How to use Google Keyword Planner for your property management company

Google Keyword planner for your property management company

Using Google keyword planner is an excellent way to start off your SEO strategy. Google Keyword planner allows you to see what search terms are being searched for on a monthly average. You can be very specific and break this down by regions such as country and county.

Image credit Michael Wolf

Who is your target market

The very first step in your SEO or SEM plan is to understand who your target market is.

If you are like most letting agents or property managers in any town or city you are most likely struggling to find new landlords and rental properties and have ample tenants on your tenant database. So if this is the case your target market should be landlords. Your content marketing within the site should be aimed at landlords

What are the search terms that landlords use?

Put yourself in the landlord’s shoes and type into Google what you think they would search for in order to employ a letting agency or property management company. As you do this make sure to localise it to a particular market so for example use “property Management London”, this is the type of term that a landlord would normally only search for. These search terms are called long tail keywords search terms and by using these within your site you are more likely to attract your target market.

Examples of Search terms

Below is a graph which illustrates search terms.

Property = 165,000 monthly searches. High volume monthly searches which can generate non qualified visitors. While this will look good on your Google analytics it wont look good when it comes to converting traffic to customers.

Property Management = 60,500 monthly searches. The visitor should be more interested in your service but if the visitor has a property in Newcastle and you operate in London then its not so good

Property Management London = 720 monthly searches. The visitor is most likely looking for a property management company in London and if this is the area you cover your visitor can convert into a customer.

Examples of long tail keywords landlords use

Property management company in London
Management agent in London

If you wish to receive a full list of landlord search terms for your area please email andreas@rentview.com

TIP

In a previous blog post I discussed writing content for your pocket not your ego, what I mean by this is do not try to write content just because it gets 165,000 searches a month.

Google Keyword Planner

Using Google keyword planner is an excellent way to start off your SEO strategy. Google Keyword planner allows you to monthly search volume of specific search terms. You can be very specific and break this down by regions such as country city, town etc.

Multiply Keywords

A really nice feature I am very fond of using is the multiply keywords section, here you can insert multiple keywords and include multiple areas. Google will then give you a return of average monthly search history assorted by volume, by having this detail you can then plan what content your property management or letting agency website should have in order to attract your target market.

So if you are like most property management companies and letting agencies looking to make their letting agency website convert more landlords from visitors look at your long tail keywords.

January 30, 2014

Property Management Blogs

Successful Property Management Blogs

So your looking to build more traffic to your property management website and you want to show your knowledge in property management industry. The best way to do this is through property management blogging in my opinion.

Let me tell you a little story

I recently started to work with a couple of clients who are doing a really great job in putting out some good property management blogs. The topics are relevant for landlords and the blog titles get decent monthly searches so as a result they are starting to build new traffic to the site. Great they thought…

Fast forward three months

So lets now fast forward a few months.. The property management blogs have attracted over 1400 unique visitors to the sites in three months and from looking at the Google Analytics everything looks great. However none of the blog visitors have converted from being a visitor to being a customer.

Now I know it takes time to build your audience and trust within a blog before you have conversions i.e a website visitor turning into a customer. But that’s not the problem here the problem is the blog titles and content. You see there is two types of blog posts, one designed to get lots of traffic which is not targeted and then there is the targeted blog posts which deliver qualified traffic.

Two types of blogs in my opinion

High volume blog titles which are designed to land you lots of traffic.

While it sounds like a great idea searching Google keyword planner for long tail keywords with high monthly volume its normally not going to put leads in your inbox. Some property management companies and letting agents make mistakes in writing property management blogs with titles such as “Renting yields”

While it gets a high volume of 1400 monthly searches what’s the likelihood of these visitors being in your market, and what I mean by that is having a rental property in your market. It is fine for a nationwide agency, service provider or software company as they are not looking for a client in a particular area.

Image credit VCU UNS

Targeted Blog titles which send you qualified visitors

Now I know writing blogs can be time consuming and once written you want to see lots of traffic but ask yourself a simple question “are you writing a blog for your ego or for your pocket”?

And if your reading this blog post your most likely looking to write a blog post for your pocket.

So lets say I am a Letting agency in London by looking at a blog title such as “Renting yields” and localising it to my location “Renting yields in london” I can then write a blog post which increases the chance of being read by my target market which is a property investor or landlord looking at rental yields in London.

It only gets 50 searches a month which is just over 3% of the first blog title but these are targeted blog titles for the property management industry in a particular location which should result in leads.

We all suffer from writers block and creativity problems but once you convert your first customer through a blog it becomes all worth it.

Here are some ideas for blogging for your agency and here is 10 blog topics for your letting agency.

Image credit Nina Matthews

Writing content to convert traffic

So once you have started to write specific content in your property management blogs which will land you qualified traffic your next step is to convert them. The best way to convert your traffic is to use easy CTA’s (Call to actions) within each page of your website. If you dont have these you should look at our property management website design which now includes a blog.

Trust me I know what I am saying as I had to start writing before I started to see the real benefits / customers. If you are looking at other ways of increasing your inbound traffic to your website check out this post on property management marketing.

January 23, 2014

Landlord Marketing

Landlord Marketing with email drip campaigns

What percentage of your landlord website visitors today will contact you asking for information on your services? If you are not sure about a % I will make it simple how many landlords contact you daily looking for advice or inquiring about your services?

