The property boom that lasted roughly a decade from 1997-2007 saw thousands of purpose-built apartment blocks thrown up all around the western world. Some areas have since become synonymous with wasted pointless building resulting from the property boom’s giddy zenith. In parts of Ireland and Florida, whole new developments stand idle, whilst in the UK city centres like Manchester and Leeds, for example, have a huge surfeit of trendy city centre apartments where supply exceeds demand.
If you’re one of the unlucky landlords who find themselves trapped with such an apartment sitting in negative equity with a competitive rental market to make matters worse – then fear not; help is at hand!
First off, work out how much income you’re actually going to need to make it through the financial mess with your rental property. If the rental income matches up to this figure, then at least it’s realistic. If not, you may have to sell at any price.
On the presumption that you can hold your head above water if the apartment rents out for a reasonable income, then here’s what to do: Put yourself in the position of the renter. There are sometimes hundreds of similar apartments for renters to choose from. So you have to make sure yours stands out from the crowd in terms of:
- Quality, and,
- Price
That’s basically it. The only other real variable is communication; how the renters get to learn about the availability of your apartment in the first place.
So try and avoid going through a property agency (unless the agency can derive an income of around 12% or more than you can get directly with tenants). This will help you be as competitive as possible on price (for which you may have to do a little hands-on research; posing as a potential tenant may even be necessary).
Then it’s down to quality. So decorate and clean the place from top to bottom and if it’s going as fully furnished, make yours better than the rest. The sofas sale ads seem to run round the clock these days – so buy a decent one.
And get down to the nearest furniture sale and decide what a prospective tenant is really after – cleanliness and comfort.
It’s not rocket science – you just have to beat the rest on quality and price.