Landlord Voice Magazine October 2015 - Brighton and Hove | Page 18

Trivia Time:

“We always pick up more properties in any given city
than anywhere else and, unlike many other portals, we list
properties irrespective of whether they are managed by a
letting agent or a private landlord.”

Q5 - Which chart-topping quartet won the
Eurovision Song Contest when it was hosted on
Brighton in 1974? - See answer on back page

Marketing your property
S

with online portal StuRents

tuRents is a free-to-list online
student rental property portal
which also provides marketing
data and other marketing tools to
property managers.

Landlord Voice spoke with
them to find out their tips for
marketing a property.

When people think of
marketing they probably imagine
people in offices standing next to
flip pads with line-charts designing
smart-looking posters and
conducting questionnaires - and
while it can be all those parts and
more, most of us are more than
capable of marketing a product to a
competent level.

If you thought it was the
preserve of blokes sat in offices
wearing sharp 1960s suits while
chain-smoking cigarettes and
drinking Martinis then think
18 | LandlordVoice | October 2015

again. As soon as you have bought
your first rental property you are
a marketer and if you are not then
you will have to learn fast.

StuRents was set up in 2008
to allow landlords to do just this
with the student market in mind.

Tom Walker, co-founder at
StuRents, said: “We were conscious
that platforms which charged
property managers either a listing
fee or a commission were not
attracting sufficient numbers of
properties or students and so we
opted to offer the service for free.

“We realised that
many platforms in the student
accommodation space did not
provide a full view of the market
so we decided to list properties for
free across the UK, which reduces
the marketing costs for property
managers while offering students

a broad selection of properties to
search through in their university
towns.

“Unlike many other portals,
we list properties irrespective of
whether they are managed by a
letting agent or a private landlord
in order to provide students with as
many options as possible.”

Tom believes the initial
stage of listing a property on
StuRents is where most people
go wrong as the quality of
information provided in a listing
by landlords is often lacking in one
way or another.

“Our experience with
students,” said Tom, “is that the
quality of information you provide
them with in your property
listing as a landlord is crucial in
determining whether or not they
decide to call or message you to

“some people get
carried away and price
themselves out of the
market.”
request a viewing. First impressions
are desperately important.

“You must make sure the
information in your descriptions
is as clear as possible. At a basic
level it should detail information
on whether beds are single or
double, whether or not the
house comes with dishwashers
or washing machines or whether
bonus features such as Sky TV or
broadband are included within the
rental price.

“And when you consider
how important photos are in this

process, it is incredible how little
effort some property managers
put in. This has to be one of the
most important elements of your
property listing as it is the easiest
way for a student to evaluate your
property – getting it wrong could
mean the difference between
finding a tenant and having an
empty house for a year.”

And like any good
marketer, the key to staying ahead
of the game is doing your research.

Tom said: “As a landlord
you really want to maximise your
rental yield but some people get
carried away and price themselves
out of the market. One of the key
elements of StuRents’ premium
offering is providing market
statistics so you know how the
market is pricing for next season.

“We have extensive data

on every city and can provide
landlords with average prices
so that they can compare their
property portfolio pricing by street
and house size to a prevailing price
benchmark.”

But there are many
other factors which determine
the ability to secure tenants,
aside from pricing and a good
property description – Tom
also recommends gaining some
form of accreditation or landlord
membership as a way of providing
tenants with extra assurance.

Most local authorities offer
these but perhaps the most wellknown is the London Landlord
Accreditation Scheme, supported
by London Mayor Boris Johnson.

And research can involve
much more than just making
sure rental price is benchmarked
correctly.

“Activity varies between
cities depending on the time of
year,” said Tom. “Some university
towns see their students looking
for accommodation in November
for the following September, while
others see the vast majority of their
students house-hunting throughout
the summer.

“You also need to know
which street to invest in. Students
like living among other students, so
you find that most cities have dense
concentrations of students that
span just a few hundred metres.

“It can be risky to stray
too far out of one of these student
zones but it also depends on your
target market, as postgraduates
and mature students typically have
very different accommodation
and location preferences to
undergraduates.”

Advertising properties
on the site is completely free of
charge. To find how StuRents can
help you with the above and more,
visit StuRents.com or email hello@
StuRents.com.
October 2015 | LandlordVoice | 19