If the answer is 0% or more like 1 enquiry every couple of weeks you need to continue reading.

In my previous blog post on property management marketing trends I discussed how by blogging and educating your target market you can increase traffic to your site.

I discussed two types of visitors, landlords who want to educated themselves and landlords who want to employ your service.

Thanks for the image ell-r-brown

The first landlord is the researcher

The majority of these visitors want education they are not YET looking to employ your services. In order to capture there contact information we need to give them something and as they are currently educating themselves the best thing I have learnt to give them so far is more educational resources. Much like you are on my blog now educating yourself on landlord marketing, landlords will hopefully be on your site educating themselves on the rental property industry.

The Second landlord is the employer

The other visitors to your website are most likely either researching companies to use now or in the future to let and or manage their property. You should already have call to actions within the site to capture there contact details. However some landlords may just browse now and come back later when they are ready to employ your services. This is a problem as in an ideal world you do not want to let any landlord leave without getting there details. So once again as above lets give them some free education on the property industry to confirm you are the agent to use and allowing you capture there contact details to market to them.

Email Drip Campaigns

Unsure what an email drip campaign is? Well you most likely have read it here first, drip email campaigns are a fabulous way to build trust with you or your agency. Drip marketing is a communication strategy that sends, or “drips,” a pre-written set of messages to customers or prospects over time.

If you look to the bottom right hand side of this page you will see my own email drip campaign which gathers 6% of all my website visitors. If you want to see what happens once you sign up put in your email address 😉

Go on I guarantee you will be happy with what you get.

Your Website Stats

Look at your website stats and calculate if you converted 6% of your website visitors how many new landlords would that be weekly?

Lets say you get 100 landlords visiting your website weekly and you got 6% of them. That is 300 new landlords contact details in your landlord marketing funnel annually. If you only got 20% of them into a customer that’s 60 new properties on per year.

More Landlords = More Revenue

100 visitors a week -> 6% Sign up to Campaign -> x 52 weeks -> 312 New landlords in your marketing funnel -> Convert 20% as a customer ->62 new units -> Average fee £500 -> £31,000 New annual Revenue.

Benefits of Drip Campaigns

Marketing to landlords is a very targeted market and it’s difficult at times to market directly to them.

There is all the standard ways to conduct landlord marketing through direct marketing, cold calling landlords, email marketing to landlords, leaflet drops, landlord shows, property exhibitions, property auctions etc.

So are you still thinking of where to market to landlords?

If I can help in any way on setting up your landlord marketing email drip campaign please let me know as this is a service we provide.

January 10, 2014

Property Management Marketing Trends for 2014

Property management Marketing Trends

If your like most property management companies your most likely strategising on how you can reach the targets you have set your property management company this year.

If you are not and your looking to increase your profit on last year you should start to put targets in place now. The best way to increase your property management companies profits is through marketing.

Here is my 4 property management marketing trends that will help you increase your profit in 2014.

1. Content Marketing

Your website visitors

This is the number one way potential landlords can find your property management business. There are two types of visitors you can attract to your website. The first is a customer who knows they want to employ your services to either let or manage their property. They normally enter search such as “ Property Management company in Dublin”. You should have your website already optimised for keywords in order to have some of these searches land on your website. If not learn more about letting agency SEO here. This type of search short tail keywords

Your second visitor is somebody who is looking to research a topic in order to get help. They are typically looking for an expert who can help them with a problem they have. In order to reach these potential customers you need to understand their problems, their pain points and write articles on how to best deal with these problems. Really what you are looking to show here is your domain knowledge and show them that they are better off employing you to resolve their issues. A typical search term may be “ finding tenants in Dublin”. The type of search term here is called a long tail Keyword.

What content to write about?

A really good starting point for understanding pain points being searched is by using Google Tools such as keyword planner. Here you can research how many times a month a short tail keyword or long tail keywords are being searched for. In order to write about this content and deliver it on your property management website you should install a blog. But do not get frightened by the thought, you have the knowledge in your head you just need to put in writing, Check out this guide to writing a property blog

2. Google Apps

Last year I talked and blogged about this quiet frequently but I see that using Google tools will help your website visitors grow hugely this year. If your not using Google apps yet start immediately as I see these being key in property management marketing trends in 2014.

Google Places

If you don’t have your Letting agency on Google Places put it on there right away, its quick and easy and you can have it up live in a couple of minutes. Here is a post on set up your Property management company on Google Places

Google Local

Google places is the Yellow Pages of the internet. Once a visitor to Google searches a term such as “letting agent” and their IP is visible Google will automatically return local companies to the search. This is only possible by activating Google Places. Below is a typical local search return result

Google Reviews

Once you have listed Google places I would highly recommend asking customers to leave a brief review of your services. To see how to do this you can look at this post “Requesting a Google review”.

By requesting and building your reviews it will really help build the trust you will receive from new visitors to your site. I spoke about showing your domain knowledge with reviews you reinforce this knowledge. So now when you create content your visitors will see you know what you are talking about. Here is a previous blog post I wrote on Building Landlords trust

Google Authorship

Ever wonder when you do a search on Google why certain search returns show thumbnail images to the left? These images are avatars of the author of the article, by setting up Google Authorship on your content you are verifying with Google who the author is and that it is not spam. Google will show your posts higher within a search result once Google Authorship is set up. By including the image more visitors will be drawn into clicking on your webpage as it will stand out from that of other search results.

