How to attract landlords to your letting agency

by Steph Rady

As the unending attack on landlords continues, many are succumbing to the pressures of increased taxes, interest rates rising, regulations becoming even stricter, and choosing to sell up and leave the market.

While this is causing its own set of problems – a lack of rental stock for the growing number of renters who cannot afford to purchase, increased rents and a potential homelessness crisis - letting agents are also taking a hit and losing landlord business.

But how do you attract landlords to your letting agency when competition is fierce, and landlords are leaving the market?

 

Education, Education, Education

Landlords are scared. Not only do they have to worry about the usual; fees, void periods, will my new tenants pay rent and take care of my property? But now it's becoming less profitable, tighter rules are in place and landlords are having to jump through more and more hoops while disputes are often in favour of the tenants.

There are many ways you can advise and educate landlords –

• Offer free investment consultations
• Set up a private group for your landlords to support them and answer questions - this can be anything from a Facebook group to a space on your website
• Run regular buy-to-let seminars or webinars to educate and advise
• Offer free resources and guides
• Report on new regulations, legislation, taxes, etc., with what they mean for landlords and how you can help them

All of the above suggestions are also great ways to market to new landlords, as well as help your existing landlords. Which leads on to our next point…

 

Marketing is King

When trying to market to new landlords, many letting agents are tempted to instantly go in with an offer to cut fees. This does not work.

To get in front of landlords and build trust, you need to think consumer first, brand second. What is going to bring value to this landlord?

We find a great deal of success in marketing to landlords via Facebook ads with hyper-relevant, helpful and educational content. For example, adverts surrounding compliance, changes to fire safety regulations, or free educational webinars are a great way to interact with landlords. Offer them something of value in exchange for their contact details and provide your agency with a lead to nurture and follow up with.

The more trust you can build and the more you can help a landlord with their individual circumstances, the more likely you are to convert their business.

 

Offer something your competitors don’t

Whether this is security with Guaranteed Rent, technology such as Fixflo to offer landlords the additional service of 24/7 maintenance handling, automated payment technology such as PayProp so you can guarantee they’re paid on time, being able to offer up to a year’s rent in advance through the Advanced Rent Option, or simply offering unrivalled property management services.

Anything you can offer to stand out from the average letting agency will help you secure the business, you just need to qualify each landlord to find out what’s going to appeal to them.

For more suggestions on how to get in front of landlords, or to find out more about how our PropTech and marketing solutions can maximise your return on investment, get in touch:

https://www.valpal.co.uk/contact-us

020 8663 4930

team@valpal.co.uk