There have been quite a few threads recently in some of the Social Media groups discussing how to fill voids and what works and what doesn’t when it comes to room advertising. So here at Go Tenant! we have compiled our best tips that may help you fill those annoying and costly voids.
Like anything that we do, we have to move with the times, if we sit back and rest on our laurels then we will simply be swallowed up by the competition.**
Here are our top 10 tips to help you fill those voids.
Take professional photos. This will pay dividends in the long run, professional photographs of the room will certainly help you, take a look on some of the online room for sale websites and see how poor the quality of the photos are, this is the first thing that any prospective tenant will see, so create the best first impressions.
Bump the advert up regularly Most online advertising platforms will allow you to “refresh” your advert this will put it back to the top of the list for now at least. But make sure that you do this on a daily basis
Move the photos around regularly A great way to keep those adds fresh is to move the photo’s around regularly, by this I mean the thumbnail image of the room, kitchen and living room etc. A great tip is to move these around at least once a week.
Dress the room This is very important! You may have seen some of those adverts that literally have a bear bed and mattress, then nothing else in the room! They look terrible don’t they! Grab a set of bed linen, and some pictures and bric a brac, and get those rooms dressed, the great thing is that you can use this over and over again on future rooms.
Sell the lifestyle not the room Many adverts on listing sites don’t do the property or the room justice, they are very short and undescriptive. A good idea is to sell the lifestyle not just the room, what does this mean? Ok let me explain, if you sell the lifestyle the room offers, such as “This property is right in the heart of the City and a 2-minute walk to the station, no more worrying about car parking or being late for work! There are 3 gyms to choose locally which are all within 3 minutes of the property, so you never need to miss your workout. Gastro bars and Bistros are in abundance close by, we know that you work hard, and these allow you to chill out with a glass of wine or cold beer after a busy day at work” That’s just an example, it’s so different to the main adverts that we see on these sites isn’t it? Its way more attractive, if you use this tactic you will definitely get more viewings.
Drop the price as an incentive Whilst pricing is important you may want to offer a small discount at the beginning as an incentive to get the property occupied, make this clear and obvious in the advert, maybe say something like “100 off the first month’s rent if reserved before the end of this month” This is an eye catcher and may be attractive to some prospects.
Remove fees I know that from April 2019 we will no longer be able to charge fees, but at least for now we are ok. As an incentive maybe drop the fees to half price or even zero!
Contact existing Tenants and offer an incentive Speak to your current Tenants, ask them if they know anyone that may be interested in taking a room, and if they do then there is a reward in it for them! You can decide how much to pay them, but it will need to be enough to motivate them! And the great thing is the current housemates are only likely to recommend people that they like and get along with!
Contact local employers If you have large companies or hospitals locally try writing to the HR dept and asking if they would consider recommending you staff looking to relocate or staff on graduate schemes etc. Perhaps prepare a nice PDF presentation to send to them.
Repeat until you have filled the void Like anything in business, we have to remain on top of our game and we have to continually “tap the wheel” to keep it moving repeat all of the above points constantly until you fill that void!