3. Video

This should also appear under the Google Apps if you are going to use YouTube which is owned by Google, you will automatically use the same login for your apps as you will for YouTube.

Video Content Management

Video is fast becoming a major marketing force and if you are not going to use video you are going to get left behind. As above when I discussed becoming a domain expert video is the best way to come across as this expert.

If you have a Google account you can then set up your channel and link it through to your website. This is important in all of the Google apps and doesn’t change here. You are effectively telling Google that you are using this app for your website and in turn Google will improve your search ranking.

If you haven’t set up your channel yet see how to do it here Setting up your property management YouTube Station.

Property Marketing Video

Depending on your strategy in marketing properties you may want to look at video tours. Promoting a property through video is a great way to rank high for certain search terms for properties. And similar to above using video for certain keywords will return a video play screen within Google search results, this is the top way in getting instant clicks. Here you can see how to edit a property marketing video.

4. Call to Actions

Include steps 1 – 3 on to your website and I guarantee you will see a huge spike in your website traffic. The last piece in property management marketing trends is having an effective call to action.

The content on your property management website needs to confirm your domain knowledge as an industry expert in the property management field. Now that you have them on your site having reviews linked in as discussed will build trust so now you just need these landlords to contact you. All you need is their contact details to make a website visitor a high end lead.

You can take a look this blog on letting agency website design for more ideas

Entry Forms

A simple and easy contact form which only requires name, email and phone number works best. Take a look at competitors sites and your own and if you have anything more than the above I am sure you are losing possible customers. You want to create as least friction as possible in order to get the landlords details. Expecting a potential landlord to copy and paste an email address into his email is not acceptable and only showing a landline number is the same. I personally am not a fan of Captcha as so many people get them wrong and end up leaving in frustration. As the KISS acronym states Keep it Simple Stupid.

Analysis

Implement these property management marketing trends into your business today. The team at Rentview are happy to help and you can find more information on some of its property management software services here

January 8, 2014

Tenants Fees in Ireland

Tenants Fees

Do you charge your tenants fees or administration fees? That is the question I asked letting agents across Ireland over the last couple of weeks.

So why did I ask it?

With the rental industry seeing huge demand at the moment most letting agents cannot get enough properties to let out. Most letting agents I’m speaking with on a daily basis are seeing increased costs in running their letting agency both legally and professionally. So with a reduced amount of vacant rental stock to let and increased overheads some letting agents are starting to struggle financially.

Letting Agents Survey Results-

Is it Legal to charge tenants fees in Ireland?

Well if you look at Section 90 of the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 it is not-
90.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), any provision (whether express
or implied) in an agreement in respect of the sale or letting of land
whereby the purchaser or tenant, as the case may be, is required to
pay or otherwise bear the cost of the licensee’s fees or expenses in
respect of the sale or letting, as the case may be, shall be void, and
any moneys paid pursuant to such a provision shall be recoverable
as a simple contract debt in a court of competent jurisdiction.

(2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall affect the liability of a person
to pay fees or expenses to a licensee in respect of the acquisition of
any land where the licensee has been retained by the person to
acquire such land and does not also act, in respect of such acquisition,
on behalf of the person from whom the land is acquired.

So from reading the relevant sections in the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 charging a tenant an administration fee would be illegal.

Prospects not Tenants

It however does not state if charging a potential tenant would be illegal i.e a person who views a property but fails to proceed into a lease.

A PSR representative quotes “As you may know, the interpretation of the law is a matter for the Courts. I am not aware of any Court action in relation to alleged contraventions of section 90 of the Act so cannot give you references to same. Section 90 refers to tenants (not prospective tenants) and it would be a matter for the Courts to interpret if prospective tenants should have the same rights.”

Charging tenants to view a property

You currently show potential tenants a lot of property with only a small percentage converting into becoming a tenant. Depending on your location some tenants may only view one property with you, so why would a tenant pay to view a property? Unless they are desperate I cannot see this ever happening and would see it as a disastrous business decision.

Receiving an Offer

This is an area where I personally feel along with other agents that there is the ability to charge an administration fee. This is how it works in other markets such as in the UK. If at any stage the tenant pulls out or has given misleading or false information about his/her references that the administration fee is charged. However if the tenant proceeds to sign a lease the fee be refunded in full.

Agent’s comments on this

“I think the fee could be refunded to the tenant if he/she takes a property from the agent. If however he/she is looking through various apartments with several agents then the fee should be retained for administration charges”

“In some respects it is a business crime not to charge tenants fees, especially if they walk away for he deal before signing, as can happen. Absolutely the norm in the UK for the tenants to be charged admin/credit check fees. Also very interesting that many tenants coming into Dublin from overseas expect they will be charged? I’m asked the question regularly! Would love to see it become standard industry practice.”

Charging Prospects

There is also the argument that by charging a tenant you are double charging the landlord.

