Becky, our admin manager has probably spoken to more tenants than anyone else at Upad, and she knows what they want to know.
There are four questions that come up again and again: when you have a property to let, private landlords can really help to find a tenant quickly by including this information in their rental adverts.
- Will the landlord accept DSS tenants? And if not, what about with a guarantor?
- Does the landlord allow pets? If you'll accept some pets, saying so in the ad can help: e.g. "Will accept cat or small dog."
- What is the bond/deposit for the property?
- How far is it from.......? Highlighting proximity to schools, etc. can help you find a tenant more quickly.
Other questions we get quite a lot are:
- Is the landlord flexible on the rent and/or length of tenancy?
- Are any bills included in the rent?
- Does the kitchen have white goods (fridge, washing machine, microwave)?
- Does it have parking/garage?
- Does the landlord accept children?
- Does it have a garden?
- What, if any, references etc are required?
- How big are the rooms?
Adverts for residential lettings that cover those questions are likely to get more responses from tenants than those which don't.
And there are a few questions where the answer is almost always no, but some landlords might just specialise in this niche; for example:
- Can I let it just for a month?
- I have bad credit; is this a problem?
- I can’t afford the whole bond; can I pay it in weekly instalments?
If you could deal with any of those, it's definitely worth highlighting the fact in your rental advert!
