Some 80% of prospective tenants have been put off renting a property through a letting agent due to a misleading property advert or because of a bad experience when viewing the property, new research claims.
Upad, which conducted the study, questioned 33,000 tenants on what they wanted and expected when looking for a new rental, as well as the most bizarre or deceptive things that they had experienced in a property advert or during a viewing.
The online letting agent suggests that the findings from the research highlight what it describes as ‘a disconnect between what tenants want and what letting agents offer them’, implying that there remains a tendency to ‘oversell on the part of letting agents’, when, in reality, ‘tenants would prefer realism and honesty’.
Key findings from Upad’s research show that tenants are put off by unappealing property photos, while tenants are commonly finding adverts where the size of properties, and particularly bedrooms, were wildly overstated.
James Davis, CEO of Upad, said: “These results show that not only are there still elements of overbearing and downright misleading salesmanship going on in the private rental market, but that tenants still aren’t buying it. It’s quite frightening that there are 20% of tenants who still move into a property having had an experience such as this, as they may feel they have no choice but to choose from the best of a bad bunch.
“Even just doing the basics and catering to what tenants are looking for, could make a huge difference. As landlords, tenants are our customers after all. Any other business that doesn’t work to meet its customers’ needs will fail, and being a landlord is no different.
“While there are large numbers of letting agents and landlords out there who do an exceptional job, I'd encourage anyone involved in renting out properties to consider their approach. By trying to oversell, all letting agents and landlords are doing is keeping properties empty for longer.”
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How true but I would add that a lot of tenants do know what they are looking at either. It is a sad fact that a lot of tenants are not qualified to look after a property. That starts with cleaning and goes on to dangerous things like getting electrical faults sorted or water leaks fixed (which even the worst agent should be able to fix pdq.)
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