Agent’s comments on this

“The landlord is king and pays a fee to find a tenant, charging a tenant could be the difference between an empty property or an occupied property as some tenant may avoid the agency solely because of this if I was the paying landlord I would not be happy and would seek another agency.”

“I feel that we get our fees from the Landlord so there is no reason to charge tenants as well. There are enough charges without adding“

Mid lease expenses

When managing some properties having fees in place will help with the overall costs associated with managing the property. These fees can be avoided however for example where a tenant consistently lodges rent in cash into an office or bank then a charge is incurred. Most banks charge approx .5% on all cash deposits so for the average agent this is 10% of your fee gone on bank charges.

Agent’s comments on this

“The reason we started was because Bank Charges are crazy and tenants even though they are asked to never transfer the funds but bring in the deposits/rents into office. This is causing higher bank charges and we have passed it on as we cannot afford to carry this cost. It is a small cost €30 for them to bare and to this date we have never received a negative comment.”

Check out these blogs on rent collection “costs of lodging rents” & “How to collect rent”

“I do have in my lease a 300.00 charge held from the deposit should the tenant break their lease which is very effective. It covers re letting costs as well as PRTB charge etc.”

Membership Fees

Even though the wording of the act states that you cannot pass on any fees to tenants some agencies charge fees. These agents call these fees “membership fees”

Agents Comments on this

“We charge this for each tenancy and at the renewal stages also now. It is an administration charge or a membership charge as such. This is only charged to residential tenants. These charges pay for reference checks, changing utilities, bank fees etc all the way to providing a character reference at the end of the tenancy.”

The Results

Well its clear to see there is a huge appetite from agents to start to charge tenants fees. 69% of letting agents who answered this survey are either planning to or willing to if other agents start to charge.

Analysis

So by charging prospective tenants at any point prior to them actually becoming a tenant is from my understanding the only way to work inside the act. Charging tenants for optional expenses incurred though out the lease term once highlighted within the lease may be the only other option as highlighted with banking fees above.

I am only opening the debate on whether letting agents should charge a fee or not, I am not in a position to legally advise any letting agent. If you are looking to increase your revenue but not looking to charge tenants fees here is a list of 30 free ways to market to landlords

Your Thoughts

What is your thoughts on tenants fees in Ireland. Are you a letting agent, landlord or a tenant who would like to share your opinion and open a discussion on this important subject.

December 12, 2013

Email marketing landlords

Email Marketing landlords

Finding it hard to find new landlords? Well you will be glad to know that you are not the only agent out there, it’s the BIGGEST challenge facing letting agents in the rental and letting industry today. If we look at the rental stats today you will see rents are rising…. Why? Simple its supply and demand.

Finding Landlords

Tenants are staying in properties longer and as a result marketing to landlords has become harder. Where can you find landlords? Where can you market to landlords? How can you find new landlords?

These are typically the questions on the edge of each letting agents tongues right now.

Repeat Business

The answer to your problems is most likely with your current database of landlords and their circles. A great way of building your portfolio is by reaching out to previous customers with a promotion and reason to do business with your agency. This can be done through email marketing landlords.

Reason’s to do business

Reasons to do business… also known as a closing tool. This is what will make your landlords & vendors commit to doing business with you. We can either add value or decrease fees. In my opinion adding value is better for your agency as your retaining high revenue and giving additional service. While reducing your fees is a great way to get business on you may end up doing twice the amount of work to get the same profit.

Examples of a closing tool for a letting agent

Increased Value – A very popular closing tool which will increase revenue in the long term is offering free property management with every letting to include rent collection*. Limit this to 4 months for example and place in your terms of engagement that this must be cancelled with 30 days notice. As you are already collecting the rent collecting your fee is simple… You get paid when the landlord does. Having a property management software which allows landlord transparency is a real great way to increase value also.

Reducing Fee’s – As discussed above you may end up doing twice the amount of work for the same revenue but some landlords are very price sensitive and without a monetary reason they will not consider you as a solution in letting, managing or selling their property. The key here is to offer such a good service that repeats business is guaranteed. An example of this would be daily deal sites where the product or service being sold is not achieving a profit but the repeat business at list price will make up for it.

How to market to repeat landlords

Email marketing landlords is a really great way to build business. I would highly recommend looking into Mailchimp as an easy solution to email marketing.

Use mailchimp when email marketing to landlords

Email Marketing landlords through Mailchimp

You can create an email marketing template through Mailchimp and upload your previous email lists easily*.

Reasons for sending email

When sending email marketing landlords its always good to have a reason for sending them an email. For example if its Christmas you could send Christmas Greetings with a gift of “Reduced Fees”or “free property management”. We use the Christmas greeting as the reason to email and the hook for your business is the closing tool.

Subject line’s

If your subject line is not appealing you wont even have your previous landlord or vendors open the email. Think of the marketing emails you receive and which ones you open… OK so I have you thinking, what subject line do you think will make your landlords and vendors open your marketing email?

Take a look at this blog from Mailchimp on What are the best subject lines

email marketing subject lines — Subject lines define what emails get open

Call to Action

Your “Call to Action” is what you want your landlords & vendors to click on. Make sure this stands out within the email as this is the whole reason you are sending this as you want to gather details of who is interested in your services. Take a look at some examples of call to actions on this blog.

