:
A lot of people search for rental properties in newspapers, especially on weekends. This presents a good opportunity for you to reach out to them. The downside is that putting up an advert in a newspaper, even something as simple as a few lines of text, costs money. There are some print publications that will let you advertise for free, such as FridayAd, but you will not get a huge amount of exposure by doing this alone.
This is another viable way of advertising your rental property privately. You can place small posters or flyers with photographs of your property and bold headlines on bulletin boards in churches, bus stops, grocery stores et cetera in the same community or town as the property. Passers-by will definitely notice them. Remember to include an address and your phone number on the notice.
It works every time. Tell your friends, family, and even present tenants—if you have some—about the vacancy on your rental property and ask them to spread the word. Tell everyone. The waiter that serves you lunch in your neighbourhood restaurant, your co-workers, or your gardener are all worth telling. Hand out flyers. Who knows? They will tell people they know and potential tenants will come looking for you from all angles.
A lot of landlords do it. Why not you, too? Put it up on your lawn by your front door or in the window with your phone number boldly written on it. It likely isn’t going to pull many tenants to you. It might even be overlooked by passers-by. But maybe, just maybe, someone will notice it. Even if that someone has no need for a rental property they may know someone that does.
As a private landlord, the internet is your best friend. Post photo adverts on your website and social media profiles. Some of your followers, online friends, subscribers et cetera might need to rent a property around your area or, perhaps, know someone that does. Also, listing your property on rental website works too. There are a number of Facebook groups dedicated to private rental property in certain areas, so try searching for "private rental property in x" and see if you can post an ad in a local group. These groups are visited by both landlords and tenants, and it's totally free to post your ad!
TheHouseShop.com is the number 1, free-to-list property website for private landlords in the UK. Private landlords can create a free listing on TheHouseShop.com and reach tens of thousands of tenants in a matter of minutes. Our easy to use advert creator will help you create a powerful property ad in under 5 minutes and guide you through the process from start to finish.
There are some websites where you can list your property for free: like MakeYourMove.co.uk and FreeAds.co.uk. While the latter is totally free, the former offers a 21-day free trial of their listing service and will get your rental property listed on major sites. The downside is that Make Your Move will charge tenants a referencing fee of up to £96 and that may scare potential tenants away.
Another site that will handle your listing for free is Trulia.com.
You can also list your property for free on your own website and social media profiles, and even on your friends and family’s websites and social media profiles. Just ask them for the favour; some of them will be glad to help.
It is already established that a landlord can’t get his property listed on Rightmove directly. But what if you don’t want to go through an agent because of the ridiculous commissions?
TheHouseShop can help you compare online letting agents and find a low cost fixed-fee service that will get your property listed on both Rightmove and Zoopla. That’s huge considering the impact Rightmove will make on your search for potential tenants.
It can be tough deciding which online agent is the best fit for your property, but this article comparing the Top 10 Online Estate Agents should give you somewhere to start.
That way you get to list your rental property for a limited time on Rightmove without paying any agent a dime. This is as close as you can get to getting listed on Rightmove privately.
