There’s a lot of development going on right now, particularly in Brisbane. The sheer size and number of new apartment buildings that are coming online is placing some strain on existing managers trying to find tenants to fill vacancies.
According to senior economist Dr Andrew Wilson from Domain, increased stock will have a short-term impact on rent in Brisbane while the additional stock is being filled. “Even though we might see some over-supply impact the market, Brisbane will generate an inner-city lifestyle,” Dr Wilson said. “It might happen (over-supply) in the short to medium-term, but the outlook for that type of development in Brisbane is very positive, and will balance over time.”
That’s all good and well over the long-term, but for managers with units sitting vacant now, how can we get them filled without slashing rent? Here’s a few tips to help you.
Tip 1: Market like a professional.
RealEstate.com.au have recently changed their listing layouts considerably. One of the biggest things they did was to remove basically any text on the search results. No headlines, no synopses… all you get to communicate about your listing now is 1 photo and how much the rent is… This means your options are very limited now in what you can say about your listing to get people to click into it. You therefore need to exploit those options for maximum benefit. The photo is absolutely critical. Don’t try and take photos with your mobile phone they look amateurish at best and like absolute rubbish at worst. Use a professional photographer. Select the image which shows the best aspect of the property for the main image. This is what your competitors are doing in those new high-rises. If you want to compete with them, you need to keep up with them.
Tip 2: Consider feature listings.
When it comes to rentals, only 30% of users on RealEstate.com.au scroll past page 1. If you don’t feature your listing, you’ll *start* on at least page 2 or three. This means most people will never even see your rental. Featured listings are the answer. You can book and pay for them online quickly and easily and they’ll ensure you’re getting better exposure for your owners.
Tip 3: Stay competitive.
You need to make sure your owners keep up with the competition. Remind them about the new stock coming online… does their unit need recarpeting? Repainting? Etc? If owners want to get the same rents as newer property they need to keep their property as-new. If carpets or walls were damaged by outgoing tenants make sure their bond is used to replace these and get the owners to kick in the cost of any other improvements to keep the property competitive. The last time my tenant moved out I made use of the time it was sitting empty to get it re-furbished. I spent over seven thousand dollars completely repainting and recarpeting my apartment in Teneriffe. It was worth it, by the time I’d finished the make-over, a tenant was ready to move in and the property presents as-new again for another few years.
And if you need carpeters, painters, electricians, plumbers, handymen, you-name-it, we now have a fantastic new trade service for you on the website! All you need to do is click here and to register your job with us now. Simply type roughly what you need (eg: ‘Blind repairs’) put in your name and number and click submit and that’s it! Within moments we’ll have fully insured, licenced, police-checked professionals contacting you to get the job sorted. It’s never been easier or faster to get your repairs done!
Tip 4: Make an offer.
Every week a unit sits empty the owner is losing hundreds, even thousands of dollars. It is a scenario to be avoided at all cost… but you can turn that lost rent into a win! If your previous tenant is about to move out, and you know you haven’t found a replacement yet, then you know the unit is going to be sitting empty for at least a week. Why not offer a week, heck even 2 weeks, free rent to get a tenant in there fast? It was going to be sitting there not generating rent anyway, but at least now you’ve got a signed lease and a tenant on the books.
These offers are very effective, but you must make sure prospective tenants are made aware of them for them to work. Remembering that RealEstate.com.au doesn’t show any headline or ad text in the search results now, there’s only one way you can get this message across to tenants: The price field. The way the price field works, you have a numerical price that is mandatory. For example: “550” which would display “$550 per week”. However there’s also a ‘Display’ field on your listings. By default, it’s blank. But if you put something into the display field, it will display in place of the price field. Don’t be fooled though, the display field won’t reformat your text. If you put 550 in the display field, it will show literally 550 and look very unprofessional. You need to format what you put in there. For example “$550 and 2 weeks free rent!” will show that on the listing instead of the normal price. This is a great way to get people to click into the listing.
Remember, use professional photography, upgrade your advertising, encourage your owners to overhaul their older property, and use your price display field to maximum benefit. If you do this, you’ll have the best fighting chance of minimizing downtime and filling those vacancies.
– See more at: http://www.theonsitemanager.com.au/management-rights-information/3798416-Strategies-for-Filling-Vacancies#sthash.U9AQOrC3.dpuf