Designing your email template

You can send a plain text email when email marketing landlords or a fancy email with built in images. The fancy design will most likely have you engaging the services of a designer but will work a lot better in converting client’s especially if your mail is a Christmas greeting.

landlrord email makreting template — Example of a landlord email marketing template

Conversion Ratio on email marketing landlords

Well that’s what its all about, call it your ROI (return on investment), number of clicks, enquiries etc. Typically speaking you can expect to get 1 in 4 opening your email and anywhere between 0.5% – 1.5% following through with a call to action; ie enquiring further details.

What does that mean in Revenue

Well if you are marketing to 300 landlords and your average fee is £750, you can expect 75 landlords to open your email and to get 3 new listings from this which would mean £2250 in new business.

Start email marketing landlords

Its quite simple, set up a Mailchimp account for free, import your contacts, create a template, fill in the text and send it.. Or seek the assistance of the professional team here at Rentview , info@rentview.com who can do it for you 😉

November 6, 2013

How a great Letting agency website can convert your landlord

Letting agency website design

A great letting agency website design is a must for any letting agency wishing to capture leads from landlords or vendors searching locally for the right company or individual to rent or sell their property. I would go as far as to say that this is pivotal for your letting agency because in some instances, it is the first time your potential client will have come across your services, team, testimonials, listings and story.

40% of clients accessing your letting agency website will be from a mobile.

Since the launch of the iPhone 3 in 2007, accessing the internet from a Smartphone has become more and more popular. Our mobile internet usage statistics on letting agents or estate agents state that 40% of users will access your website via a mobile or smartphone. This is a significant amount of users searching for your letting agency or landing on your website checking out your services.

Mobile sales have already overtaken desktop sales and mobile internet usage is predicted to overtake desktop usage by 2014 – meaning mobile searches will soon overtake desktop searches. This is why it is so important that your website is responsive and fits to every screen.

If you have a letting agency website which was designed over 3 years ago, then your website is most likely not designed for mobile access. This move to mobile has happened rapidly.

letting agency website design mobile iPhone — Letting agency website design needs to look good on mobile too!

So what is responsive website design?

Responsive web design is a web design approach aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing experience—easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling—across a wide range of devices. In plain English, it makes it possible for your website to be viewed easily on any device. See the full Wiki on responsive web design here.

Since the world and its mother are now connected to their smartphones or tablets, it makes sense to design your website using a responsive design. Twitter bootstrap is a free front-end framework given to the web development community to use when developing a responsive design. See the history of twitter bootstrap here.

When developing a letting agency website it is important that you develop a responsive design to cater for access from other devices. A stat compiled by Hubspot states 46% of visitors are unlikely to return to a mobile site if it didn’t work properly during the last visit.

Google Search Engine

Google dominate the search engine market with over 60 per cent share in the market. Google states that responsive web design is its recommended mobile configuration. They unsurprisingly refer to responsive web design as industry best practice. When developing a well-structured letting agency website it is good to keep Google local search and Google Places for business in mind. For more on these see here.

Simple minimalistic design is best

Although we now have access to more information than ever before, we seem to have less time to absorb information as our lives have also become busier. It is easy to believe that our attention span is getting so short it will be like a fish soon! Current statistics state that visitors to your website will spend an average of just 1 minute scanning your web pages for content and headline text which they are looking for.

Your website should act as your spanking clean virtual office with all the relevant things in place for when a landlord or vendor walks in enquiring about your services. Imagine a landlord walking into your high street office and the floors are dirty, desk untidy with disorganised staff unable to deal with a query.

Now imagine a landlord or vendor coming into your website and getting the same impression because there is too much content to shift through, too many clicks, no specific calls to actions and no visible testimonials endorsing your service or team.

Social Proof your website – positivity is infectious!

Your website should convey a positive vibrant message throughout. The best way to convey this message is not from the agency itself, but from other Landlords and Tenants who have used your service. The new landlord/tenant will identify with these people who have endorsed your Letting Agency and will develop a confidence in your service before even using it. You can convey the positive feedback from your Landlords/Tenants by:

Displaying recent testimonials
Displaying happy tweets from happy customers
Displaying reviews on Google + from smiling landlords

Simply by showcasing your recent testimonials, reviews or tweets from landlords and vendors will influence new clients to enquire further about your services.

Localised search for local services

Since Google updated its Penguin 2.1 search algorithm they have played a heavy focus on local search. Landlords searching online will be looking locally for the right letting agency to rent or sell their property. A great way to get your website ranked locally is to add your office to google places.

Some points about visitors to your website

– Of the world’s 4 billion mobile phones in use, 1.08 billion are smartphones

– Users will scan your website for relevant content

– Average user will spend 30 seconds on a page

– Strong call to actions are required

It is clear that good letting agency website design will stand to you and your business. If you are interested in our letting agency website design, click here.

October 22, 2013

How to find landlords for your letting agency

“How to find Landlords?” is perhaps the most frequently asked question for all Letting Agents. It is such an important question because new Landlords/property listings are vital to the Letting Agent surviving in today’s competitive market as well as ensuring the business grows.

