The property management side of any real estate company is their bread and butter. It’s the regular income that helps them pay for the office, the administration staff, the utilities, and other aspects of running the business. Whereas the sales side of a real estate business is the glamourous side of the business. It’s where the real estate agent gets to show off their sales skills with high end marketing, glossy brochures, back-lit sign boards and VIP nights. It’s a once off commission, which is usually quite high, but it’s not regular income. The sales properties usually come from once-off clients who they may or may not have nurtured over time through regular reporting on the state of the market with email newsletters or mail drops, seen them regularly at open for inspections over the months or years, or maybe they are a mate from the football club.
This means…
- Sales properties = usually one-off working relationship, or at best, an intermittent working relationship
- Rental properties = regular income, constant working relationship that could last decades
So why do real estate agents advertise their landlords/rental providers with basic marketing – non-descript bullet points of facts with no ‘feel good’ description, yet their sales properties with the best in marketing? With more and more people struggling to raise enough capital to buy a home, shouldn’t tenants/renters be given the same respect as home buyers who are looking for a suitable property to call ‘home?’ Unfortunately, the majority of the Victorian real estate industry do not want to give their rental providers the same respect they give their vendors, yet something needs to change.
Here are eight great reasons why rental providers and property managers should include professional copywriting in their marketing fee.
1. Paint a picture of better value.
There is no doubt that rents are going up at an extraordinary rate now, due to a variety of reasons – interest rate rises, Covid rent reductions being removed, inflation, the lack of property available versus the number of prospective renters, (competition). However, the main reason rents are going up is that they are making a massive correction on what they should be. For instance, in 1992 when I went out to rent my first apartment, I paid $95 per week for a 1 bedroom apartment in North Caulfield, that was worth $65,000. That was a 7.6% return for the owner, whereas now, the current rental yield for a unit in Caulfield North is 3.2%. Imagine if rental yields could be at that 7.6% mark again? That would defy all interest rate rises and help make the property be positively geared. To do this, you need to write copy that tells the prospective renters about all the amazing things that this property has to offer that suits their needs and appeals to their lifestyle. Picking up on these elements will impress the type of prospective renter you want to attract. This will help you get a higher rent and a better-quality renter.
2. Quality of Applicant, Not Quantity of Applicants
Finding a ‘quality’ renter is so much better than finding a whole lot of prospective renters who want something cheap. Those who are prepared to pay more, on average, will look after your property like it was their own and most likely stay at the property longer. Giving your prospective renters more information about the property will sort out the good, the bad and the ugly renters before they even apply. It will reduce recurring questions being asked (“does the house have heating?”), freeing up your property manager for more meaningful queries from the better-quality applicants and processing the applicants properly.
3. Property becomes someone’s home, not just a place to live.
Renters want to find a ‘home’ whereas most property managers will advertise your investment property as an opportunity to have a roof over your prospective renter’s head. Prospective renters want to feel a connection to a property, a place their family can be comfortable. While there is a stigma that 20-something year old mates will treat your property like a party house, the reality is, there are more and more families, couples, divorcees, new Australian residents and even retirees wanting to rent a property. They are every day Australians wanting the basic need of shelter, yet most marketing for rental properties leaves prospective renters feeling like there is so much unknown. Writing copy that makes the property feel like a home will create a better relationship between the property manager and the renter.
4. Open for inspections for rental properties are short.
Most property managers open a rental property for 15 minutes for prospective renters to view. How will they ever be able to see and take note of everything in that property to feel it’s ‘the one?’ Writing clear and concise copy which explains everything a prospective renter needs to know, will help them make an informed decision on your property, ensuring that they will rent the place for longer, as there is no little secrets.
5. Create copy consistency for your agent’s corporate image.
There is nothing worse than seeing a stylish word-perfect brochure for a sales property and spelling mistakes for the same company in their rental properties. Usually, each property manager is in charge of writing their own property copy, or maybe a leasing consultant, who is usually a junior or inexperienced employee in the property management department, however each different person in the company has a different level of English ability, from English as a second language, to learning differences to even a class A English teacher who wanted a career change. If the public corporate image of your company is varied, it shows a lack of professionalism and lack of care. Using a professional copywriter will eliminate the inconsistencies and show off your brand.
6. Professional written copy gets your property leased quickly.
We have had a couple of property management companies use our services and are thrilled with the results. Most properties we write are leased in a matter of days, sometimes within 24 hours, to a quality renter with excellent credentials. This helps with your investors cash flow as well as your reputation with your rental provider as a property manager.
7. Save your property manager time.
Most property managers dread writing advertising copy, and you can tell. They write generic bullet points, they have no imagination and they forget a lot of really important information. They don’t have a way with words and it takes them hours to think what to write, especially when they have all these maintenance enquiries, phone calls to make and other more urgent issues that are pressing.
8. Write great copy once, and you have it for the length of your investment.
Using a professional copywriter is a once-off investment. Even if your renter does decide to move on in 12 months’ time, you can use it again and again. Writing professional copy should be a compulsory inclusion to all marketing budgets when rental providers 1) change to or choose a new property management company, 2) do any renovations, 3) or professional copy has never been written before. Business Development Managers should have copywriting as a fixture to their advertising schedule in a set and forget system.
At Real Copy Right, we charge $165 (including GST) for a customised piece of copy you can use on the internet and on your office rental list. This equates to less than one third of the average weekly rental (the average 2 bedroom unit in Melbourne leases for $464 per week). We can inspect the property, or if it’s difficult getting access due to an existing renter not allowing access, we can look at all the passed reference material on the property, speak to the current owner and draft up a piece of copy that will win prospective renters over. You will get your copy by 9am the day after we inspect the property, sometimes, the same day.
If you would like to book rental copy, contact Lisa on 5977 8889 or via orders@realcopyright.com.au
