Void Periods

TOP TIPS ON HOW TO MINIMISE VOID PERIODS

If there is one thing we hate more than anything here at www.upad.co.uk, then it would have to be void periods. The last thing anyone needs is for their rental property to be lying empty, nothing but a drain on their resources. Therefore, it is imperative to get tenants in as quickly as is possible, and here are a few simple ways to help this process along:

1. The first step is to make sure that the property is presentable - clean, tidy and with a decent level of decoration. Good tenants are not easy to come by and you don’t want to immediately scare off a possible lead with a dirty kitchen, bags of rubbish and tatty, stained carpets. Your property needs to be presentable.
   
   
2. However, it’s not good enough having a great property to rent if no-one knows that it’s there, and there is no better way of making your property as visible as possible with the minimum of effort as by using the internet. Websites such as Rightmoveand FindaPropertyget the widest coverage, so it is crucial to get listed on as many of these as possible, including free listing sites like Gumtreeand ToRent. This said, it can be time-consuming and costly getting your property onto all of them, so find a company that can do this for you. upad, for example, automatically lists any property uploaded onto its site onto over 100 portals sites, including the aforementioned sites. This way, most of the work is taken out of your hands while the internet is still working hard to find your tenant.
   
   
3. Make yourself available at short notice for viewings and enquiries. If someone contacts you, don’t give them the opportunity to find a different place to live. Arrange an appointment and get them into the property as quickly as possible.
   
   
4. Don’t set the rent too high. It makes far more economic sense to get a property rented at £50 less than you hoped for than waiting four weeks for the chance of a higher price. Over the year, you will potentially lose out financially.
   
   
5. Sweeten the deal. If it will help to make the sale, offer them something extra in return – a television license or broadband for example. Paying out an additional £50 per quarter will be more than worth it in the long run.
   
   
6. Finally, it is worth keeping a record of where any enquiries are coming from. This way, when you need to rent your property out again, you will know where to target your efforts and where not to waste your precious time.