The answer to this question is not just one simple solution; there are many tools which the Letting Agent can use to find new landlords. Some of these tools have been around for many years and very popular while other tools such as SEO marketing, while in existence for some time have not been embraced by the masses yet within the lettings industry. Today’s Letting Agent needs to embrace all of the tools at his/her disposal; otherwise opportunities for new business are unnecessarily missed. Give yourself the best chance – don’t limit yourself or your business by not using the following tools:

How to find landlords using Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

With the explosion of Smartphone use and better broadband connection speed over the last couple of years, we are increasingly connected to the internet. With Google being the no 1 search engine to find local based letting agents you need to be found under the keywords your landlords are typing. When thinking about how to find landlords, you must think about how landlords find you in searches.

For instance, if you were based in Manchester and looking to be found under ‘Letting agents Manchester’ you would need do some search engine optimisation on your website for this term in order to direct traffic to your site. This is a very competitive term with 720 searches per month for “Letting agents Manchester”. To put things in perspective for your business; if just 10 of these landlords found your website and only 5 of these 10 landlords signed up for your management fee this could result in over £6000+ in revenue per annum from fees. Optimising is worth the effort.

Adding your business to Google Places for business will help your search engine ranking too! To find out how, click here.

How to find landlords using pay per click advertising on Google

Google adwords allows you to advertise your Letting/ Estate Agency directly to landlords who are looking for Letting Agents using specific search terms. The reason Google is so successful for business is because the user who is typing is usually very close to the point of sale. When a landlord types in a long tail keyword term they are usually really specific about what they are looking for. An example of a long tail keyword is ‘letting agents Birmingham’.

When you are setting up your pay per click Google campaign you should research the keywords you would like to be found under. Google will request you join Google adwords which is free but you may need to sync a credit card with the account. You can then use the google keyword tool planner to see which keywords are being currently used in searches and you can then tailor your campaign around these keywords.

how to find landlords using seo — What Google keyword planner looks like

How to find landlords using Referrals

Receiving a referral from your existing landlords should be an easy process if you have proven your excellent Letting or Management Service to your Landlord. Build on this good working relationship with your landlord by picking up the phone or emailing and checking in with your landlords – don’t be afraid to ask if there are other landlords they may know who would be interested in the same service. Most landlords will know at least one landlord or friend who has a rental property; if you can secure their contact number and reference back the landlord, that’s brilliant.

Offer a deduction on future Lettings or Property Management for landlords who refer you on to other landlords, this is a great way to keep existing business with your current landlords and leverage them for a referral to your existing database. Make sure any deal is in writing and last for a specified period i.e. 1% reductions on management fees for a 12 month term.

How to find landlords using Local Free Newspapers

Local Free Newspapers have a wide readership and are a great way to reach Landlords in your chosen area. These have proven successful for local letting agents for many years but their impact may be on the wane. The Letting Agent can advertise in these papers by

Firstly paying for a banner advertisement.
Secondly the Letting Agent can list the current property listings in the newspaper, although uploading your property to property portals may have replaced this revenue stream for the local newspapers.
Finally the Letting Agent could negotiate with the local paper to do an editorial/advertising feature on the Letting Agency itself.

An editorial gives you the opportunity to showcase the services on offer and also presents the Letting Agency staff to the Landlord, which is the first step in building a relationship with potential Landlords.

How to find landlords using leaflet drop in recent or newly built development

Leaflet drops in new or recent developments can be effective in sourcing new Landlords. With new developments come new Landlords and opportunities for new business. The letting potential for new developments is normally quite good as the properties are usually high spec and will rent quickly to quality tenants. However the cost associated with the leaflet drop should be measured against the return on investment. The leaflet itself be attractive and stimulate interest in the reader. It should contain at least the following:

the company logo & contact details
a picture of the staff or letting agent
outline of services offered
Landlord testimonials
Motivation to take immediate action by highlighting limited special offers

How to find landlords using Property Exhibitions and Work Abroad Exhibitions

Property exhibitions are really relevant to Letting Agents when trying to find new Landlords as the majority of the attendees are property investors keeping up with latest legislation or networking with other property professionals. There are a couple of these show held around the UK each year and would definitely be worth visiting or exhibiting if held close to your market.

Work Abroad Exhibitions although not directly related to the property rental industry are also a good place to engage with potential landlords. With the economic downturn and migration more popular than ever, a portion of the people emigrating are property owners and will have to rent out their UK property whilst they are abroad. These new landlords will not only need a letting service but also a management service. This is another great opportunity for you, the Letting Agent to secure new letting and management clients.

October 10, 2013

Rental Property Inventory – Compile inspection reports & save hours of time

Why is it important to carry out Rental Property Inventories?

When managing a rental property, it is imperative to conduct a full condition property inventory report on the property rather than just writing down the items in the property. Previously, letting agents would conduct inventory reports at the property with a note pad; writing down each item in the room, itemising each item and taking photographs of the condition of the property.

Modern technology has allowed letting agents, landlords and inventory clerks to do things quicker and more efficiently, helping reduce time, costs and potential disputes.

Most letting agents’ letting & management services will include a check-in rental property inventory report and optional check-out property inventory report (depending on the service which the Landlord opts for – an interim inspection may be required).

3 common solutions used by Letting agents and landlords when conducting the rental property inventory reports:

1. The mighty pen and paper and photo taking

Before the digital age and probably still common now, is the use of pen and paper and a trusted camera. Some letting agents will still use this method to conduct their property inventories, mainly because they are not aware of a better way of conducting a property inventory report or because they are stuck in their ways.

The agent or landlord will go through each room and inventory of items, writing down the quantity and condition of the item while taking some photographs. Armed with all this data it is back to the office to compile the report which is something a letting agent won’t be looking forward to. Out comes Microsoft word to start re-writing the property inventory report for the second time, resizing images and compiling the property inventory report.

Time is money and re-writing property inventory reports takes too long. The fact is, the pen and paper method takes too much time and taking a photograph with a camera, resizing the images and creating your own report will take even more time – up to three hours in some cases. I am sure there is better ways to utilise your time if you are a letting agent or landlord!

90 minutes compiling the report with pen, paper and camera
90 minutes preparing the final property inventory report when you return to the office

2. Hiring a professional Inventory Clerk or Company to compile the rental inventory report

Inventory clerks are professional companies or individuals who conduct an independent inventory report on a rental property. Some of these companies are members of the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks and adhere to the member’s Code of Practice. The clerk will conduct a thorough check of the property items and condition producing a detailed report of the exact condition of each item, rooms and outside spaces.

Inventory Clerk – How much does it cost?

Like most industries, you can find a more cost effective service provider and the inventory clerk or company is no different. A quick search on www.google.co.uk for a property inventory clerk will yield hundreds of results for different services and associations. With prices starting from £50 for check in’s and up to £150.00 for check outs (depending on the size of the property).

Fee price from http://www.smart-inventory.co.uk/fee-rates/

Inventory & Check In	Unfurnished	Furnished
One Bedroom	£90	£100
Two Bedrooms	£100	£110
Three Bedrooms	£110	£120
Four Bedrooms	£120	£130
Five Bedrooms	£130	£140

Check Out	Unfurnished	Furnished
One Bedroom	£70	£90
Two Bedrooms	£80	£90
Three Bedrooms	£90	£100
Four Bedrooms	£100	£110
Five Bedrooms	£110	£120

3. Digital Inventory software

Using rental inventory software from your Smartphone or Tablet

With the emergence of the Smartphone and tablet there is a new way for Letting Agents and Landlords to conduct their Rental Property Inventory Reports. With most people now owning a Smartphone anyone with access to a credit card and the right lettings knowledge and experience can produce an inventory report.

A quick search on the app store will bring up 7 results for ‘inventory rental’. Our own easy to use Inventory app ‘Rentview Inventory’ is available for download for free from the App store.

Once downloaded to your Smartphone or tablet, you quickly sync the Rentview Inventory app to your Rentview account. Any data collected will be published to your online account for editing.

Users start collecting data by following the simple steps below:

Inputting the rental property address
Select a pre-defined template such as a one bed template
Select the rooms of the property + outside spaces
Take photos of the Floors, Ceilings, Walls, Windows, Furniture, Inventory
Use the voice notes to dictate the condition of the property. (notes transcribed 4hrs later)
Click ‘done’ and your report will be ready shortly fully branded to your agency

check out the video demonstration on the Rentview youtube channel

The most important benefit of using the Rentview Inventory app is the time saved conducting and generating the report with an average of two man hours shaved off the old process. The cost benefits versus employing an inventory clerk are plain to see below.

Admin time for a rental portfolio of 50 properties for a start-up letting agency

Comparison of your time and money

Inventory	Method	Time	£
DIY	Pen & paper	3 Hours	0
Outsourced	Inventory clerk	0	50 to 150
DIY	Digital inventory app	45 mins	£5

Thankfully for both Landlords and Tenants as well as Industry Professionals, there is code of practice in place for all licensed estate agents who are responsible for ensuring any inventory inspection is carried (be it check-in, interim and final check-out). I have listed below a summary of the code relating to inspection inventory reports. The provision in the code of practice protects both Landlord and Tenant and helps avoid any potential dispute in the future.

Code of practice for licensed estate agents from the NAEA

Drawing attention to the benefits of a properly prepared Property Inventory

2h: You must draw to a potential client’s attention the necessity and benefit of a properly prepared full Inventory/Schedule of Condition.

You must outline to the applicant any potential fee or charges

6f: Prior to an applicant’s offer being formally accepted, you must set out in written form any significant pre-conditions for the letting, including the circumstances in which the applicant may have any potential financial liability for fees, charges or penalties relevant to:

– The processing of his/her application to rent the property

– His/Her withdrawal, at any stage of their application for the tenancy or the clients rejection of it

– The initial settling up of the tenancy including Inventory / Check in costs

– Any ongoing or future liability for fees or charges payable to you for the applicant to extend, renew or terminate the proposed tenancy including Inventory Check-out costs

Make sure that you have a fully detailed and up to date property inventory report

8c: You should take care, upon appropriate instructions from the client, that – at the start of a tenancy – any Inventory/Schedule of Condition prepared for the client by you, or an appointed sub-contractor, is sufficiently detailed and up to date to allow it to be used as a fair measure at the end of the tenancy

You must give the tenants enough time to read and comment on the check-in report

8j: The tenant must be given sufficient time to read and comment upon the check-in report and inventory. The tenant should also be asked to sign a copy, which you should hold on file and the tenant must be given a copy to retain. You must make it clear to the tenant that their failure to sign and return the inventory can be taken as their agreement that it is accurate.

Property inventory check out report or end of tenancy reports

12b: The checkout should be done thoroughly and a sufficiently detailed report or summary prepared with specific reference back to the Inventory/Schedule of Condition prepared prior to the tenancy.

Click here to check out the full NAEA code of practice

How do you create your property inventories?

October 8, 2013

Television Licence

Your Television Licence – what do you have to pay?

A television licence is a certificate that states that you have paid the appropriate fee to the government and contributed to the cost of public service broadcasting in Ireland. Your television licence is issued for 1 year in general. If you have a Television you must have a TV Licence. A TV licence In the Republic of Ireland costs €160.

New Television Licence Regulation

However, what if you don’t watch television? Well a new regulation will mean that you have to pay a television license whether you watch it or not. According to the Independent, “Nobody will be able to refuse to pay the new broadcasting charge on the basis they don’t have a TV as it will be legally binding on all homes regardless of what devices they own.”

The Government is hoping to have this regulation fully in place by January 1, 2015. The cost increase to €160 is to combat the current 18% evasion rate. The increase in laptops, tablets and PCs is likely to be a cause of people “not watching” television, as they are no longer watching on a television set. However,the definition of a Television set is (Section 140 (1) of the Broadcasting Act 2009):

“television set” means any electronic apparatus capable of receiving and exhibiting television broadcasting services broadcast for general reception ( whether or not its use for that purpose is dependent on the use of anything else in conjunction with it ) and any software or assembly comprising such apparatus and other apparatus.

Despite the digital switchover in 2012, analogue televisions are still required to have a television licence too. All premises at which a TV is located require a TV Licence regardless of its use, therefore businesses need television licences too, even if they only use their television for training purposes.

Do you need a television licence for each television you have?

If the equipment capable of receiving a television signal (for example a television set or a laptop) is held in a household (an apartment, flat or a house), then one television licence will cover multiple pieces of equipment. If you have a television set in your kitchen and another in your living room, one television licence covers both sets.

Tenants, Landlords and Letting Agents should take note however that if the building in which the equipment is kept is sub-divided into flats or apartments or other separate living quarters, then a separate television licence must be held for each of these quarters. This means that an individual licence must be held for each separate flat, apartment or other dwelling.

Owners of holiday homes also need separate television licenses for each household.

Who should pay the television licence in rented accommodation?

This is something the landlord and tenant must work out between them. If you are a tenant living in rented accommodation with a television you must have a television licence. This applies irrespective of who owns the television (whether the television belongs to you or the landlord). The law states that anyone resident on a premises in possession of a television set must have a television licence. Most good residential lettings agreements will stipulate who is responsible for the TV licence

According to An Post:

You can buy a television licence in the following ways:

Pay online using Laser, Mastercard or Visa
Cash/cheque at any Post Office
Direct Debit
LoCall 1890 228528 using Laser, MasterCard or Visa
Post a cheque (crossed and made payable to An Post) to your local TV Licence Records’ Office
TV licence stamps available at your local Post Office (this is a good way to avoid being stuck with paying the full €160 at once)
Cash at selected Postpoint outlets

To renew your television licence at the post Office, you’ll need your current TV reference number, which is on the reminder notice sent from the TV Licence section. To avoid delays in Post Offices it is important to bring your reminder notice with you as the notice is scanned at the counter.

Some other things to note:

You should receive your TV Licence within 10 working days.
If you purchase a TV Licence through the call centre, it will be posted to your address 10 to 14 days after the licence was purchased.
A new 17 digit TV reference number and PIN are generated each year and supplied with your TV Licence reminder notice.
First reminders are posted 2 weeks before your TV Licence expires.
If you are moving house, it is possible and highly advisable to have your television licence transferred to your new address. Simply bring your existing licence to your nearest Post Office, together with evidence of your new address (that is a household utility bill or a bank statement). Staff in your Post Office will then amend the details on your record and your licence will be updated and re-issued to you. This service is free.
If you are aged over 66, are receiving a social welfare pension and nobody in your household is employed or receiving Unemployment Benefit or Unemployment Assistance, you may be entitled to a free television licence.
If you believe you may be entitled to a free television licence, you should contact the Department of Social Protection at LoCall 1890500000 to get an application form for the Households Benefits Package. Fill this in and return it to the Department, Free Schemes Section, Pension Services Office, Freepost, College Rd., Sligo. They will issue the free licence to you.
“An inspector is sent to premises if a licence is more than six weeks out of date, if a new record is added to the database which doesn’t have a current licence, and where there are unlicensed addresses.”” (journal.ie)
Be sure to print off a receipt of payment if you have paid your Television Licence fee online to show to the TV Licence inspector if you have an inspection prior to receiving your TV Licence in the post. You will also receive an email with a text version of the Transaction Summary (if you have supplied an email address).

People give many reasons for not paying their licence, but they won’t work. And the repercussions can be serious; over 272 people were jailed for not paying the charge in 2012. Some excuses are downright ridiculous

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6d5bTZ1Cts

So don’t get caught out!

If you have a query you should contact your local TV Licence Records Office.

Further information can be found at An Post and Citizens Information.